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There is now a growing interest in early-life influences on adult diseases in China. A number of birth cohorts have been established. This systematic review provided a better understanding of the development of mother–baby cohorts in China. Systematic review. We conducted a systematic review for research or profile papers in English/Chinese that reported data from mother–baby cohorts in mainland China, with ≥1y follow-up after birth. We identified 315 papers, corresponding to 31 cohorts from 19 provinces/megacities. All cohorts started in 1999–2017 (21 after 2010) and were set up with broad objectives or specific scientific focus. The baseline sample size varied, from <500 to >300,000 mothers. A majority of cohorts were initiated during pregnancy and followed children to <10y, only six to adolescence and none into adulthood. These cohorts mostly collected samples from mothers and babies, in addition to using interviews/questionnaires to collect information about pregnancy, birth and child health. Most cohorts were recruited from a single province/city. The large western region was understudied. Mother–baby cohorts have developed rapidly in China, but usually with a short follow-up duration. Extending the follow-up of children and developing cross-cohort collaboration will increase the diversity, size and coverage of the sample, allow studying early influences on life-course health and identify targets for early intervention in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This review aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the effectiveness of nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions in primary health care. Methods: The following Chinese and English databases were searched for relevant articles: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), from the establishment of the databases until the last updating search 1 April 2022. Two researchers screened the studies independently and extracted the data. Meta‐analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.3 software. Results: A total of 12 studies were included in this review. It was found that nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions significantly shortened patients' length of stay in hospital (standardized mean differences [SMD] = −1.28, 95%CI: −2.03 to −0.54; P<0.001) and decreased incidences of complications (RR = 0.24, 95%CI:0.10 to 0.54; P = 0.0006) compared to the control group, and lowered patients' anxiety levels (SMD = −1.21, 95%CI: −1.99 to −0.44; P<0.01) and depression levels (SMD = −1.85, 95%CI: −3.42 to −0.28; P<0.0001). Furthermore, the results of subgroup analysis indicated that nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions had significant effects on patients' self‐management ability (SMD = 4.45, 95%CI:2.45 to 6.44; P<0.0001) and quality of life (SMD = 1.01, 95%CI: 0.63 to 1.40; P<0.0001) compared to the control group. Conclusions: Nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions had strong effects in primary health care, contributing to shorten patients' length of stay in hospital, decrease incidences of complications and reduce the levels of anxiety and depression. Moreover, nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions also improved patients' self‐management ability and quality of life. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Chronic diseases with long duration and slow recovery are one of the priorities for management in primary health care.In China and other countries around the world, primary health care is highly regarded for its efforts for the health of all.Several randomized controlled trials have explored the effectiveness of nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions in primary health care, but the findings of these studies are contradictory. What this paper adds? The review demonstrates that nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions could shorten patients' length of stay in hospital, decrease the incidence of complications and reduce the levels of anxiety and depression.Nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions also improve patients' self‐management ability and quality of life.Nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions are beneficial for promoting health and preventing disease in primary health care. The implications of this paper: Community primary health‐care personnel should be aware of the importance of nurse‐led multidisciplinary interventions in preventing disease and safeguarding health.For people with chronic diseases, community health‐care personnel should adopt multidisciplinary care methods to improve outcomes for patients.High‐quality studies are needed to verify the effects of interventions for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human communities suffered a vast socioeconomic burden in dealing with the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) globally. Real-word data about these burdens can inform governments about evidence-based resource allocation and prioritization. The aim of this scoping review was to map the cost-of-illness (CoI) studies associated with COVID-19. Methods: This scoping review was conducted from January 2019 to December 2021. We searched cost-of-illness papers published in English within Web of Sciences, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct and ProQuest. For each eligible study, extracted data included country, publication year, study period, study design, epidemiological approach, costing method, cost type, cost identification, sensitivity analysis, estimated unit cost and national burden. All of the analyses were applied in Excel software. Results: 2352 records were found after the search strategy application, finally 28 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Most of the studies were done in the United States, Turkey, and China. The prevalence-based approach was the most common in the studies, and most of studies also used Hospital Information System data (HIS). There were noticeable differences in the costing methods and the cost identification. The average cost of hospitalization per patient per day ranged from 101$ in Turkey to 2,364$ in the United States. Among the studies, 82.1% estimated particularly direct medical costs, 3.6% only indirect costs, and 14.3% both direct and indirect costs. Conclusion: The economic burden of COVID-19 varies from country to country. The majority of CoI studies estimated direct medical costs associated with COVID-19 and there is a paucity of evidence for direct non-medical, indirect, and intangible costs, which we recommend for future studies. To create homogeneity in CoI studies, we suggest researchers follow a conceptual framework and critical appraisal checklist of cost-of-illness (CoI) studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the incidence of facial pressure injuries in health‐care professionals during the COVID‐19 pandemic in a meta‐analysis. Methods: Related studies were obtained through electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) Chinese Scientific Journal (VIP) China Biomedical Literature service systems (CBM) and Wanfang Data (from inception to 27 November 2021). The pooled incidence and the 95% confidence interval of facial pressure injuries were calculated with Review Manager v5.4 software. Results: Overall, 16 studies with 14 430 health‐care professionals were included. Pooled results showed that the pooled incidence of facial pressure injury in health‐care professionals was 58.8% (95% CI: 49.0%–68.7%; p < 0.01). The results of the subgroup analysis showed that the incidence of facial pressure injury in these staff was high, and predominantly stage I pressure injury, in the following cases: in health‐care professionals who wore personal protective equipment for longer than 4 h, in those without any training experience, and on the nose. Conclusion: Administrators and researchers should pay attention to preventing facial pressure injury related to the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) by ensuring all health‐care professionals receive training and by limiting prolonged periods of use. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Facial pressure injury was one of the most common effects experiencedby health‐care professionals wearing facial PPE during COVID‐19, which seriously affected their facial comfort and self‐image.A number of studies have reported the incidence of facial pressure injury in health‐care professionals, but the evidence is inconsistent.Medical staff are the main force during the COVID‐19. What this paper adds? This study showed that the pooled incidence of facial pressure injury in health‐care professionals was 56.8% during COVID‐19.This study showed that there was a higher incidence of facial pressure injury in staff who wore PPE for longer than 4 h and in those without any training experience.This study showed that the nose was the most common part of the face with pressure injury, and Stage I pressure injury was the most prevalent injury type in health‐care professionals. The implications of this paper: This study may provide evidence for managers about the development of guidelines for health‐care professionals to prevent and manage facial pressure injuries and promote the health of health‐care professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This meta‐analysis aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions on family function among families after stroke. Background: Family function may be improved by psychoeducational intervention, but findings about the effect of psychoeducation on family function among families after stroke have been mixed. Methods: This was a meta‐analysis carried out by searching five international electronic databases, including Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and CINAHL, as well as four national electronic databases, including Chinese Biological Medicine (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP and Wanfang. Two groups of researchers screened the studies independently, assessed the quality of the studies and extracted data. Meta‐analysis was performed by using the RevMan 5.3 software. Results: Five studies on psychoeducational interventions were included. Pooled analysis of these studies showed a small effect of the interventions on improving family function (WMD: −0.13, 95% CI: −0.24 to −0.01, P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed significant differences between the psychoeducation and control groups at 1 month postintervention (WMD: −0.12, 95% CI: −0.18 to −0.05, P < 0.05) and more than 6 months postintervention (WMD: −0.14, 95% CI: −0.24 to −0.04, P < 0.05). The psychoeducational interventions also had positive effect on improving the problem solving (WMD: −0.22, 95% CI: −0.14 to −0.03, P < 0.05) and communication (WMD: −0.23, 95% CI: −0.41 to −0.05, P < 0.05) functions of the family. There were significant differences in the group of dyad intervention (WMD: −0.14, 95% CI: −0.25 to −0.02, P < 0.05) and the group using face to face method (WMD: −0.58, 95% CI: −0.84 to −0.32, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Synthesized results demonstrated the favourable effect of psychoeducational interventions on the improvement of the family function among families after stroke, especially in terms of family problem solving and family communication. Future psychoeducational intervention research design should consider the combination of multiple intervention methods and the applicable population of intervention. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Good family function can promote the physical and mental health of family caregivers, improve the life quality of stroke survivors and lighten a heavy burden on the whole family.Family function may be improved by psychoeducational intervention, but findings about the effect of psychoeducation on family function among families after stroke have been mixed.What this paper adds? The psychoeducational intervention has a positive effect on family function among families after stroke, especially in terms of family problem solving and family communication.The implications of this paper: The psychoeducational intervention can be an acceptable method to improve family function among families after stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and late-onset sepsis (LOS) are the major contributors to mortality and morbidity in preterm infants. This updated meta-analysis was aimed to assess the effects of mother's milk on the incidence of NEC, LOS, and other clinical outcomes in preterm infants. Methods. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library were searched for papers published up to October 2022. Results. A total of 13 RCTs with 1330 infants were included in the final analysis. Significant difference in NEC (stage 2 or 3) was found between the intervention group and the control group (RR = 0.508, 95% CI: 0.314–0.822, and P = 0.008). The incidence of proven LOS (RR = 0.809, 95% CI: 0.610–1.071, and P = 0.139) and death (RR = 0.800, 95% CI: 0.571–1.122, and P = 0.196) was comparable between the two groups. Statistical differences in the incidence of proven or probable LOS (RR = 0.705, 95% CI: 0.577–0.862, and P = 0.001) and length of hospitalization (WMD = −4.868, 95% CI: −6.608 to −3.128, and P < 0.001) between the intervention group and the control group were observed. Conclusions. The results of this updated meta-analysis showed that compared to the placebo, mother's milk provides better effects in reducing the incidences of NEC, proven or probable LOS, and the length of stay, whereas no significant benefit of mother's milk was observed in reducing the incidence of proven LOS and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic has had a profound worldwide impact on the laboratory hematology community. Nevertheless, the pace of COVID‐19 hematology‐related research has continued to accelerate and has established the role of laboratory hematology data for many purposes including disease prognosis and outcome. The purpose of this scoping review was to assess the current state of COVID‐19 laboratory hematology research. A comprehensive search of the literature published between December 1, 2019, and July 3, 2020, was performed, and we analyzed the sources, publication dates, study types, and topics of the retrieved studies. Overall, 402 studies were included in this scoping review. Approximately half of these studies (n = 202, 50.37%) originated in China. Retrospective cohort studies comprised the largest study type (n = 176, 43.89%). Prognosis/ risk factors, epidemiology, and coagulation were the most common topics. The number of studies published per day has increased through the end of May. The studies were heavily biased in favor of papers originating in China and on retrospective clinical studies with limited use of and reporting of laboratory data. Despite the major improvements in our understanding of the role of coagulation, automated hematology, and cell morphology in COVID‐19, there are gaps in the literature, including biosafety and the laboratory role in screening and prevention of COVID‐19. There is a gap in the publication of papers focused on guidelines for the laboratory. Our findings suggest that, despite the large number of publications related to laboratory data and their use in COVID‐19 disease, many areas remain unexplored or under‐reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to systematically review and critically appraise the literature describing the phonetic characteristics and accuracy of the consonants, vowels and tones produced by Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs). The protocol in this review was designed in conformity with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. EBSCOhost, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, ProQuest Central databases were searched for relevant articles which met the inclusion criteria. A total of 18 journal papers were included in this review. The results revealed that Mandarin-speaking children with CIs perform consistently more poorly in their production of consonants, in particular on fricatives, have a smaller and less well-defined vowel space, and exhibit greater difficulties in tone realisation, notably T2 and T3, when compared to their normal-hearing (NH) peers. The results from acoustic and accuracy analyses are negatively correlated with CI implantation age, but largely positively correlated with hearing age. Findings of this review highlight the factors that influence consonant, vowel and tone production in Mandarin-speaking children with CIs, thereby providing critical information for clinicians and researchers working with this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lack of physical activity is a growing problem in China, due to the fast economic development and changing living environment over the past two decades. The aim of this review is to summarize the factors related to physical activity in Chinese children and adolescents during this distinct period of development. Methods: A systematic search was finished on Jan 10th, 2017, and identified 2200 hits through PubMed and Web of Science. English-language published studies were included if they reported statistical associations between factors and physical activity. Adapted criteria from the Strengthening The Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement and evaluation of the quality of prognosis studies in systematic reviews (QUIPS) were used to assess the risk of bias of the included studies. Related factors that were reported in at least three studies were summarized separately for children and adolescents using a semi-quantitative method. Results: Forty two papers (published 2002-2016) were included. Most designs were cross-sectional (79%), and most studies used questionnaires to assess physical activity. Sample size was above 1000 in 18 papers (43%). Thirty seven studies (88%) showed acceptable quality by methodological quality assessment. Most studies reported a low level of physical activity. Boys were consistently more active than girls, the parental physical activity was positively associated with children and adolescents' physical activity, children in suburban/rural regions showed less activity than in urban regions, and, specifically in adolescents, self-efficacy was positively associated with physical activity. Family socioeconomic status and parental education were not associated with physical activity in children and adolescents. Conclusions: The studies included in this review were large but mostly of low quality in terms of study design (cross-sectional) and methods (questionnaires). Parental physical activity and self-efficacy are promising targets for future physical activity promotion programmes. The low level of physical activity raises concern, especially in suburban/rural regions. Future research is required to enhance our understanding of other influences, such as the physical environment, especially in early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the incidence rate of nephrotoxicity in Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f (TwHF) preparations approved by the China Food and Drug Administration and the potential risk factors. Methods: CENTRAL, PubMed, SinoMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, China Important Conference Papers Database, China Dissertation Database, and online clinical trial registry websites were searched for articles that reported on nephrotoxicity of TwHF preparations until November 23, 2017. There was no limitation for study design. Results: A total of 36 articles involving 2,017 participants were included. Results showed that the incidence of nephrotoxicity associated with TwHF preparations was 5.81% (95% confidence interval: 4.43–7.57). Subgroup analysis showed that the disease type, combined medication, duration, and study design were not correlated with the incidence of nephrotoxicity. Conclusion: The incidence rate of nephrotoxicity in TwHF preparations was 5.81%. The possible risk factors, such as disease type, the combination with other drugs, medication time, and study design, were not found to be correlated with the incidence of nephrotoxicity. However, due to the limited number of included articles, the limited sample size, and the poor methodology quality, the incidence rate of nephrotoxicity of TwHF preparations might be overestimated, and more prospective articles are needed to explore the potential influence factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By retrieving literature published from 2005 to 2015 from Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Vip, PubMed, and Web of Science, we filtered out studies using the Children’s Depression Inventory only and compared left-behind children and non-left-behind children. The methodological quality of the papers was evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Finally, we included six studies to carry out a meta-analysis. The results showed that the Children’s Depression Inventory scores of left-behind children are significantly higher than those of non-left-behind children (standardized mean difference: −0.233, 95% confidence interval: −0.036 to −0.430, p < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper reviewed the literature on the trajectories and the factors significantly affecting post-implantation speech perception development in Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs). Design: A systematic literature search of textbooks and peer-reviewed published journal articles in online bibliographic databases was conducted. Study sample: PubMed, Scopus and Wiley online library were searched for eligible studies based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: A total of 14 journal articles were selected for this review. A number of consistent results were found. That is, children with CIs, as a group, exhibited steep improvement in early speech perception, from exhibiting few prelingual auditory behaviours before implantation to identifying sentences in noise after one year of CI use. After one to three years of CI use, children are expected to identify tones above chance and recognition of words in noise. In addition, early age at implantation, longer duration of CI use and higher maternal education level contributed to greater improvements in speech perception. Conclusions: Findings from this review will contribute to the establishment of appropriate short-term developmental goals for Mandarin-speaking children with CIs in mainland China and clinicians could use them to determine whether children have made appropriate progress with CIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify and assess evidence related to the efficacy of mind-body interventions on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the Chinese population. Method: Drawn from Chinese databases, nine RCTs and three Q-E studies were included in the systematic review. The methodological quality of RCTs was evaluated based on the following criteria: adequate sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, completeness of outcome data, selective reporting, and other potential biases. For continuous variables, the effect size (ES) was determined by calculating the standardized mean difference between groups. For dichotomous variables, the ES was determined by calculating the risk ratio (RR) between groups. Given the heterogeneity between the trials and the small number of studies included, both random effects and fixed effects models were used. The inverse variance method was used for pooling. Statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager version 5.0. Results: The total number of papers identified was 710: 462 from English language databases and 248 from Chinese language databases. Twelve studies met our eligibility criteria. Among the studies selected, three were Q-E studies the rest RCTs. Two studies described the randomization process. None of the studies reported allocation concealment nor blinding. Seven studies reported no dropouts. One of the studies mentioned the total amount of dropouts; though the reason for dropping out was not referenced. The other four studies did not clearly report dropouts. With the exception of three studies, there was inadequate information to determine biased reporting for the majority; the level of risk for bias in these studies is unclear. Finally, six meta-analyses were performed. One was conducted with four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used cure rate as outcome measures to evaluate gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, which suggested that mind-body interventions were effective in improving GI symptoms (random effects model: RR = 1.08; 95 % CI 1.01 to 1.17; fixed effects model: RR = 1.07; 95 % CI 1.01 to 1.12). The remaining five were conducted in three RCTs, which suggested that mind-body interventions were effective in improving several aspects of quality of life, including interference with activity (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.64; 95 % CI 0.41 to 0.86), body image (random effects model: SMD = 0.36; 95 % CI 0.06 to 0.67; fixed effects model: SMD = 0.33; 95 % CI 0.11 to 0.55), health worry (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.67; 95 % CI 0.44 to 0.90), food avoidance (random effects and fixed effects models: SMD = 0.45; 95 % CI 0.23 to 0.68), and social reaction (random effects model: SMD = 0.79; 95 % CI 0.47 to 1.12; fixed effects model: SMD = 0.78; 95 % CI 0.55 to 1.01), as measured by Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life Questionnaire ( IBS-QOL). Conclusion: Mind-body interventions may have the potential to improve GI symptoms in Chinese patients with IBS. The improvement of GI symptoms was also accompanied with the improvement of various outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and quality of life, just to mention a few. However, the published studies generally had significant methodological limitations. Future clinical trials with rigorous research design are needed in this field. More studies focusing on the mind-body interventions originated in China, such as tai chi and qi gong should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Though inflammatory response is beneficial to body damage repair, if it is out of control, it can produce adverse effects on the body. Although purely western anti-inflammatory drugs, orthodox medicines, can control inflammation occurrence and development, it is not enough. The clinical efficacy of anti-inflammation therapies is unsatisfactory, thus the search for new anti-inflammation continues. Chinese Material Medica (CMM) remains a promising source of new therapeutic agents. CMM and herbal formulae from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), unorthodox medicines, play an improtant anti-inflammatory role in multi-targets, multi-levels, and multi-ways in treating inflammation diseases in a long history in China, based on their multi-active ingredient characteristics. Due to these reasons, recently, CMM has been commercialized as an anti-inflammation agent which has become increasingly popular in the world health drug markets. Major research contributions in ethnopharmacology have generated vast amount of data associated with CMM in anti-inflammtion aspect. Therefore, a systematic introduction of CMM anti-inflammatory research progress is of great importance and necessity. Aim of the study: This paper strives to describe the progress of CMM in the treatment of inflammatory diseases from different aspects, and provide the essential theoretical support and scientific evidence for the further development and utilization of CMM resources as a potential anti-inflammation drug through a variety of databases. Material and methods: Literature survey was performed via electronic search (SciFinder®, Pubmed®, Google Scholar and Web of Science) on papers and patents and by systematic research in ethnopharmacological literature at various university libraries. Results: This review mainly introduced the current research on the anti-inflammatory active ingredient, anti-inflammatory effects of CMM, their mechanism, anti-inflammatory drug development of CMM, and toxicological information. Conclusion: CMM is used clinically to treat inflammation symptoms in TCM, and its effect is mediated by multiple targets through multiple active ingredients. Although scholars around the world have made studies on the anti-inflammatory studies of CMM from different pathways and aspects and have made substantial progress, further studies are warranted to delineate the inflammation actions in more cogency models, establish the toxicological profiles and quality standards, assess the potentials of CMM in clinical applications, and make more convenient preparations easy to administrate for patients. Development of the clinically anti-inflammatory drugs are also warranted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We aim to provide an overview of clinical and demographical features and neuropathological research on frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from China over the past decade. We reviewed the demographic features, clinical presentations, and neuropathology of the FTD-spectrum disorders from the 49 cases in China published since 1998. On the basis of these findings, we retrospect the history and speculate on future progress in terms of FTD in China. We found that most published papers comprise case reports with a few retrospective studies with small sample sizes. Behavior variant FTD (bvFTD) was the most common diagnostic subtype, of which 35% were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Parkinsonian syndrome. More than 47% patients with FTD had age onset before 65. There were no differences in age of onset and sex distribution between diagnostic subtypes. The spectrum of neuropathological diagnosis of bvFTD was frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD) with tau protein or ubiquitin-immunopositive inclusions, and FTLD without intracellular inclusions. Median survival in bvFTD was 14 years. This paper provides an overview of the current status and pointers for future research directions of FTD in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the use of a clinical nursing pathway for patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy by conducting a meta-analysis. Electronic databases were searched for relevant controlled trials published prior to August 2013. Only papers that compared the use of a clinical nursing pathway to usual care for patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy were selected. The outcome measures were mean difference and 95% confidence interval for length of hospital stay and hospital charges and risk ratio for patient satisfaction. Six controlled trials were identified. The use of a clinical nursing pathway reduced the length of hospital stay and hospital charges. Furthermore, it improved patient satisfaction. This meta-analysis indicates that application of a clinical nursing pathway appears to reduce length of hospital stay and hospital charges and improve patient satisfaction for patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:The third nationwide hepatitis B virus (HBV) sero-epidemiological survey conducted in China in 2006 showed a hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive rate of 7.18% and the number of carriers to be 93 million. To compensate for the lack of data on the national prevalence of hepatitis B from 2006 onwards, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate HBsAg-positive rates among the general Chinese population aged 1–59 years.Methods:We systemically reviewed published studies (January 2007 to September 2013) from full-text databases such as VIP, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and PubMed and assessed HBsAg-positive rates using a random effects regression model with comprehensive meta-analysis software.Results:After evaluation of the quality of the papers, 36 were finally included, with a total sample size of 314 103 individuals. The meta-analysis showed that the combined HBsAg-positive rate was 6.1% (95% confidence interval (CI), 5.4–6.8%) among general Chinese populations aged 1–59, with a higher HBsAg-positive rate in males (6.6%; 95% CI, 5.7–7.7%) than in females (5.1%; 95% CI, 4.4–5.9%). Our data also showed a higher HBsAg-positive rate of 6.9% in mid-western China (95% CI, 5.2–9.1%) against 5.6% in eastern China (95% CI, 4.9–6.4%).Conclusion:This meta-analysis suggested that the positive rates of HBsAg in China are reducing compared with previous 2006 sero-survey results, and China has changed from a high endemic area for HBV to an intermediate endemic area. However, owing to the large population, there remain an estimated 80 million HBsAg carriers in China. Thus, the prevention and control of hepatitis B represent a serious challenge, particularly in mid-western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Seven species from the genus Dictamnus are distributed throughout Europe and North Asia and only two species grow in China. One is Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz., which could be found in many areas of China and has been recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia . The other is Dictamnus angustifolius G. Don ex Sweet, which is only present in Xinjiang province and has been used as an alternative for Dictamnus dasycarpus in the local for the treatment of rheumatism, bleeding, itching, jaundice, chronic hepatitis and skin diseases. The present paper reviewed the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of the genus Dictamnus . Materials and methods Information on the Dictamnus species was collected from classic books about Chinese herbal medicine and globally accepted scientific databases including PubMed, Elsevier, ASC, Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, CNKI and others. Results About 170 chemical compounds, which include quinoline alkaloids, limonoids, sesquiterpenes, coumarins, flavonoids and steroids, have been isolated from the genus Dictamnus . The characteristic and active constituents of Dictamnus species are considered to be quinoline alkaloids and limonoids, which exhibited a broad spectrum of biological activities such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, anti-microbe, anti-platelet-aggregation, vascular-relaxation, anti-insect, anti-HIV, anti-allergy and neuroprotection. Moreover, quinoline alkaloids and limonoids could be used as quality control markers to distinguish different species from the genus Dictamnus . However, there were also some reports on the toxic hepatitis and phototoxic effect of Dictamnus species, and the related research needs to be further studied. Conclusion In this review, we summarized the chemical constituents, pharmacology, quality control and toxicology of the species from genus Dictamnus . Phytochemical investigations indicated that quinoline alkaloids and limonoids were the major bioactive components with potential cytotoxic, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-platelet-aggregation and vascular relaxing activities. These two kinds of compounds have attracted great interests in the past few years and may have great potential to be new drug lead compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Jumping exercise is frequently regarded as an optimum strategy for increasing pubertal bone growth, but its role in promoting or preserving adult bone mineral density (BMD) is still undefined. Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the evidence for the influence of jumping exercise on BMD in premenopausal women and to define the effectiveness of high-impact exercise in improving or maintaining female bone health. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, Google Scholar and BIOSIS up to 1 September 2013 for jumping exercise influence on BMD in premenopausal women. The search terms used were 'jumping', 'skipping', 'brief exercise', 'high impact', 'bone density', 'BMD', 'femoral neck', 'lumbar spine', and 'trochanter', and the search was limited to females. Six papers met the search criteria. Results: Six studies on BMD in the femoral neck ( Q = 2.63, p = 0.854, I = 0.0 %), trochanter ( Q = 2.10, p = 0.10, I = 0.0 %) and lumbar spine ( Q = 1.17, p = 0.979, I = 0.0 %) were highly homogenous in determining skeletal responses to jumping exercise. Jumping exercise significantly increased BMD in the femoral neck {weighted mean difference (WMD) [fixed effect] = 0.017 g/cm, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.014-0.20, p < 0.001} and trochanter (WMD [fixed effect] = 0.021, 95 % CI 0.018-0.024, p < 0.001). However, the lumbar spine seemed to benefit less from such high-impact exercise ( p = 0.181). Visual inspection of the plots implicated some degree of asymmetry, indicating a slightly positive treatment effect at the femoral neck and trochanter sites. Conclusions: Based on meta-analysis of existing studies, the sensitivity of skeletal response to jumping exercise in premenopausal women is significant and site-specific, with significant benefit from high-impact exercise noted, especially at the hip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to evaluate reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the nursing field in China. Over the last decade, evidence-based nursing has been gradually known and accepted by nurses in China, and the number of systematic reviews or meta-analyses of nursing flied has steadily increased, but the quality of these reviews is unsatisfactory. The Chinese Journal Full-Text Database, the Chinese Biomedicine Literature Database and the Wanfang Database were searched for systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the nursing field, from inception through December 2011. The Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses and the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews checklists were used to assess reporting characteristics and methodological quality, respectively. A total of 63 systematic reviews or meta-analyses were identified. The deficiencies of methodological quality were mainly in literature searches, heterogeneity handling, recognition and assessment of publication bias. In addition, the deficiencies of reporting characteristics were reflected in incomplete reporting of literature search, quality assessment, risk of bias and results. Focusing on improving the quality of reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the nursing field in China is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Carthamus tinctorius L. (Compositae), a widely used traditional Chinese medicine, was known as Hong hua (Chinese: ▪), safflower. Safflower with a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects has been used to treat dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, postpartum abdominal pain and mass, trauma and pain of joints, etc. The present paper reviews the advancements in investigation of botany and ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of safflower. Finally, the possible tendency and perspective for future investigation of this plant are discussed, too. Materials and methods: The information on safflower was collected via piles of resources including classic books about Chinese herbal medicine, and scientific databases including Pubmed, Google Scholar, ACS, Web of science, CNKI and others. Results: Over 104 compounds from this plant have been isolated and identified, and quinochalcones and flavonoids are considered as the characteristic and active constituents of safflower. Safflower with its active compounds possesses wide-reaching biological activities, including dilating coronary artery, improving myocardial ischemia, modulating immune system, anticoagulation and antithrombosis, antioxidation, antiaging, antihypoxia, antifatigue, antiinflammation, anti-hepatic fibrosis, antitumor, analgesia, etc. Conclusions: As an important traditional Chinese medicine, it is important to investigate the pharmacological effects and molecular mechanisms of this plant based on modern realization of diseases' pathophysiology. More bioactive components should be identified using bioactivity-guided isolation strategies, and the possible mechanism of action as well as potential synergistic or antagonistic effects of multi-component mixtures derived from safflower need to be evaluated integrating pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, bioavailability-centered and physiological approaches. Further studies on safflower can lead to the development of new drugs and therapeutics for various diseases, and how to utilize it better should be paid more attention to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. To explore whether Astragalus or its formulations could prevent upper respiratory infection in children with nephrotic syndrome and how best to use it. Methods. We transformed a common clinical question in practice to an answerable question according to the PICO principle. Databases, including the Cochrane Library (Issue 5, 2012), PUBMED (1966-2012.8), CBM (1978-2012.8), VIP (1989-2012.8), and CNKI (1979-2012.8), were searched to identify Cochrane systematic reviews and clinical trials. Then, the quality of and recommendations from the clinical evidence were evaluated using the GRADEpro software. Results. The search yielded 537 papers. Only two studies with high validity were included for synthesis calculations. The results showed that Astragalus granules could effectively reduce URTI in children with nephrotic syndrome compared with prednisone treatment alone (23.9% versus 42.9%; RR = 0.56 and 95% CI = 0.33-0.93). The dose of Astragalus granules was 2.25 gram (equivalent to 15 gram crude Astragalus) twice per day, at least for 3-6 months. The level of evidence quality was low, but we still recommended the evidence to the patient according to GRADEpro with the opinion of the expert. Followup showed the incidence of URTI in this child decreased significantly. Conclusions. Astragalus granules may reduce the incidence of URTI in children with nephrotic syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STUDY QUESTION: Does searching for Helicobacter pylori and treating with eradication therapy among healthy asymptomatic infected individuals reduce the subsequent incidence of gastric cancer? SUMMARY ANSWER: Yes, only 51 (1.6%) gastric cancers occurred among 3294 individuals who received eradication therapy compared with 76 (2.4%) in 3203 control subjects (relative risk 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.46 to 0.95). WHAT IS KNOWN AND WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Searching for and eradicating H pylori could, theoretically, reduce the incidence of gastric cancer, but evidence is conflicting. In this meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials gastric cancer incidence was significantly lower in healthy asymptomatic infected individuals who received eradication therapy compared with those who received placebo or no treatment, with a number needed to treat of 124 overall. If the benefit of eradication therapy was assumed to persist lifelong the number needed to treat was as low as 15 for Chinese men, and as high as 245 for US women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]