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Background We aimed to investigate the association between institution trust and public responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Methods An Internet-based, cross-sectional survey was administered on 29 January 2020. A total of 4393 adults ≥18 y of age and residing or working in the province of Hubei, central China were included in the study. Results The majority of the participants expressed a great degree of trust in the information and preventive instructions provided by the central government compared with the local government. Being under quarantine (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.35 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.80 to 3.08]) and having a high institutional trust score (OR 2.23 [95% CI 1.96 to 2.53]) were both strong and significant determinants of higher preventive practices scores. The majority of study participants (n=3640 [85.7%]) reported that they would seek hospital treatment if they suspected themselves to have been infected with COVID-19. Few of the participants from Wuhan (n=475 [16.6%]) and those participants who were under quarantine (n=550 [13.8%]) expressed an unwillingness to seek hospital treatment. Conclusions Institutional trust is an important factor influencing adequate preventive behaviour and seeking formal medical care during an outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to investigate the association between institution trust and public responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak., Methods: An Internet-based, cross-sectional survey was administered on 29 January 2020. A total of 4393 adults ≥18 y of age and residing or working in the province of Hubei, central China were included in the study., Results: The majority of the participants expressed a great degree of trust in the information and preventive instructions provided by the central government compared with the local government. Being under quarantine (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.35 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.80 to 3.08]) and having a high institutional trust score (OR 2.23 [95% CI 1.96 to 2.53]) were both strong and significant determinants of higher preventive practices scores. The majority of study participants (n=3640 [85.7%]) reported that they would seek hospital treatment if they suspected themselves to have been infected with COVID-19. Few of the participants from Wuhan (n=475 [16.6%]) and those participants who were under quarantine (n=550 [13.8%]) expressed an unwillingness to seek hospital treatment., Conclusions: Institutional trust is an important factor influencing adequate preventive behaviour and seeking formal medical care during an outbreak., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.)

Background: DNA methylation was considered to play an important role in hypertension. However, the direct association between dihydrofolate reductase ( DHFR ) promoter methylation and hypertension remains unclear. We thus aimed to investigate the relationship between DNA methylation of DHFR promoter and hypertension., Materials and Methods: A total of 371 hypertensive patients (diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg and/or systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg or a history of antihypertensive treatment) and 320 age- and sex-matched healthy controls from the Hypertension Management Information System in Nanshan Community Health Service Centers were included in this case-control study. Quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the level of DHFR promoter methylation, which was presented as the percentage of methylated reference (PMR). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to explore the risk of DHFR promoter methylation., Results: Our results indicated that the level of DHFR promoter methylation was higher in hypertensive patients (median PMR, 34.32%; interquartile range, 11.34-119.60) than in healthy controls (median PMR, 18.45%; interquartile range, 8.16-35.40) ( P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed that the risk of DHFR promoter hypermethylation was significantly higher in hypertensive patients than in healthy controls (odds ratio = 3.94, 95% confidence interval = 2.56-6.02, P < 0.001). Furthermore, hypermethylation was positively associated with sex, high blood homocysteine levels, and alcohol drinking. In particular, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.688 (0.585-0.668) for the male hypertensive patients, suggesting the potential diagnostic value of DHFR promoter methylation in male hypertension., Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that DHFR promoter hypermethylation is positively associated with the risk of hypertension in Chinese., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Research in Medical Sciences.)