Search

Background: Rural-to-urban migrant workers have been increasing rapidly in China over recent decades. Health related quality of life (HRQOL) may affect health service utilization. There is a lack of data on HRQOL in relation to health service utilization in Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers. This study was aimed to explore the influence of HRQOL on health service utilization in Chinese rural-to-urban female migrant workers.Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of 1,438 female rural-to-urban migrant workers in Shenzhen-Dongguan economic zone, China in 2013. HRQOL was assessed by the 36-items Health Survey Short Form (SF-36). Health service utilization was measured by any physician visit over the recent two weeks and any hospitalization over the last 1-year (annual hospitalization). Clustered logistic regression was used to analyze the influence of HRQOL on health service utilization.Results: Lower scores in three HRQOL domains (bodily pain, general health, role physical) were associated with more frequent health service utilization in female rural-to-urban migrant workers. Bodily pain and general health were associated with an independent influence of 15.6% on the risk of recent two-week physician visit, while role physical and general health were associated with an independent influence of 21.2% on the risk of annual hospitalization. The independent influence of HRQOL on health service utilization was smaller than that of socio-demographic and health-related variables.Conclusions: HRQOL may have a modest influence on health service utilization in Chinese rural-to-urban female migrant workers - an underprivileged population in urban China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interpregnancy interval (IPI), marital status, and neighborhood are independently associated with birth outcomes. The joint contribution of these exposures has not been evaluated. We tested for effect modification between IPI and marriage, controlling for neighborhood.Methods: We analyzed a cohort of 98,330 live births in Montréal, Canada from 1997-2001 to assess IPI and marital status in relation to small for gestational age (SGA) birth. Births were categorized as subsequent-born with short (<12 months), intermediate (12-35 months), or long (36+ months) IPI, or as firstborn. The data had a 2-level hierarchical structure, with births nested in 49 neighborhoods. We used multilevel logistic regression to obtain adjusted effect estimates.Results: Marital status modified the association between IPI and SGA birth. Being unmarried relative to married was associated with SGA birth for all IPI categories, particularly for subsequent births with short (odds ratio [OR] 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.31-1.95) and intermediate (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.26-1.74) IPIs. Subsequent births had a lower likelihood of SGA birth than firstborns. Intermediate IPIs were more protective for married (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.47-0.54) than unmarried mothers (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.56-0.76).Conclusion: Being unmarried increases the likelihood of SGA birth as the IPI shortens, and the protective effect of intermediate IPIs is reduced in unmarried mothers. Marital status should be considered in recommending particular IPIs as an intervention to improve birth outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Single-stranded non-protein coding small RNAs, 18-25 nucleotides in length, are ubiquitous throughout plants genomes and are involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Several types of DNA markers have been reported for the detection of genetic diversity or sequence variation in soybean, one of the most important legume crops in worldwide for seed protein and oil content. Recently, with the available of public genomic databases, there has been a shift from the labor-intensive development of PCR-based markers to sequence-based genotyping and the development of functional markers within genes, often coupled with the use of RNA information. But thus far miRNA-based markers have been only developed in rice and tobacco. Here we report the first functional molecular miRNA marker, miR1511-InDel, in soybean for a specific single copy locus used to assess genetic variation in domesticated soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr) and its wild progenitor (Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.)., Results: We genotyped a total of 1,669 accessions of domesticated soybean (G. max) and its wild progenitor G. soja which are native throughout the China and parts of Korea, Japan and Russia. The results indicate that the miR1511 locus is distributed in cultivated soybean and has three alleles in annual wild soybean. Based on this result, we proposed that miR-InDel marker technology can be used to assess genetic variation. The inclusion of geo-reference data with miR1511-InDel marker data corroborated that accessions from the Yellow River basin (Huanghuai) exhibited high genetic diversity which provides more molecular evidence for gene diversity in annual wild soybean and domestication of soybean., Conclusions: These results provide evidence for the use of RNA marker, miRNA1511-InDel, as a soybean-specific functional maker for the study of genetic diversity, genotyping of germplasm and evolution studies. This is also the first report of functional marker developed from soybean miRNA located within the functional region of pre-miRNA1511.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its risk factors among survivors in a heavily-hit area five years after the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, China., Methods: 684 survivors from Beichuan county, the center of the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008, were evaluated using the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) questionnaire in 2013., Results: The prevalence of PTSD among survivors was 9.2% in 2013. Significant risk factors of PTSD included gender (females 12.1%, males 5.2%), age (18-35 y 0.8%, 36-59 y 9.7%, ≥60 y 12.9%), occupation (farmers 12.2%, non-farmers 1.6%), education (less than high school 11.0%; > = high school 0.8%) and family member loss (yes: 12.4%, no: 7.3%). Multivariate logistic regression showed that females, older people, farmers and those with family member loss were significantly more likely to develop PTSD., Conclusions: Posttraumatic stress symptoms remained relatively common among survivors five years after the "5.12" Earthquake in Beichuan county, China. It is important to provide psychological aid and social support for survivors to decease health burden from PTSD, especially for females, farmers, old age survivors and those with family member loss.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is a major cause of infant morbidity and mortality, but the relationship between comorbidity and PTB by clinical subtype and severity of gestational age remains poorly understood. We evaluated associations between maternal comorbidities and PTB by clinical subtype and gestational age., Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1,329,737 singleton births delivered in hospitals in the province of Québec, Canada, 1989-2006. PTB was classified by clinical subtype (medically indicated, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), spontaneous preterm labour) and gestational age (< 28, 28-31, 32-36 completed weeks). Odds ratios (OR) of PTB by clinical subtype for systemic and localized maternal comorbidities were estimated using polytomous logistic regression, adjusting for maternal age, grand multiparity, and period. Attributable fractions were calculated., Results: PTB rates were higher among mothers with comorbidity (10.9%) compared to those without comorbidity (4.7%). Several comorbidities were associated with greater odds of medically indicated PTB compared with no comorbidity, but only comorbidities localized to the reproductive system were associated with spontaneous PTB. Drug dependence and mental disorders were strongly associated with PPROM and spontaneous PTBs across all gestational ages (OR > 2.0). At the population level, several major comorbidities (placental abruption, chorioamnionitis, oliogohydramnios, structural abnormality, cervical incompetence) were key contributors to all clinical subtypes of PTB, especially at < 32 weeks. Major systemic comorbidities (preeclampsia, anemia) were key contributors to PPROM and medically indicated PTBs., Conclusions: The relationship between comorbidity and clinical subtypes of PTB depends on gestational age. Prevention of PPROM and spontaneous PTB may benefit from greater attention to preeclampsia, anemia and comorbidities localized to the reproductive system.

Background: Birth weight for gestational age is a widely-used proxy for fetal growth. Although the need for different standards for males and females is generally acknowledged, the physiologic vs pathologic nature of ethnic differences in fetal growth is hotly debated and remains unresolved., Methods: We used all stillbirth, live birth, and deterministically linked infant deaths in British Columbia from 1981 to 2000 to examine fetal growth and perinatal mortality in Chinese (n = 40,092), South Asian (n = 38,670), First Nations, i.e., North American Indian (n = 56,097), and other (n = 731,109) births. We used a new analytic approach based on total fetuses at risk to compare the four ethnic groups in perinatal mortality, mean birth weight, and "revealed" (< 10th percentile) small-for-gestational age (SGA) among live births based on both a single standard and four ethnic-specific standards., Results: Despite their lower mean birth weights and higher SGA rates (when based on a single standard), Chinese and South Asian infants had lower perinatal mortality risks throughout gestation. The opposite pattern was observed for First Nations births: higher mean birth weights, lower revealed SGA rates, and higher perinatal mortality risks. When SGA was based on ethnic-specific standards, however, the pattern was concordant with that observed for perinatal mortality., Conclusion: The concordance of perinatal mortality and SGA rates when based on ethnic-specific standards, and their discordance when based on a single standard, strongly suggests that the observed ethnic differences in fetal growth are physiologic, rather than pathologic, and make a strong case for ethnic-specific standards.