Prevalence and Gender-Specific Influencing Factors of Hypertension among Chinese Adults: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study in Nanchang, China

Relationship between nightmare distress and depressive symptoms in Chinese emergency department nurses: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Most of the recent research on nightmare distress and depressive symptoms has focused on adolescents and students, with less research on the nurse population. Emergency department nurses are at high risk for nightmare distress and depressive symptoms, but no studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between the two; thus, further investigation is needed.

AIM

To understand the relationship between nightmare distress and depressive symptoms among emergency department nurses in China.

METHODS

A convenience sampling method was used to select 280 emergency department nurses from nine provinces, including Jiangxi, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Shanxi Provinces. The Chinese version of the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were administered.

RESULTS

Emergency department nurses' nightmare distress scores were positively associated with depressive symptom scores (r = 0.732), depressed affect (r = 0.727), somatic symptoms (r = 0.737), and interpersonal difficulty (r = 0.647). Further multiple linear regression analyses showed that education level, work pressure, self-reported health, and CES-D scores were factors that influenced nightmare distress among Chinese emergency department nurses (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Nightmare distress is closely associated with depressive symptoms in Chinese emergency department nurses, and early intervention is recommended for professionals with this type of sleep disorder to reduce the occurrence of depressive symptoms.

Physical Activity, Obesity, and Hypertension among Adults in a Rapidly Urbanised City

Background

Few studies have explored the relationship between the level of physical activity and the occurrence or prevalence of obesity and hypertension among people residing in urbanised areas.

Method

A cross-sectional study involving a sample of 1,001 adults was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sociodemographic variables, physical activity levels, body mass index (BMI), and prevalence of hypertension. Logistic regression models were adopted to investigate the relationship between these factors.

Results

A total of 939 respondents who provided valid responses were included. Among them, 56.5% of the participants reported engaging in high levels of physical activity. However, 40.4% of the respondents were classified as overweight or obese, and 31.9% had diagnosed hypertension. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, logistic regression analysis revealed that physical activity levels were negatively correlated with the prevalence of BMI (OR = 0.564, 95% CI: 0.352-0.905; OR = 0.583, 95% CI: 0.375-0.907) and hypertension (OR = 0.556, 95% CI: 0.348-0.888).

Conclusions

Our study confirms recent evidence regarding the amount of physical activity that is associated with lower prevalence of obesity and hypertension in Pingshan District. Furthermore, different physical activities of various intensity levels had different effects on hypertension. Residents should be encouraged to engage in physical activities and maintain a healthy weight to improve their quality of life.

Analysis of Clinical and Laboratory Findings of Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is an emergency disease requiring immediate diagnosis and treatment. The incidence of ISSNHL in the Western countries’ population was estimated to 5–20 per 100,000 inhabitants. The etiology of ISSNHL remains unknown. Its pathogenesis is most often suggested to be due to a disturbed microcirculation and infection. Previous studies have reported that comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hyperfibrinogenemia are risk factors of ISSNHL. This study aimed at investigating the clinical characteristics, laboratory parameters and comorbidities of patients with ISSNHL. Our study suggests that the annual incidence of ISSNHL in China mainland is 19 per 100 000. The clinical characteristics and prevalence of comorbidities of ISSNHL patients are different according to age distribution and hearing results. Moreover, the patients with vertigo, hypertension, DM and high TG suffered more often from severe hearing loss compared with the counterparts. This indicates that the cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (hypertension and hyperlipidemia) appeared to be closely associated with the occurrence and severity of ISSNHL.

Spatio-Temporal Variation of Gender-Specific Hypertension Risk: Evidence from China

Previous studies which have shown the existence of gender disparities in hypertension risks often failed to take into account the participants' spatial and temporal information. In this study, we explored the spatio-temporal variation for gender-specific hypertension risks in not only single-disease settings but also multiple-disease settings. From the longitudinal data of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), 70,374 records of 21,006 individuals aged 12 years and over were selected for this study. Bayesian B-spline techniques along with the Besag, York, and Mollie (BYM) model and the Shared Component Model (SCM) model were then used to construct the spatio-temporal models. Our study found that the prevalence of hypertension in China increased from 11.7% to 34.5% during 1991 and 2015, with a higher rate in males than that in females. Moreover, hypertension was found mainly clustered in spatially adjacent regions, with a significant high-risk pattern in Eastern and Central China while a low-risk pattern in Western China, especially for males. The spatio-temporal variation of hypertension risks was associated with regional covariates, such as age, overweight, alcohol consumption, and smoking, with similar effects of age shared by both genders whereas gender-specific effects for other covariates. Thus, gender-specific hypertension prevention and control should be emphasized in the future in China, especially for the elderly population, overweight population, and females with a history of alcohol consumption and smoking who live in Eastern China and Central China.

The urban-rural disparity in the prevalence and risk factors of hypertension among the elderly in China-a cross-sectional study

Introduction

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of hypertension and to explore the disparities of its risk factors among urban and rural elderly.

Method

Data of hypertensive patients were collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015. Stratified sample households were selected from 450 villages or communities of 150 counties from 28 provinces. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to analyze the factors correlated with hypertension.

Results

Prevalence of HBP was 47.6% (95% CI [45.2%-50.1%]) in total and it was close between urban and rural population (48.6% vs 47.2%). Factors associated with HBP were different between urban and rural areas. In urban areas, hypertension was significantly associated with literacy and diabetes in both genders, high BMI level and smoke quitters in males, and physical activity and dyslipidemia in females. In rural areas, hypertension was significantly associated with older age, higher BMI level in both males and females, and dyslipidemia in males.

Conclusions

The prevalence are about the same among urban and rural residents, but their risk factors vary from each other. Disparity in the risk factors between urban and rural population should be taken into consideration for further intervention.

Long Noncoding RNA: Function and Mechanism on Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells

Background:

Long suspected as transcriptional noise, recently recognized, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as an indicator, biomarker and therapy target in the physiologic and pathologic process. Mesenchymal stem cells and embryonic stem cells are important source for normal and therapeutic tissue repair. However, the mechanism of stem cell differentiation is not completely understood. Research on lncRNAs may provide novel insights into the mechanism of differentiation process of the stem cell which is important for the application of stem cell therapy. The lncRNAs field is still very young, new insights into lncRNAs function are emerging to a greater understanding of biological processes.

Objective:

In this review, we summarize the recent researches studying lncRNAs and illustrate how they act in the differentiation of the mesenchymal stem cells and embryonic stem cells, and discuss some future directions in this field.

Results:

Numerous lncRNAs were differentially expressed during differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and embryonic stem cells. LncRNAs were able to regulate the differentiation processes through epigenetic regulation, transcription regulation and post-transcription regulation.

Conclusion:

LncRNAs are involved in the differentiation process of mesenchymal stem cells and embryonic stem cells, and they could become promising indicator, biomarker and therapeutic targets in the physiologic and pathologic process. However, the mechanisms of the role of lncRNAs still require further investigation.

Self-management and blood pressure control in China: a community-based multicentre cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

This study explored the relationship between self-management and blood pressure (BP) control in China.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Eight community health centres from four cities in the Northeast (Shenyang), Northwest (Xi'an), Southwest (Chengdu) and South (Changsha) of China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 873 adults with hypertension, including 360 men and 513 women. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥140 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS

BP control was the primary outcome variable. This was categorised as good control if individuals with hypertension reduced their BP to <140/90 mm Hg, otherwise, it was categorised as poor control. Secondary outcomes included self-management, defined as: (1) context or condition-specific factors or physical/social environments (eg, age, sex, marital status, education, personal income and health insurance) and (2) process or knowledge/beliefs, self-regulation skills/abilities and social facilitation (eg, treatment, diet, exercise and risk factor management). Data were analysed using logistic regression models using SPSS V.20.

RESULTS

A total of 67.1% (n=586) participants had poor BP control. Limited outpatient care benefits in mainly rural residents (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.06 to 4.81) and longer disease duration (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.04) were associated with poor BP control. Self-management practices reduced the odds of having poor BP control (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97 to 0.99).

CONCLUSIONS

The individual and family self-management theory can serve as an effective theory for understanding the key contexts, processes and outcomes essential for BP control in China. Future research should evaluate the effect of a self-management intervention (eg, self-monitoring, medication adherence, regular and routine doctor visits, and social supports) for BP control in China using a multisite cluster randomised controlled trial. Sex and gender difference, cost and patient-reported outcomes should also be examined.