Rural-urban differentials of premature mortality burden in south-west China

Background  

Yunnan province is located in south western China and is one of the poorest provinces of the country. This study examines the premature mortality burden from common causes of deaths among an urban region, suburban region and rural region of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan.     

Socioeconomic and work related determinants of pregnancy outcome in southern Thailand

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of socioeconomic status on pregnancy outcome in an urbanised area in a rapidly developing country. METHODS: A cohort of 1797 pregnant women who attended antenatal care clinics at the two 700 bed hospitals in Hatyai city was recruited from September 1994 to November 1995. The pregnant women were followed up from the 17th week of gestation until delivery. The socioeconomic indicators selected were family socioeconomic status, maternal education, maternal occupation, family income and work exposure characteristics based upon Karasek's job content questionnaires. Pregnancy outcomes were birth weight, low birth weight, small for gestational age and preterm delivery. MAIN RESULTS: Mean birth weight correlated with socioeconomic status and income but after adjustment for parity, maternal age and height, weight at delivery day, baby sex, obstetrical complications and antenatal care utilisation, only family income remained correlated with birth weight. No association with any socioeconomic status indicators was found when using dichotomous outcome (low birth weight, small for gestational age or preterm delivery). Only high psychological job demand was associated with small for gestational age. Confounder adjustment indicated that the observed social status differences in pregnancy outcomes were mainly attributable to mother's characteristics and antenatal service use. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic indicators alone were not associated with reduced fetal growth or preterm delivery in this study, which recruited mainly lower or middle class women. Karasek's psychological job demand was only weakly correlated with small for gestational age infant.     

Late HIV diagnosis and delay in CD4 count measurement among HIV-infected patients in Southern Thailand

The objectives of this study were to evaluate timeliness of HIV testing and of getting CD4 count measured and their associated factors in Southern Thailand. Between July 2004 and February 2005, consenting HIV-positive patients from seven public hospitals in Songkhla province, Southern Thailand were interviewed. Outcomes were late HIV diagnosis (having HIV-related symptoms at the time of first positive test) and the time between HIV diagnosis and first CD4 count being measured. Of 402 study patients, 55% were late HIV-diagnosed. Factors independently associated with late HIV diagnosis were age above 30 years, male and being unemployed with respective odd ratios (95% CI) of 3.10 (1.90-5.07), 7.95 (4.52-13.99), and 2.14 (1.22-3.76). Only 34% and 47% received CD4 assessment within 6 and 12 months of HIV diagnosis, respectively. Median of first-known CD4 count was 73 (IQR 16-169) and 22 (IQR 9-85) cells/microl among asymptomatic and symptomatic HIV-diagnosed patients, respectively. Common predictors for shortened delay of CD4 count measured among symptomatic and asymptomatic HIV-diagnosed patients were: infection through sexual contact (HR=1.61; 95%CI 1.12-2.33) and receiving posttest counseling (HR 1.71; 95%CI 1.15-2.52). Among the asymptomatic, those aged >25-30 years had significantly shortened delay (HR=2.18; 95%CI 1.50-3.18) compared with the younger age group as did those aged >30 years (HR=1.94; 95%CI 1.32-2.85). Such age effect on the delay was absent in the symptomatic group. Attempts to diagnose HIV at an earlier stage and timely CD4 count measured are needed.     

The microbiological profiles of saliva, supragingival and subgingival plaque and dental caries in adults with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus

INTRODUCTION: The relationships between suspected bacteria in saliva, yeasts in oral rinse, and supragingival and subgingival plaque versus root surface and coronal caries in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a non-diabetic group were explored. METHODS: One-hundred and five patients with type 2 diabetes and 103 non-diabetic subjects were recruited; their periodontal status, plaque index and magnitude of root surface and coronal caries were assessed. Saliva and an oral rinse were cultured for mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeasts. Toothbrush samples of supragingival plaque and curette samples of subgingival plaque were assessed for 17 bacterial species using the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization method. RESULTS: Type 2 diabetes patients had significantly more severe periodontitis, a higher plaque index and a higher prevalence and magnitude of root surface caries than non-diabetic subjects. Significantly more diabetic subjects had higher levels of Treponema denticola, Prevotella nigrescens, Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus oralis and Streptococcus intermedius in their supragingival plaque than non-diabetic subjects. No significant difference was found for the organisms in saliva, oral rinse and subgingival plaque between the two groups. After adjustment for diabetic status, root surface caries was associated with an increased count of mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeasts in saliva and of Streptococcus mutans in supragingival plaque samples. Coronal caries was only associated with lactobacilli and yeasts in saliva. CONCLUSION: The number of cariogenic organisms in saliva and oral rinse estimated by culture demonstrated a stronger association with both root surface and coronal caries compared to those 17 species assessed with the checkerboard method in supragingival and subgingival plaque.     

云南地区乙型肝炎病毒基因型分布与临床的相关性

目的: 了解云南地区乙型肝炎病毒基因型分布特征, 探讨其与慢性HBV感染者的性别和年龄、不同临床疾病谱、病毒复制水平的关系.方法:选择云南地区慢性HBV感染者117例, 其中慢性无症状乙型肝炎表面抗原携带者(ASC)26例、慢性乙型肝炎(CHB)55例(轻度21例、中度24例、重度10例)、慢性重型肝炎(CLF)18例、乙肝后肝硬化(LC)11例及原发性肝细胞肝癌(HCC)7例, 采用反向杂交技术(RDB)检测HBV基因型, 并对与其性别年龄、临床分型和病毒复制水平的关系进行分析.结果: 云南地区HBV基因型以B型和C型为主, 分别为41.0%(48/117)和54.7%(64/117) , 并以C型为最多(χ2 = 4.38, P = 0.036);D型1例(0.86%), B、C混合型2例(1.71%), A、C混合型2例(1.71%). B基因型在轻度慢乙肝组所占的比例显著高于中、重度慢乙肝组(χ2 = 8.27、11.98, P = 0.004、0.001)、ASC组(χ2 = 5.46, P = 0.02)、CLF组(χ2 = 4.13, P = 0.042)和LC/HCC组(χ2 = 11.3, P = 0.001). C基因型在LC/HCC组和重度慢乙肝组所占的比例均显著高于轻度慢乙肝组(χ2 = 11.3, P = 0.001;χ2 = 8.78, P = 0.003), 与其他各临床型组间的比较则无显著性差异(P>0.05). C基因型在HBV DNA( )组和HBeAg(-)组r所占的比例均分别显著高于HBV DNA(-)组(χ2 = 6.63, P = 0.01)和HBeAg( )组(χ2 = 7.12, P = 0.008). B基因型在HBV DNA低水平复制组中所占的比例显著高于高水平复制组(χ2 = 4.12, P = 0.042). C基因型在HBV DNA高水平复制组中所占的比例显著高于B基因型(χ2 = 3.89, P<0.05). C基因型在年龄≥30岁组中所占的比例(63.3%)高于年龄<30岁组(45.6%)(χ2 = 3.7, P = 0.05). HBV基因型在性别间的分布无统计学差异(P>0.05)结论:云南地区存在HBV的B、C、D、B C和A C基因型, 以B型和C型为主要基因型, 并以C型为最多. B基因型在轻度慢乙肝的比例显著高于其他各临床型HBV感染者, 并且与HBV的低水平复制和低年龄有关. C基因型主要分布于重度慢乙肝和LC/HCC、HBV DNA高水平复制、年龄≥30岁的患者中. 提示C基因型与慢乙肝重度、肝硬化、肝细胞肝癌及HBV DNA高水平复制关系密切.     

汇合血清样本技术筛查云南血吸虫病的初步研究

目的研究汇合血清样本技术用于筛查云南血吸虫感染人群的稀释极限和最适汇合样本数.方法采用随机抽样法,对云南血吸虫病疫区人群抽样采集血样;将所采集的31份阳性血样和24份阴性血样,分别按阳性和阴性样本汇合比为1：1,1：2,1：3,1：4,1：9和1：14随机汇合,共得到汇合样本372份.用IHA检测抗体法,在稀释度分别为1：5,1：10,1：20,1：40四组中共检测1448份汇合血样,与对单份样本检测的效果进行统计分析和比较.结果在稀释度分别为1：5,1：10,1：20,1：40四组中,稀释度为1：5组IHA检测汇合样本的敏感性显著高于其它稀释度的三组,且敏感性随汇合样本数量的增加而降低.在稀释度为1：5组,当汇合样本数小于6时,IHA的敏感性仍高于90%.结论用IHA检测汇合血清样本以筛查血吸虫感染时,汇合样本的稀释限度为1：5,最适汇合血清样本数不大于6,可避免较少地漏检阳性血样.     

Contextual socioeconomic determinants of cardiovascular risk factors in rural south-west China: a multilevel analysis

Background  

We examined independent influences of contextual variables on cardiovascular risk factors in Shilin county, Yunnan province, South-west China.     

Characteristics of repeat aborters in Vietnam

Two hundred and sixty married women seeking induced abortion service in Hanoi, Vietnam were interviewed to determine the magnitude of repeat induced abortion and explore selected characteristics of the repeat aborters. Seventy-one percent of the sample reported having had at least one previous induced abortion. After adjustment for age and number of living children, poor attitudes toward contraception, low use of modern contraceptives and failure of contraception were shown to be significantly associated with repeat induced abortion. Woman's age, number of living children, contraceptive knowledge and experience and desire for no more children were positively related to repeat induced abortion. Socio-demographic characteristics were not related to repeat induced abortion. Improvement of attitudes toward contraception, persuasion to use modern contraception and promotion of contraceptive effectiveness are recommended strategies to prevent repeat induced abortion.     

Comparison of the quality of life of general hospital outpatients in southwest China with southern Thailand

This is a collaborative study comparing the quality of life (QoL) and its predictors between outpatients of university teaching hospitals in southwest China and southern Thailand in terms of different domains of QoL as well as whether socio-economic variables affect the QoL of the two groups of patients to the same extent. Two hundred sixty-one and two hundred forty-eight randomly chosen outpatients were recruited at Chinese and Thai hospitals, respectively, and were interviewed using the SF-36 scale. The QoL of the Chinese patients had a higher adjusted score for 'physical functioning', but the scores for 'role limitations attributed to physical problems and emotional problems' were higher in the Thai patients. Multiple regression analysis showed that sex, marital status, education, family income and residency were predictors of the total QoL score. Age and area had significant interactions with 'country' in the general health domain.