Tic disorders (TD) are common neuropsychiatric disorders among children and adolescents. Still, there is great uncertainty regarding their epidemiology in China. We aim to depict the prevalence of TD for children in China and explore the influence of sex, age, geographic distribution, and diagnostic criteria on the prevalence rates. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, four Chinese electronic databases, and relevant lists. Two reviewers independently selected trials, assessed trial quality, and extracted the data. We included 13 studies investigating 269,571 participants. The sample size ranged from 563 to 216,005 participants. The age of participants ranged from 3 to 16 years. The meta-analysis of the prevalence of TD was 6.1% [95% CI: 0.036–0.100, I 2 = 49.7%]. The prevalence of transient tic disorder (TTD), chronic tic disorder (CTD), and Tourette syndrome (TS) was 1.7% [95% CI = 0.009–0.031, I 2 = 49%], 1.2% [95% CI = 0.007–0.022, I 2 = 48.3%], and 0.3% [95% CI = 0.001–0.008, I 2 = 49.5%], respectively. The prevalence of TD in boys [5.1%, 95% CI = 0.026–0.098, I 2 = 49.3%] was higher than that in girls [2.4%, 95% CI = 0.009–0.065, I 2 = 49.4%]. The prevalence of TD in urban area [2.6%, 95% CI = 0.019–0.034, I 2 = 35.5%] was higher than that in rural area [2.2%, 95% CI = 0.016–0.030, I 2 = 33.9%]. The prevalence of TD in central China [10.7%, 95% CI = 0.043–0.242, I 2 = 49.2%] was higher than that in North China [7.8%, 95% CI = 0.007–0.522, I 2 = 49.9%] and East China [4.4%, 95% CI = 0.015–0.120, I 2 = 49.8%]. TD is a common disease in China, with prevalence differing based on sex, age, and region.

Cancer is currently the first cause of premature mortality in China, posing a major obstacle to life expectancy improvement.¹ China accounted for approximately 23.7% of the world’s new cancer cases in 2020 and the incidence rate is expected to continue increasing in the coming decades,^2,3 making cancer prevention and control a public health priority in China.

Tic disorders (TDs) are common neuropsychiatric disorders in children. Typical antipsychotics, such as haloperidol and pimozide have been prescribed to control tic symptoms as first-line agents. However, adverse effects have led to the use of newer atypical antipsychotics. Aripiprazole is one of alternatives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole for children with TDs. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs and control studies evaluating aripiprazole for children with tic disorders were identified from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, Cochrane Central, four Chinese database and relevant reference lists. Quality assessment referred to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Twelve studies involving 935 participants were included. The general quality of included studies was poor. Only one study used placebo as a control and others used positive drug controls. Participants were aged between 4 and 18 years. The period of treatment ranged from 8 to 12 weeks. Seven studies (N = 600 patients) used the YGTSS scale as the outcome measurement, and there was no significant difference in reduction of the total YGTSS score between the aripiprazole and positive control groups (MD = −0.48, 95 % CI [−6.22, 5.26], P = 0.87, I2 = 87 %). Meta-analysis of four of the studies (N = 285 patients) that compared aripiprazole with haloperidol showed that there was no significant difference in reduction of the total YGTSS score (MD = 2.50, 95 % CI [−6.93, 11.92], P = 0.60, I2 = 88 %). Meta-analysis of two studies (N = 255 patients) that compared aripiprazole with tiapride showed that there was no significant difference in reduction of the total YGTSS score (MD = −3.15, 95 % CI [−11.38, 5.09], P = 0.45, I2 = 86 %). Adverse events (AEs) were reported in 11 studies. Drowsiness (5.1 %–58.1 %), increased appetite (3.2 %–25.8 %), nausea (2 %–18.8 %) and headache (2 %–16.1 %) were common AEs. In conclusion, aripiprazole appears to be a promising therapy for children with TDs. Further well-conducted RCTs are required to confirm this issue.

Early studies have suggested that biomass cooking fuels were associated with increased risk of low birth weight (LBW). However it is unclear if this reduced birth weight was due to prematurity or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). In order to understand the relationship between various cooking fuels and risk of LBW and small for gestational age (SGA), we analyzed data from a birth cohort study conducted in Lanzhou, China which included 9,895 singleton live births. Compared to mothers using gas as cooking fuel, significant reductions in birth weight were observed for mothers using coal (weight difference = 73.31 g, 95 % CI: 26.86, 119.77) and biomass (weight difference = 87.84 g, 95 % CI: 10.76, 164.46). Using biomass as cooking fuel was associated with more than two-fold increased risk of LBW (OR = 2.51, 95 % CI: 1.26, 5.01), and the risk was mainly seen among preterm births (OR = 3.43, 95 % CI: 1.21, 9.74). No significant associations with LBW were observed among mothers using coal or electromagnetic stoves for cooking. These findings suggest that exposure to biomass during pregnancy is associated with risk of LBW, and the effect of biomass on LBW may be primarily due to prematurity rather than IUGR.

The relationship between exercise and stroke recurrence is controversial. This study was designed to test whether an association exists between exercise and ischemic stroke recurrence in first-ever ischemic stroke survivors. Data were collected from January 2010 to June 2016. Baseline information was obtained during face-to-face interviews, and follow-up phone interviews were conducted every 3 months. Exercise type, frequency, intensity, and duration were recorded. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to determine the relationship between exercise and stroke recurrence. 760 first-ever ischemic stroke survivors who were able to exercise were enrolled. After adjusting for covariates, patients who exercised 3.5–7 h per week and more than 7 h per week had a lower relapse risk than patients who did not exercise (3.5–7: OR 0.415; > 7: OR 0.356). Moreover, if the fluctuation of exercise duration was over 4 h, the patients had a higher risk of stroke recurrence than those with variability of less than 2 h (OR 2.153, P = 0.013). Stroke survivors who engage in long-term regular mild exercise (more than 5 sessions per week and lasting on average 40 min per session) have a lower recurrence rate. Irregular exercise increases the risk of stroke recurrence.