Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections and colorectal cancer (CRC) are prevalent in Taiwan. We carried out a population-based case-control study to assess the association between HBV infection and CRC risk. Using the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, we identified 69,478 newly diagnosed patients with CRC from 2005 to 2011. We further randomly selected 69,478 age- and gender-matched controls without CRC from the same database. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to evaluate the association between chronic HBV infection and CRC using a logistic regression analysis. HBV infection was found to be associated with the risk of CRC (OR = 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.20–1.33). This relationship was similar in men and women. Age-specific analysis revealed that the CRC risk associated with HBV decreased with age. The adjusted ORs for patients aged <55, 55–64, and 65–74 years were 1.63 (95% CI = 1.48–1.79), 1.24 (95% CI = 1.13–1.37), and 1.02 (95% = 0.92–1.13), respectively. In conclusion, this study suggests that chronic HBV infection is significantly associated with an increased risk of CRC. Monitoring the risk of CRC development in young patients with HBV infection is crucial.

People with pre-existing health conditions (PEHC) are vulnerable to viral infection while health literacy (HL) and preventive behaviors (PB) have been shown to benefit people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to examine the association between PEHC and suspected COVID-19 symptoms (S-COVID-19-S), and to investigate the modification effect of HL and PB. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 8291 participants visiting outpatient departments at 18 hospitals and health centers across Vietnam from 14 February to 31 May 2020. Data were collected regarding participant’s characteristics, HL, PB, PEHC, and S-COVID-19-S. Regression models were used for analyzing the associations. Results showed that people with PEHC had a 3.38 times higher likelihood of having S-COVID-19-S (odds ratio, OR, 3.38; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 3.01, 3.79; p < 0.001). In comparison to participants without PEHC and with the lowest HL score, those with PEHC and one HL score increment had a 7% lower likelihood of having S-COVID-19-S (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.92, 0.94; p < 0.001). In comparison to participants without PEHC and not adhering to mask wearing, those with PEHC and adhering to mask wearing had a 77% lower likelihood of having S-COVID-19-S (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.16, 0.32; p < 0.001). Higher HL and adherence to mask wearing can protect people from having S-COVID-19-S, especially in those with PEHC.

Despite of high annual rate of surgery worldwide, few national-level studies have explored the epidemiological aspects of various types of hernia repairs. Our study aims to examine the 5-year prevalence of hernia repairs in Australian adults. The number of hernia repair surgeries for femoral, inguinal, incisional, other abdominal, and epigastric hernias were extracted from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) database from financial year (FY) FY2017 to FY2021. We calculated age-specific prevalence and prevalence ratio (PR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to compare the prevalence of hernia repairs by age group and sex. The highest prevalence per 100,000 population of hernia repairs was found in inguinal (223), followed by epigastric (111), other abdominal (59), incisional (52), and femoral hernia (10). People over 65 years old had highest PR of hernias. There was a gender-wise variation across types of hernia procedures. Around 89.6% of patients with inguinal hernia repairs were males, while only 10.4% were females. The PR was lower in males for femoral and incisional hernia when compared two genders with corresponding age groups. Women in the pregnancy group (20-39 years) had a high risk of ventral hernia repair when compared to males. Groups of patients who have higher risks of hernia repair should be prioritized for healthcare service delivery, but more research is needed in hernia epidemiology, in Australia and internationally. Our study could serve as a national and international reference for hernia repair studies, particularly for low- and middle-income countries with limited nationwide large-scale data.