Frontiers in Public Health最新文献

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1036499.].

Introduction: Danwei communities are a testament to China's socialist urban development, characterized by the self-sufficiency, strong social networks, and institutional management. In the historical context of urban development in China, many old communities have evolved from former housing areas of Danwei. After more than 40 years of use, the buildings, and environments in the old Danwei communities remain in disrepair, dirty, disorderly and poor condition. Many functions have failed that negatively affect the quality of life and health of residents. After Covid-19, improving the mental health of residents has become a major goal of public policies in various countries.

Methods: To explore the residents' mental health in the micro-renewal, this study carried out a survey regarding residents' evaluation on the micro-renewal and their mental health in two renewed Danwei communities in Hengyang, China. More than 800 respondents joined the interview, among them, 634 samples are effective for analysis. Entropy-TOPSIS is applied to analyze the weights of various indicators of micro-renewal. And multinominal logit model is used to examine the relationship between the personal factors, satisfaction on various items of micro-renewal and mental health.

Results and discussion: The findings indicates that the mental health level of residents living in Danwei community is affected by micro-renewal. The socio-demographic characteristics and behavior factors can influence on the possibility of being in different levels of mental health. The satisfaction on the components of micro-renewal and improvements after micro-renewal is also determiner of residents' mental health level. In addition, the heterogeneity is address in mental health.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by a decreased glomerular filtration rate or renal injury (especially proteinuria) for at least 3 months. The early detection and treatment of CKD, a major global public health concern, before the onset of symptoms is important. This study aimed to develop machine learning models to predict the risk of developing CKD within 1 and 5 years using health examination data.

Methods: Data were collected from patients who underwent annual health examinations between 2017 and 2022. Among the 30,273 participants included in the study, 1,372 had CKD. Demographic characteristics, body mass index, blood pressure, blood and urine test results, and questionnaire responses were used to predict the risk of CKD development at 1 and 5 years. This study examined three outcomes: incident estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m², the development of proteinuria, and incident eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m² or the development of proteinuria. Logistic regression (LR), conditional logistic regression, neural network, and recurrent neural network were used to develop the prediction models.

Results: All models had predictive values, sensitivities, and specificities >0.8 for predicting the onset of CKD in 1 year when the outcome was eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m². The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was >0.9. With LR and a neural network, the specificities were 0.749 and 0.739 and AUROCs were 0.889 and 0.890, respectively, for predicting onset within 5 years. The AUROCs of most models were approximately 0.65 when the outcome was eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m² or proteinuria. The predictive performance of all models exhibited a significant decrease when eGFR was not included as an explanatory variable (AUROCs: 0.498-0.732).

Conclusion: Machine learning models can predict the risk of CKD, and eGFR plays a crucial role in predicting the onset of CKD. However, it is difficult to predict the onset of proteinuria based solely on health examination data. Further studies must be conducted to predict the decline in eGFR and increase in urine protein levels.

Introduction: Inadequate ventilation and improper use of personal protective equipment are often observed in many occupational settings with a high risk of dust and other fine particle exposure. Workers who are exposed to dust at work may suffer from respiratory difficulties. Previous systematic reviews on organic dust exposure and its association with respiratory health outcomes did not provide a comprehensive assessment. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize the reported effects of organic dust exposure on lung function parameters among African industrial workers.

Methods: A compressive literature search was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Embase, the Web of Science, African Journals Online, and ScienceDirect databases to identify relevant studies for the review. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the included studies. The lung function indices including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁), the FEV₁/FVC ratio, and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were obtained from primary studies and analyzed using STATA version 17. The I ² test was used to assess the heterogeneity of studies. We used a random-effects model to estimate the pooled standard mean difference in lung function indices between organic dust-exposed and non-exposed industrial workers. To analyze publication bias, funnel plots and Egger's test were applied.

Results: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, 32 studies involving 7,085 participants were included from 13,529 identified studies. The estimated mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were as follows: -0.53 [-0.83 to -0.36] L for FVC, -0.60 [-0.77 to -0.43] L for FEV₁, -0.43 [-0.57, -0.29] L for FEV₁/FVC, and -0.69 [-0.88 to -0.50] L/min for PEFR.

Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that the lung function indices, such as FVC, FEV₁, FEV₁/FVC, and PEFR, were statistically significantly lower among organic dust-exposed industrial workers compared to non-exposed industrial workers. Therefore, effective dust control measures should be implemented to protect workers from exposure to organic dust.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024527139.

Introduction: This study investigated the prevalence of sleep disturbances among people living with type 2 diabetes in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A four-stage sampling method was used to recruit 479 participants from various parts of the country. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect demographic, sleep disruption, and related clinical characteristics. Data analysis included reporting sleep disturbance prevalence as frequency and percentage, chi-square tests to examine categorical variable associations, and multiple logistic regression analysis to identify independent factors associated with sleep disturbances.

Results: The data showed that most participants were male (59.3%), married (78.5%), and Diploma/ Bachelor's degree holders (41.5%). The study found that most respondents had subjective sleep quality issues, with 55.3% of Sleep Latency participants having trouble falling asleep, 62.4% having trouble sleeping, 65.1% experiencing serious sleep efficiency impairment, 85.2% reporting sleep difficulties, 88.5% using sleep medication without difficulty, 5.4% having moderate difficulty, and 6.1% having considerable difficulties. The Global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) showed that all participants had sleep problems. Marital status, nationality, HBA1C, education, region, comorbidity, and monthly income were significantly associated with sleep disturbance characteristics.

Conclusion: The study concluded that diabetes itself can increase the risk of sleep problems, as it is associated with various sleep-related issues such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless legs syndrome. Encouraging social support within the realm of healthcare services holds significance in reducing the occurrence of inadequate sleep. For individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus, managing their blood sugar levels effectively is crucial for enhancing the quality of their sleep. Furthermore, engaging in regular physical activity is essential for preventing subpar sleep quality.

Short, intensive education programs provide an under-utilized avenue for public health professionals to learn and apply the latest methods and technologies. We report on the creation and implementation of the Skills for Health and Research Professionals (SHARP) program at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The self-sustaining, concise, intense educational format equips participants with concrete skills, better enabling them to respond to complex public health challenges.

Objectives: The present study aimed to observe how body composition differs between severe acute malnutrition (SAM) (treated with ready-to-use therapeutic food, RUTF) and well-nourished children.

Methods: A longitudinal investigation was conducted among well-nourished and SAM children of 6-59 months in Rohingya refugee camps. These two groups (350 children in each group) of children were observed over 12 weeks and individual data were collected during admission, follow-up visits, and at the time of discharge. Anthropometric information was collected following standard procedures. The thicknesses of the biceps, triceps, subscapular, and supra iliac skinfolds were measured using a Herpenden-type skinfold caliper. Separate linear mixed models were conducted to assess associations of the independent variables (i.e., group and time) with each of the dependent variables (i.e., biceps, triceps, subscapular, supra-iliac skinfold thickness (ST), fat mass (FM), and fat-free mass (FFM)).

Results: Both in well-nourished and SAM children, the mean biceps, triceps, subscapular, and supra-iliac ST, FM, and FFM increased over the 12 weeks. The increase in biceps ST was significantly faster in the SAM children compared to the well-nourished children (difference in slope = 0.366 mm every four weeks; p < 0.001). The increment rate in triceps ST was also faster in the SAM children compared to the well-nourished children (difference in slope = 0.430 mm every four weeks; p < 0.001). Moreover, the pace of increase in subscapular (difference in slope = 0.027 mm every four weeks; p < 0.001), and supra-iliac (difference in slope = 0.211 mm every four weeks, p < 0.001) ST was also significantly higher in the SAM group. Similarly, the change in FM (difference in slope = 0.065 kg every four weeks, p < 0.001) and FFM (difference in slope = 0.152 kg every four weeks, p = 0.023) was also significantly faster in SAM children compared to the well-nourished children over the treatment period. Furthermore, the girls gained significantly higher triceps ST, subscapular ST, FM, and FFM compared to the boys.

Conclusion: The benefit of RUTF was evident from this longitudinal study in the recovery of FM and FFM contents among the SAM children of Rohingya refugee camps.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between family factors and physical activity (PA) clustering in preschool children.

Methods: Preschoolers' PA and sedentary behavior (SB) were assessed consecutively for 7 days using ActiGraph accelerometers based on the cutoff counts developed by Pate et al. Information about children, their parents, and their families was collected using questionnaires. We developed a two-step approach to clustering PA both inside and outside of kindergarten. The Euclidean distance metric was utilized to distinguish between groups, while the Schwarz-Bayesian criterion was applied to identify the most optimal sub-group model. A one-way ANOVA was used to assess the clustering effect, and logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of different clustering.

Results: We collected data from 291 preschool children aged 3 to 6 years and divided them into three clusters-Inactive (50.2%), Active in kindergarten (26.8%), and Active outside kindergarten (23.0%)-with significant differences in PA and SB, revealing distinct temporal and spatial clustering patterns (silhouette coefficient = 0.3, p < 0.05). Furthermore, preschooler activity levels correlated significantly with factors including gender (OR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.19-0.66), age (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.00-1.10), birth weight (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.16-2.76), paternal age (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02), and maternal income (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.48-0.96).

Conclusion: This study shows that the family environment or parents significantly influence the PA of preschool children. Older fathers may promote preschool children's PA through greater educational focus and financial stability, while higher maternal income can provide more opportunities and resources for preschool children to engage in active lifestyles. Thus, it is suggested that families providing more attention and exercise opportunities for preschool children's education can help improve their PA levels in the future.

Human capital plays a vital role in poverty-stricken households' efforts to cope with external shocks. Improving the human capital of poverty-stricken households to help them address external shocks can enhance the sustainability of poverty-stricken household livelihoods and support poverty alleviation. In this study, households with dependent children and older members were selected from questionnaires covering 6,463 poverty-stricken households from 33 poverty alleviation districts and counties in Chongqing municipality, China. Multiple linear regression model and stepwise regression methods were then used to compare the effects of the number of household members supported and the number of those working on the increase in income among poverty-stricken and nonpoverty-stricken households. Finally, the correlations between policy measures, dependent household members and household labor were examined. The results show the following: (1) Policy measures can alleviate the negative impact of a household's dependent population on household income. (2) Poverty-stricken households' access to policy support is closely related to the characteristics of their human capital. The household's dependent members and laborers are effectively protected by safety net and cargo net policies. (3) Policy measures can mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the income of nonagricultural laborers while increasing the income of agricultural laborers. The findings show that the ability of poverty-stricken households to overcome poverty and deal with external shocks can be increased by revitalizing rural industries, linking the development of rural industries with the income of poverty-stricken households, and rationally using rural labor resources.

Objectives: The present study aimed to determine oral health (OH) related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Public Health (PH) and Nutrition (NU) students at Qatar University.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a pre-validated questionnaire comprising 36 items covering demographics, knowledge, attitudes and perception of oral health practices. Data were analyzed descriptively (means, standard deviations, proportions) and inferentially using statistical tests including t-tests for comparing means, and chi-square tests for examining associations between categorical variables.

Results: A total of 112 female undergraduate students participated, including 41 from PH and 71 from NU programs (response rate for both courses = 59.5%). The mean age was 21.8, while 23% were Qataris and 77% non-Qataris. Overall, students demonstrated good knowledge of OH (67.65%), with the PH group scoring higher (70.7%) than NU (65.35%). Knowledge regarding dental plaque was low for both groups (31.0%). Attitudes toward OH varied among participants. Most students reported practicing brushing with fluoridated toothpaste and demonstrated high knowledge regarding the association between poor OH and general health (95%).

Conclusion: Overall, PH and NU undergraduate students exhibited relatively good knowledge of OH, however, demonstrated a range of attitudes and practices, including suboptimal ones. Integration of OH education into the PH and NU curriculum is warranted, along with enhanced interprofessional education to promote self-awareness and improve patient oral health outcomes.