Background: A recent study has discussed ways of China's success in overcoming COVID-19, presenting three concerns that occur in China that should also be addressed by each country, namely regarding emergency response measures; mobilize resources quickly; encourage people to have participated in the actions taken. Among the approaches taken by China, three ways consisting of lockdown; the willingness of people to be patient in obeying the actions taken; distancing; in our view, it is further urged to be the similar consensus adopted by each country as at least the three basic principles that required for in the strategy against the COVID-19 outbreak. Vietnam can be a representative example to discuss, understand and realize the importance of these three basic principles enough to say that it also supports them as the first country to date, to our knowledge, with all sufferers of COVID-19 successfully cured at one time, discussing what essentially has not been analyzed concerning the traditional epidemiological approach known to effectively control the transmission of an outbreak. Main text: Vietnam has responded timely by immediately announced the state of national health emergency and implemented a partial quarantine or lockdown policy with initially only a ban on coming from and going out to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau and the people in Vietnam, unspeakably, are patient and spread out or distanced. These actions of the Vietnamese seem to have had arguably an impact on all COVID-19 sufferers successfully cured in one time and the absence of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection that lasted for some time. Conclusions: The recent study who thereafter concludes the need for global coordination in interventions and responses to the outbreak by reflecting lessons from China has demonstrated the implications supporting our view of the need for a consensus similarly by each authority regarding at least the three basic principles that required for to be performed in controlling the outbreak transmission, COVID-19, in the form of the lockdown, patience in facing outbreak situations, and distancing that all of those performed simultaneously.
Background: Most people raise a similar concern during this tough time of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection regarding when this outbreak will come to end. A recent thorough-general study on the success of China dealing with COVID-19 outbreak has concluded to recommend the need for a multi-sectoral approach to prevent future outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases including for the still-occurring COVID-19 outbreak with the initiative for the highest interest of the health of mankind Discussion: The prevalence of SARS-CoV as the predecessor of SARS-CoV-2 has been concluded to be more suitable in spring than autumn and winter, with nothing prevalence in summer. No coincidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection has outbreak around the world from January 2020 to the present, April 2020, as ever predicted to reoccur based on its predecessor, SARS-CoV, that have prevalence been high since January, February, March, April, until early May 2003. As opposed to other seasons, summer has low atmospheric pressure as its exemption that provenly causes virus inactivation. Conclusions: The denotative nature of SARS-CoV-2 seems to reflect its predecessor, SARS-CoV, which begins nearing the end of the year and reaches its optimum hence in spring, thereafter, finally ends in summer. Low atmospheric pressure in the summer impresses that it is the potential cause of ending the outbreak by deactivating SARS-CoV-2, apart from the hot temperature of weather. The knowledge to be gained here is further closely correlated to the fact that coronavirus is able to have genetic recombination that may bring about new genotypes and, consequently, outbreaks later occurring.
OBJECTIVE. To determine the incidence of, and predisposing risk factors for, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Saudi Arabia. DESIGN. Retrospective case-control study. SETTING. A tertiary teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS. The study involved 183 patients, comprising 61 (33%) CDI and 122 (66%) control cases. The CDI cases included patients with diarrhea and positive enzyme immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), and the control subjects included those with diarrhea and negative ELISAs. The cases:controls ratio was 1:2. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES. Univariate and multivariate analyses determined the association between CDI and different risk factors. RESULTS. Men comprised 70% of the CDI cases and the mean age of the cases was 59 (27.2) years. One CDI case (1.6%) relapsed. The CDI annual incidence from 2013 to 2014 was 1.5 per 10,000 patient days and it was 1.7 per 10,000 patient days in 2015. Using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (P < .05), the presence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (P = .04), intestinal obstruction (P = .01), and using antibiotics, including ceftriaxone (P < .05) and clindamycin (P < .05), were independent predictors of the incidence of CDI. CONCLUSION. The CDI incidence is lower in Saudi Arabia than in North America. Clindamycin and ceftriaxone use, PPI use, and the presence of an intestinal obstruction or IBD are independent risk factors for the incidence of CDI in Saudi Arabia. Further studies are required to determine the CDI prevalence in Saudi Arabia, the relapse rate, and the risk factors. Strengths and limitations of this study The strengths of this study include its retrospective design, its setting in a teaching hospital, and its 3-year duration. The univariate and multivariate analyses strengthened the evidence. The diagnosis of our cases was based on toxin identification and the clinical symptoms that characterize Clostridium difficile infection. We did not include some parameters, namely, the duration of hospital stay and the duration of antibiotic administration. We did not evaluate the CDI cases and the control cases in relation to the departments in which they had undergone treatment.
Objective: To study the problematic issues regarding early diagnosis of tuberculosis among women in Russian prisons. Methods: Estimation of the effectiveness of early detection of tuberculosis (TB) in women prisoners carried out in a typical penal institution of one of the regions of Russia (Udmurt Republic) between 2012 and 2014. The data of medical records, health-seeking behavior, and the results of preventive examinations, including X-ray and fluorography methods were used. Results: Most female prisoners (76.7%) who arrived at the prison from other regions of Russia have been diagnosed with tuberculosis,. 40.0% of patients revealed no information about previous fluorography and the average period of limitation for fluorography studies in the remaining patients was 9.9 ± 1.5 months. The majority of TB patients had prescription fluorography studies performed at 4-6 (35.3%) and 7-12 months (23.5%). Conclusions: This study highlights the high prevalence of tuberculosis among women prisoners and the presence of weakness in its early diagnosis in prisons: there is a need to better understand and then rectify this problem.
Methods The aim of this research is to provide a reliable method for estimating a smooth and convex ROC curve to help medical researchers use it effectively. Specified criteria such as likelihood ratio test, ease of use and computational time were used for evaluation. Using these criteria, parametric and non-parametric ROC curve estimation methods in two different computer software packages were analyzed. A simulated bi-cauchy distributed ROC curve was compared, using the two estimation methods, to a simulated binormal distributed ROC curve, where the latter stands as the known truth.
Understanding the factors associated with participation is key in addressing the problem of declining participation rates in epidemiological studies. This review aims to summarise factors affecting participation rates in articles published during the last nine years, to compare with previous findings to determine whether the research focus for non-participation has changed and whether the findings have been consistent over time. Web of Science was used to search titles of English articles from 2007–2015 for a range of synonymous words concerning participation rates. A predefined inclusion criteria was used to determine whether the resulting articles referred to participation in the context of study enrolment. Factors associated with participation were extracted from included articles. The search returned 626 articles, of which 162 satisfied the inclusion criteria. Compared with pre-2007, participant characteristics generally remained unchanged, but were topic-dependent. An increased focus on study design and a greater use of technology for enrolment and data collection was found, suggesting a transition towards technology-based methods. In addition to increased participation rates, studies should consider any bias arising from non-participation. When reporting results, authors are encouraged to include a standardised participation rate, a calculation of potential bias, and to apply an appropriate statistical method where appropriate. Requirements from journals to include these would allow for easier comparison of results between studies.
Infectious diseases are the causes of up to 30% of all admissions in the internal medicine ward. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and in Indonesia showed infectious diseases are the main cause of mortality. In-hospital mortality is an indicator of the healthcare quality and its analysis is important for planning healthcare management. The aim of this study is to describe the in-hospital mortality due to infectious diseases in the Internal Medicine Ward of an University-Affiliated Hospital in the Tangerang District, Banten Province, Indonesia. Epidemiological and clinical data of all in-hospital mortalities of patients aged above 18 year-old in 2014 were collected retrospectively from medical records and associated factors were evaluated. Out of 237 mortalities, 57.8% were due infectious diseases. Diagnosis of infectious diseases was 58.3%. The main causes of mortality were community acquired pneumonia (CAP) sepsis 18.6%, hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) sepsis 10.9%, and pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) 9.7%. In patients who died due to infectious diseases: males were more frequent, median age was 53 year-old, and 32.1% were aged above 60 year-old. Co-morbidities such as chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic liver disease (CLD), and non hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease (NH CVD) were risk factors for in-hospital mortality due to infectious diseases.
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether relevant cause specific death rates differed between veteran and non-veteran non-Hispanic white men who died in Washington State from 2000-2013. Cause specific death rates were calculated using death records obtained from the Washington State Department of Health, and population estimates were obtained from the Washington State Office of Financial Management for non-Hispanic white men ages 45-64. All cause death rates increased 40% for veterans and 20% for non-veterans during the years 2000-2013. For veterans external causes of death increased significantly as they did for non-veterans. For poisoning or drug or alcohol overdoses, death rates increased 86% for veterans and 69% for non-veterans. For alcoholic liver disease, rates increased 132% for veterans and 69% for non-veterans and were higher in veterans. With respect to intentional causes or suicide, rates were higher for veterans, yet the rate of increase was similar in both groups (61% veterans vs 63% non-veterans). In Washington State, the increase in all-cause mortality for nonHispanic white men was accompanied by significant increases in deaths due to poisoning, alcoholic liver disease, and suicide. All-cause death rates were higher for veterans as were cause specific rates due to alcoholic liver disease and suicide. Case and Deaton have recently reported that all cause death rates for non-Hispanic white individuals have increased due to stunning increases in external causes of death including suicide, alcoholic liver disease, and poisoning due to alcohol or drug overdoses. (1) The purpose of this paper is to determine whether relevant cause specific death rates differed between veteran and non-veteran non-Hispanic white men who died in Washington State between the years 2000 and 2013. This supplements earlier work about cause of death in Washington State veterans (2,3).
Objective of study: To know the prevalence of microscopic blood pictures and their association with hemoglobin level, age and sex among rural elderly. Methods: A rural community based cross-sectional study covering all elderly (≥60 years) in the population (15706) of three health sub-centers selected randomly out of total 21. The demographic information, peripheral blood smears and samples were taken by house-to-house visits. Pathologists examined smears and estimated hemoglobin using Cynmethemoglobin method. Results: The prevalence of Normocytic-Normochromic, Normocytic-Hypochromic, Microcytic-Hypochromic, Dimorphic and Macrocytic-Normochromic blood pictures were 45.4%, 20.4%, 21.4%, 10.2% and 2.6% respectively. The proportion of elderly having Hemoglobin 10 gm% or more (i.e. normal or mildly anemic) among above types were 91.8%, 27.0%, 11.4%, 2.0%, 0% respectively and this association of Hb levels with various blood pictures was highly significantly. Females had less Hb level than males and showed more hypochromic picture. Hb level and Normocytic-Normochromic picture also declined with age. Thus, microscopic examination of blood film was significantly reliable in assessing the prevalence as well as broad causes of anemia. Conclusion: Nine out of every ten rural elderly were anemic as per WHO definition with more than half having hypochromic pictures. Microscopic examination of blood smears was significantly reliable in diagnosing anemia as well as its broad causes in resource constrained situations.
BACKGROUND Demographic aging is ensued by many societal challenges. Extending working life has been proposed as a key measure to adjust to the involved socioeconomic problems. Still measurement of the length of working careers is not yet a standard practice. OBJECTIVE This article re-examines traditionally used and modern statistical methods for the analysis of life tables with a view to measure accurately the future employment time. DATA AND METHODS This paper discusses the advantages and limitations of the two alternative methods (Sullivan, 1971, and Davis et al., 2001), and compares the performance of their working-life expectancy estimates in a population-based study that were used to analyze aggregate sequential labor force survey data from Finland in 2000-2010. RESULTS We provide cogent methodological arguments substantiated by empirical findings to evince the better usefulness of the preferred multistate vector regression approach over the commonly used actuarial current life table technique. CONCLUSIONS The multistate modeling and estimation methodology presented enables a superior statistical analysis of stochastic processes in working life and deals with a real problem encountered foremost in developed countries with aging populations.
Objective: Aim of the study is to determine the relationship of quality of life with physical activity and effective sociodemographic factors in elder women in rural areas of central Anatolian. Methodology:This cross-sectional study was carried out in central Anatolian rural region. Sample size of the study was estimated to be 500 subjects. The stratified sampling method was used. All residences falling under the sample were visited one by one and all women aged over 60 years were invited to participate in the study. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Older Adults Module and International Physical Activity Scale. Results:The standardized mean quality of life score was 63.92±16.4 (range, 23-120) in the study group. The mean scores of domains were significantly different between each other, with the maximum score was taken in “death-die” domain and minimum score was taken in “social participation” domain. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that total score on the Quality of Life Instrument increases with increasing education level, income, physical activity and decreases in women not living with their husband and children. Conclusions: Physical activity of elder women should increase to improve their quality of life.
Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) are worldwide problems that affect workers in a wide variety of occupations, causing workers’ disability and increased health care cost. However, there is a dearth of literature on the risks and prevalence of WRMSDs among quarry workers in Nigeria. Aim: This study estimated the risks, pattern and prevalence of WRMSDs among quarry workers in a South Eastern Nigerian community. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey of quarry workers recruited using non-probability sampling technique from four purposively selected quarries registered with the federal ministry of solid minerals, in a Nigerian community. This study was conducted between May to August 2012, Parts A, B, C and D of Standard Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was used to collect data on the participants’ demographic characteristics, job history, prevalence and risk factors of WRMSDs. Data obtained was summarized using frequency counts, mean, standard deviation, percentages and bar charts. Additionally, chi-square test was used to determine association between prevalence and risk factors of WRMSDs. Finally, logistic regression analysis was done to predict the risk factors with the highest contribution to the presence of symptoms. The alpha level was set at p< 0.05. Result: A total of 114 participants (100% male) with mean age, 28.58 ± 8.09 years and age range, 16-52 years were included in the study. The prevalence rate of WRMSDs was 83.30%. Low back discomfort was the most prevalent (90 (78.9%)). All the participating drivers and mechanics were found to suffer from WRMSDs, while about 66.67, 81.25 and 77.50 of blasters, crushers and drillers also suffered from WRMSDs respectively. Repetitive movement and years of working experience were significantly associated with the occurrence of the symptoms. Task repetition was found to be the major risk factor of low back discomfort. Conclusion: There is a dire need for designing ergonomic interventional programmes to reduce the risks of WRMSDs among quarry workers. The findings of this study highlighted the health problems faced by these workers and is also expected to improve productivity in the quarry industry if employers could minimize the ergonomic challenges of poor work design and environment. However, further studies should be conducted using a longitudinal design to take care of the limited information provided by participant during the cross sectional survey which was mainly subjective. The use of electromyography study to predict muscle fatigue time during work task to determine maximum time a worker should be on task will help reduce the risk of WRMSDs among the quarry workers.
Sleep-Disordered breathing (SDB) is characterized by abnormalities in the respiratory pattern or ventilation during sleep. is a common disorder and previously estimated to affect up to 20% of the population. SDB is classified into 3 general categories: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), Central sleep apnea, and hypoventilation/hypoxemia syndromes. The present study analyzed the relationship between OSA risk and blood chemistry changes in a sample representative of the U.S. population surveyed during 2005-2008.
As of November 1, 2011, the Social Security Administration (SSA) Death Master Filer (DMF) no longer contains protected state death records [1]. Consequently, approximately 4.2 million records were removed from the historical file of 89 million and annually about 1 million fewer records will be added. Many parties including researchers and healthcare administrators, as well as the general public and genealogical organizations rely heavily on the DMF, because it is publically available, relatively inexpensive, and comprehensive [2,3]. This significant change will have effects on both healthcare research and operations [4,5]. To determine the potential consequences of this change, for 4 different time points we selected deceased individuals listed in the obituary section of the Tacoma, Washington News Tribune and determined whether they were also included in the DMF. The expectation was that DMF capture would be better prior to November 1, 2011.
Background : Trauma represents a major epidemic of non-communicable diseases in the present century . The aim of this study was to determine the pattern and epidemiological characteristics of fractures and dislocations presented to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, India Methods : This was a retrospective review of the hospital charts of all the patients presented to emergency and accident unit of this hospital between November 2008 to October 2010. Data was subjected to simple statistical analysis. Results : There were 4041 cases with fractures and /or dislocations presented during the study period . There were 2612 males and 1429 females. The male to female ratio was 1.82:1. Most common age group involved was fourth decade followed by third decade. Road traffic accidents (RTA) accounted for 62 % of all cases. Upper limb fractures were more common than lower limb fractures. Most common dislocations presented were shoulder dislocation. Conclusion: Most of the causes of fractures and dislocation are preventable. Knowledge of the pattern of fractures and dislocation will be helpful in planning better management in trauma centres.
Introduction: The public health impact of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes is already enormous and is increasing. Objectives: 1. To study the prevalence of risk factors of Coronary Heart Diseases among patients with Diabetes Mellitus. 2. To assess the awareness about risk factors of Coronary Heart Diseases in those patients. Materials and Methods: A Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted in IMS & SUM Hospital in a period of 2 months. A convenient sample of 200 diagnosed diabetic patients were included. Data collected with predesigned and pretested questionnaire after taking consent. Results: Out of 200 participants, 60% of patients had fasting blood sugar more than or equal to 126mg%. 21.5% diabetics have overweight or obesity when assessed as per BMI, but 89.5% were having central obesity, 41% were having history of hypertension and 8.5% had history of cardiovascular disease. Regarding lifestyle related factors, 92.5% diabetics were doing sedentary work, 68% were not taking or occasionally taking fruits, 58.5% were not practicing any fitness activities and 21.5% were currently using tobacco. Out of 64 patients, from whom
