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Background Diverse sources of syndromic surveillance including over-the-counter (OTC) drug sales, hospital and school-based influenza-like illness (ILI) and Baidu search queries estimate influenza activity in Tianjin, China. The purpose of this study was to determine which syndromic surveillance systems had the strongest correlation with laboratory-confirmed influenza activity. Methods Data were obtained from sentinel hospitals and laboratories; sentinel hospitals also reported percentage of ILI. OTC sales and school- based ILI absentee data were provided by public pharmacies and schools. Baidu search queries for influenza surveillance were analyzed. Spearman correlation analysis examined correlations of syndromic systems with laboratory-confirmed data. Results Syndromic data for hospital ILI%, OTC sales and school-based ILI correlated well with laboratory data (r = 0.732, 0.490 and 0.693, respectively; P < 0.05). Baidu, the predominant Chinese Internet service, searches for 'influenza', 'cough' and 'fever' correlated best with laboratory-confirmed activity; queries for 'fever' were strongest (r = 0.924, P < 0.001). Correlations between school-based ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza increased from 0.693 to 0.795 after a 1-week lag (P < 0.05). Conclusions A Baidu query of 'fever' provided the strongest correlation to laboratory surveillance. School-based ILI absence reporting detected influenza virus activity 1 week earlier than laboratory confirmation. Use of diverse syndromic surveillance systems in conjunction with traditional surveillance systems can improve influenza surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: China's economic reforms have led to millions of citizens being relocated to support infrastructure development, reduce poverty, and address ecological, disaster-related and other concerns. This study expands on previous research on the implications of relocation in China by examining the impact of rural elders' relocation on the perceived availability of emotional, instrumental, and financial support. Methods: Data were drawn from the Ankang Study of Aging and Health conducted with a representative sample of 1,062 rural residents aged 60 and over living in Ankang, China. Two-stage probit and least squares regression models assessed the impact of relocation on familial and nonfamilial emotional, instrumental, and financial support. Results: Relocation was negatively associated with the number of social support resources that older adults perceived as being available. Although this was the case with regard to both familial and nonfamilial support, it was particularly evident with regard to family support and, within families, with regard to instrumental rather than financial or emotional support. Discussion: Relocation has negative implications for the number of social support resources perceived to be available by older adults in rural China. China will need to come to terms with how to provide for the instrumental support needs of an aging society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The study aimed to evaluate the value of the Cervista human papillomavirus (HPV), Hybrid Capture 2 (HC-2), and careHPV tests in diagnosing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) or worse in Xinjiang Uyghur women. Methods. Three high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) detection methods were studied on two different populations by different combination modes; a cytology specimen was obtained at the same time. An abnormal result of any test resulted in referral to colposcopy. Cervical biopsy was also performed. Results. In population 1, HR-HPV-positive rates were 57.6% and 54.3% as detected by HC-2 and Cervista, respectively; κ = 0.892 for consistency check of HC-2 and Cervista (p < .001). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of HC-2 and Cervista was 0.744 (95% confidence interval [CI]:0.664~0.824,p< . 001) and 0.786 (95% CI: 0.715-0.858, p < .001), respectively, for diagnosing CIN2 1 .The A9 probe can detect six subtypes of HPV, including HPV16, HPV31, HPV33, HPV35, HPV52, and HPV58. If one or more of these subtypes are postitive, then A9 will be positive. A diagnosis of class A9 by the Cerevista test correlated with pathological interpretations (chi-square 5 43.063, p < .001). In population 2, HR-HPV-positive rates were 40.1% and 34.4%, respectively, by HC-2 and careHPV; κ value was 0.779 for the two tests (p < .001). AUC of HC-2 was 0.895 (95% CI: 0.849-0.940, p < .001), and careHPV was 0.841 (95% CI: 0.770-0.899, p < .001) for diagnosing CIN2 1 . Conclusion. Good consistency was shown between HC-2 and Cervista tests and also between the HC-2 and careHPV tests. In the detection of CIN21, Cervista showed better specificity than HC-2, and interpretation of the A9 subgroup showed high predicted value. The HC-2 test demonstrated better sensitivity than careHPV in detection of CIN21. HC-2, Cervista, and careHPV may be applied as a triage test for visual inspection with acetic acid/Lugol's iodine-positive or ThinPrep cytologic test-positive women. The careHPV test was comparatively economical and efficient and may be more suitable for resource-limited regions, such as Xinjiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cystatin C, a marker for early stage chronic kidney dysfunction, mediates the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Objective: To investigate whether serum cystatin C is an independent predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) for patients without chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included 525 patients with CHD and 142 apparently healthy control individuals and acquired their demographic characteristics, medical histories, and listings of the concurrent medications they were taking. All patients with CHD underwent coronary angiography and other routine laboratory examinations. We quantified serum concentrations of cystatin Cvia particle-enhanced immunonephelometric assay. Results: Compared with controls, the patients with CHD had higher serum cystatin C levels (median: 1.17mg/L, interquartile range [IQR]: 1.01 to 1.46 mg/L vs median: 0.98 mg/L, IQR: 0.80 to 1.06 mg/L, P 5.001), lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P5.001), higher levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P5.001), triglyceride (P5.001), total cholesterol (P= .007) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P5.001). No differences occurred in serum concentrations of creatinine or estimated glomerular filtration rate between CHD patients and healthy controls. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that levels of cystatin C (OR, 1.648; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.454 to 1.868; P5.001) were most strongly correlated with CHD prevalence. Conclusions: Elevated serum cystatin C is a potential biochemical marker for the prediction of CHD, which suggests that mild preclinical renal dysfunction may be associated with the pathogenesis of CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Guided by a Sociocultural Health Belief Model (SHBM), this study examined the roles of cultural beliefs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and scientific knowledge of AD in influencing the perceived threat of AD in a sample of Chinese American older adults. Method. With the input from focus groups of 17 older Chinese volunteers, survey questionnaires were refined and then delivered through face-to-face interviews to 385 participants aged 55–100 in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Results. Hierarchical regression analyses found that those aged 55–64 were more worried about AD than those aged 85 or older. Both cultural beliefs of AD and AD factual knowledge contributed to higher levels of perceived threat of AD. Education tended to moderate the effect of cultural beliefs of AD and AD knowledge on perceived threat of AD. Discussions. Findings support inclusion of key factors in the SHBM relevant to perceived threat of AD and help enrich the understanding of AD literacy from both scientific and cultural perspectives. AD education programs and interventions should help address crucial cultural beliefs related to AD and the emotional consequences (e.g., concerns or fear of AD) that might be due to the exposure to AD factual knowledge, particularly for those with limited education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To investigate the fluid intake and knowledge on water and health in Chinese adults, and to provide a scientific basis for the development of adequate water intake values for people in China. A total of 1,483 adults aged 18-60 years were selected from four provincial capital cities using a multiple-stage random sampling method. The information on the amounts and types of daily fluid intake was collected using a 24-h fluid intake record for 7 consecutive days. Trained interviewers used a questionnaire to assess knowledge on water. The median of daily total fluid intake was 1,488 mL, with a wide range from 86 mL to 7,036 mL. Significant differences were found for fluid intake among the four cities. The medians of daily intakes of plain water, tea, and beverages were 786 mL, 109 mL, and 186 mL, respectively. Approximately 32% of the subjects drank less water than the amount recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society (1,200 mL/day) and 71.6% of participants lacked knowledge of these recommendations. Moreover, 48.3% of them drank water only when they felt thirsty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]