Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health最新文献

During Malaysia's Delta wave in 2021, the island of Labuan faced a surge of COVID-19 cases that overwhelmed its only hospital. In response, a 100-bed field hospital with four transit ICU beds was rapidly established through multi-agency collaboration. Prior to patient admission, seven simulation exercises were conducted with 98 personnel to prepare workflows and identify system vulnerabilities. Scenarios included oxygen outages, patient collapse, fire drills, intubation, specimen transport, and portable x-ray deployment. The simulations revealed gaps in logistics, communication, and role clarity, leading to immediate corrective measures. Over 4 weeks, the hospital admitted 243 patients, 30% aged 60 years or older. Twelve required advanced respiratory support, yet no in-hospital deaths or cardiopulmonary arrests occurred. Staff debriefings highlighted improvements in teamwork, communication, preparedness, and workflow efficiency. This experience demonstrates how low-resource simulation can function as a strategic public health intervention to enhance preparedness in resource-limited settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic was assoicated with a significant drop in US life expectancy, with a 2.4-year decline from 2019 to 2021. This study evaluated if changes in life expectancy in Hawai'i followed the national trend from 2018 to 2022. We calculated life expectancy at birth for Hawai'i's overall, male, and female populations from 2018 to 2022 using Chiang's abridged life table method, with data from the Hawai'i State Department of Health and population estimates from the American Community Survey and 2020 Census. Life expectancy in Hawai'i was stable from 2018 to 2020, then declined by 1.3 years in 2021 to 80.7, with a partial rebound to 81.2 in 2022. Males saw a drop from 79.2 years in 2018 to 77.5 in 2021, rising to 78.2 in 2022, while females declined from 85.4 years in 2018 to 84.0 in 2021, rebounding slightly to 84.4 in 2022. Hawai'i's COVID-19 response shows that early interventions and high vaccine uptake reduce mortality and preserve life expectancy. Future policy should focus on rapid-response systems and maintaining high vaccination rates.

On 30 September 2021, Viet Duc University Hospital in Northern Vietnam, reported a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta outbreak, leading to an 18-day lockdown and repeated testing of all on-site individuals. At this time, SARS-CoV-2 was not yet circulating at scale among the general public and COVID-19 vaccination status varied among staff, patients, and caregivers. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE), attack rates (ARs), and adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) to identify factors associated with infection among infection-naïve patients, caregivers, and staff using multivariable regression analysis. Among 630 at-risk individuals, there were 131 (21%) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases including three deaths. The overall VE was 78%. Hospital staff and people who were fully vaccinated had a significantly lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (P < .05). Our analysis shows the importance of being fully vaccinated in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospital settings.

E-cigarette use among youth has become a significant public health issue, with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) youth exhibiting some of the highest usage rates in the United States. Despite the role of gender-specific motivations in shaping substance use behaviors, limited research has examined these dynamics within NHPI populations. This study explored the gendered influences on e-cigarette use and non-use among rural NHPI youth through data collected from 17 gender-specific focus groups (N = 69) conducted across eight public schools on Hawai'i Island. Key findings revealed two distinct themes: girls emphasized relational harmony, basing their decisions on the impact to familial and peer relationships, whereas boys were primarily driven by individual goals, such as enhancing athletic performance and avoiding negative consequences. These insights underscore the necessity for culturally tailored, gender-specific prevention strategies that address the unique relational and individual factors affecting NHPI youth substance use behaviors.

Delayed cord clamping is recommended in current guidelines. However, due to traditional practices, it has not been adopted sufficiently yet. This study was planned to evaluate its effects on mother-baby health. This was a single-center, randomized controlled trial. A computer-based table of random numbers was used to allocate treatments. The study groups were compared in terms of hypothermia, cord blood gas, hematocrit, frequency of polycythemia, phototherapy requirements at birth, iron deficiency anemia at the fourth-month follow-up. The mean of early cord clamping time was 9.34 ± 4.91 seconds, and the mean of delayed cord clamping time was 106.48 ± 51.86 seconds. In the fourth-month follow-up, ferritin level and percentile mean of head circumference were significantly higher in the delayed cord clamping group. The results of this study support that delayed cord clamping does not pose a risk of hypothermia, polycythemia, and hyperbilirubinemia and also protects against iron-deficiency anemia.

Children, especially migrant children, face challenges in participating in health communication with health professionals worldwide. Southeast Asian migrant children possibly encounter this issue in Aotearoa New Zealand, as limited literature explores their needs, and there is a notable lack of studies considering children's perspectives. This study describes the health communication needs of New Zealand Southeast Asian migrant children (aged 7-12 years) from the children's perspective. Individual interviews with 13 Southeast Asian migrant children were conducted. Reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken to generate shared meanings as themes. Participants shared their understanding of health concepts and a range of health communication experiences, which generated three themes: readiness for participation, the challenges of health conversations, and a child-friendly atmosphere. Overall, unmet health communication needs of Southeast Asian migrant children are suggested in this study, which signals a need for changes in practice to promote children's health communication participation.

Betel quid chewing is a traditional practice prevalent in many Asian countries, including among the Indigenous people (Orang Asli) in Malaysia. This habit poses serious health risks, such as oral cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Despite these known health implications, there is limited data and targeted interventions addressing this culturally significant behavior among the marginalized Orang Asli population. This study examined the prevalence and sociodemographic and risk behavioral factors associated with betel quid chewing among Orang Asli communities in Peninsular Malaysia. Data of 10,787 respondents aged 13 years and above were extracted from the 2022 Orang Asli Health Survey (OAHS), a population-based cross-sectional study using stratified random sampling. Complex sample design analysis and multivariable logistic regression were applied. The prevalence of betel quid chewing was 45.5%. Significant factors associated with betel quid chewing included being female (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.58,95% CI [1.21, 2.06]), Proto-Malay tribe (aOR = 7.41,95% CI [3.87, 14.15]), married/living with a partner (aOR = 1.60,95% CI: [0.28, 2.01]), employed (aOR = 2.80,95% CI [1.35, 5.76]), housewife/homemaker (aOR = 2.87,95% CI [1.35, 6.11]), tobacco user (aOR = 2.22,95% CI [1.85, 2.66]), and alcohol drinker (aOR = 1.41,95% CI [1.08, 1.85]). These findings highlight the need for culturally tailored interventions and preventive strategies targeting high-risk subgroups, such as married women and the Proto-Malay tribe, to reduce betel quid use and its associated health consequences.