Dataset Information

Diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases in Zhejiang Province: a cross-sectional survey.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The specialty of allergy developed quickly in western countries because of the rapid increase of allergic diseases, whereas it developed relatively slowly in China. The prevalence of allergen sensitization and allergic diseases in Zhejiang Province of China is high and improving the medical services for these diseases is critically needed.

Objective

To investigate the working status of the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases, including doctor resources, diagnostic methods, and allergen-specific immunotherapy in patients of Zhejiang Province, and to provide instructions for the strategic development of subspecialties of allergic diseases.

Methods

First we defined the doctors who treat allergic diseases, and designed a comprehensive questionnaire to collect personal and hospital information for these doctors. The questionnaires were distributed to hospitals with different ranks and from different areas in the province. The general condition of doctor's resources, carryout of diagnostic methods, and allergen-specific immunotherapy were described and variations in the different specialties, hospitals, and areas were further analyzed.

Results

Doctors in their thirties with bachelor's degrees were the mainstream for diagnosing and treating allergic diseases. The main specialties of the doctor resources were the specialties of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Respirology, Pediatrics, and Dermatology. The Pediatrics specialty had a more reasonable infrastructure of doctor resources with more young doctors working in this subspecialty. The development of allergy subspecialty varied within hospitals at different levels or from different areas. The carryout of the skin prick test (SPT), serum specific IgE (ssIgE), and subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) was best performed in provincial hospitals, while sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) was prescribed most commonly in municipal hospitals. The performance of SPT and ssIgE in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Wenzhou areas was much better than that in other places. The performance of SCIT and SLIT was best in Wenzhou.

Conclusions

Our survey revealed a very initial and unbalanced development for the allergy subspecialty in Zhejiang Province. Doctor resources for allergic diseases were mainly from the specialties of ENT, Respirology, and Pediatrics, and the performance of diagnosis and treatment was mainly focused on provincial and municipal hospitals. Continuous education of allergies could be extended to primary healthcare centers and more efforts should be directed to those areas with poor medical resources.

SUBMITTER: Wang HY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4506955 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To describe the basic demographical characteristics of whole blood donors in Zhejiang Province, China, from 2006 to 2015 and to examine the trends in individual characteristics associated with blood donation and the relationship between weight and donation. DESIGN:Cross-sectional study comparing characteristics of blood donors and annual donations for the period 2006 to 2015. SETTING:Urban and rural communities in Zhejiang, China (11 cities, 89 districts or counties and 1379 townships). PARTICIPANTS:3 226 571 volunteer blood donors. OUTCOME MEASURES:Volume of each whole blood donation and donation frequency. All data were collected by trained staff and entered into a standardised electronic information system. RESULTS:The number of blood donations generally trended up in Zhejiang Province from 2006 to 2015. Donors were predominately males aged 18 to 25 years, but this major donor age group shifted to the 26 to 45 year range by 2015. The rate of repeated blood donation was 30.8 per cent. The blood volume per donation concentrated in 200 mL and 400 mL categories has been gradually shifted to 300 mL and 400 mL. Approximately one-third of donors had a college education. The average weight of donors increased over time for both men and women. Both the blood volume of each donation and donation frequency were proportional to weight. CONCLUSIONS:The trend of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation in Zhejiang province is positive. However, given the expected growth in demand for whole blood, more research is needed to increase both the donor pool and the rate of repeated donation. The relationship between body weight and blood donation warrants further study because while improving nutritional status is associated with higher average donation volume and more frequent donations, overnutrition may lead to poorer quality of donated blood. Blood donation may present a unique opportunity for health education and body weight management to monitor and improve population health.

Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence and correlating factors of binge drinking among middle and high school students in Zhejiang Province, China.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study using data from a school-based survey. A total of 23 543 (response rate=97.5%) eligible adolescents from 442 different schools (including middle schools, academic high schools and vocational high schools) were asked to fill in an anonymous self-administered behaviour questionnaire between April and May 2017. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of sociodemographic and behavioural factors with binge drinking.ResultsThe mean (SD) age of participants was 15.6 (1.7) years and 51.3% were boys. The proportions of students from middle schools, academic high schools and vocational high schools were 51.9%, 27.5% and 20.6%, respectively. In total, 22.8% (95% CI 21.6 to 23.9) of students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days and 9.2% (95% CI 8.5 to 10.0) of students reported binge drinking (defined as drinking four or more alcoholic drinks in 1-2 hours period among girls and five or more alcoholic drinks among boys) during the past month. The prevalence of binge drinking was highest among vocational high school students (17.9% vs 6.3% and 7.7% among middle school and academic high school students, respectively). Older age, studying at high school, poor academic performance, higher levels of physical activity, excessive screen-time, loneliness, insomnia, previous suicide attempt, cigarette smoking, fighting, being bullied and sexual experience were found to be positively associated with adolescent binge drinking.ConclusionsBinge drinking is common among middle and high school students in Zhejiang, China. Efforts to prevent binge drinking may need to address a cluster of sociodemographic and behavioural factors. Our findings provide information to enable healthcare providers to identify students at high-risk of binge drinking and to inform planning of intervention measures for at-risk students.

Project description:Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become a concept commonly used in the related research. Using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire for Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), this study evaluated the Quality of Life (QOL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Zhejiang province, China, and assessed the influences of demographic, laboratory and disease-related variables on QOL. This cross-sectional study was conducted among PLWHA aged ? 18 years in Taizhou municipality, Zhejiang province, China, between August 1 and October 31, 2014. A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the influential factors. Of 403 subjects, 72.48% were male, 72.46% had received a high- school or above education, 94.79% were of Han ethnicity, and 65.51% were non farmers. The total score of QOL was 15.99±1.99. The scores of QOL in physiological, psychological, social relation, and environmental domains were 14.99 ±2.25, 14.25 ±2.12, 13.22 ±2.37, and 13.31 ±1.99 respectively. Except the total score of QOL and the score of environmental domain (p<0.05), the scores in other domains had no significant difference with the results of the national norm level. The multiple linear regression model identified the physical domain related factors to be age (? = -0.045), CD4 count (? = 0.002), and ART adherence(? = 1.231). And it also showed that psychological domain related factors included CD4 count (? = 0.002) and WHO clinical stage (? = -0.437); social domain related factors included WHO clinical stage (? = -0.704) and ART adherence (? = 1.177); while environmental domain related factors included WHO clinical stage (? = -0.538), educational status(? = 0.549) and ART adherence(? = 1.078).Those who are young, with higher level of education, higher CD4 count and good access and adherence of ART, are likely to have better QOL among PLWHA in Zhejiang province. This suggests that in addition to ART, many other factors should be taken into consideration to improve the QOL of PLWHA. The relatively lower scores the subjects received in social relation and environmental domains also suggest that social relation and environmental interventions need to be strengthened.