Background: This study aimed to determine human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake and willingness to receive HPV vaccination among female college students, in China, and its associated factors. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of female college students across the eastern, central, and western regions of China was undertaken between April and September 2019. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine factors associated with the HPV vaccine uptake and willingness to receive the HPV vaccine. Results: Among the total 4220 students who participated in this study, 11.0% reported having been vaccinated against HPV. There are direct effects of indicators of higher socioeconomic status, older age (β = 0.084 and p = 0.006), and geographical region (residing in Eastern China, β = 0.033, and p = 0.024) on HPV vaccine uptake. Higher knowledge (β = 0.062 and p < 0.000) and perceived susceptibility (β = 0.043 and p = 0.002) were also predictors of HPV vaccine uptake. Of those who had not received the HPV vaccine, 53.5% expressed a willingness to do so. Likewise, social economic status indicators were associated with the willingness to receive the HPV vaccine. Total knowledge score (β = 0.138 and p < 0.001), both perceived susceptibility (β = 0.092 and p < 0.001) and perceived benefit (β = 0.088 and p < 0.001), and sexual experience (β = 0.041 and p = 0.007) had a positive and significant direct effect on the willingness to receive the HPV vaccine, while perceived barriers (β = −0.071 and p < 0.001) had a negative effect on the willingness to receive the HPV vaccine. Conclusions: Geographical region and socioeconomic disparities in the HPV vaccination uptake rate and willingness to receive the HPV vaccine provide valuable information for public health planning that aims to improve vaccination rates in underserved areas in China. The influence of knowledge and perceptions of HPV vaccination suggests the importance of communication for HPV immunization.

The efficacy of intermittent fasting (IF), as an emerging weight management strategy, in improving cardiometabolic health has been evaluated in various populations, but that among Chinese individuals has not been systematically studied. A comprehensive search on multiple databases was performed to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) up to October 2022. The primary outcome was post-intervention weight loss, and secondary outcomes included changes in cardiometabolic indicators. Effect estimates were meta-analyzed using a random-effects model. In total, nine RCTs with 899 Chinese participants were included. Time-restricted eating was the most adopted IF protocol in this study (six out of nine), followed by alternate-day fasting. The IF intervention significantly reduced body weight, body mass index, body fat mass, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides when compared with control groups. However, no statistically significant reductions in waist circumference, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were found. To sum up, IF can be a weight management strategy and may improve the cardiometabolic health of Chinese adults, but more long-term trials using different IF strategies are required to generate robust evidence of its efficacy.

Background: In 2022, China experienced an unprecedented heatwave event, raising concerns about the health impacts of heatwaves. This study aims to understand the devastating health risk of the exceptional heatwave in 2022 by comparing heatwave-related mortality burden in 2022 with that during 2000–2021. Methods: We collected daily mortality and daily maximum temperature (DMT) during 2006–2017 in 364 locations (counties/districts) of China. Heatwave was defined as an event with 2 or more consecutive days of DMT exceeding the 92.5th percentile. We employed a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) and a meta-analysis to examine the heatwave-mortality association based on the data from 364 counties/districts, and then this association was used to assess the mortality burden attributable to heatwaves during 2000–2022 in 368 cities in China. A percentage change (%) indicator, comparing the 2022 mortality burden to the average value from 2000 to 2021, was further calculated to highlight the severity of heatwaves in 2022. Results: In the past 2 decades, the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in China significantly increased, with the cumulative excessive degree-day increasing to 31,626 in 2022 compared with the annual average value of 13,772 during 2000–2021 across China. In 2022, we observed 62,961 [95% confidence internal (CI) 54,945–70,413] heatwave-related deaths in China, which was much higher than the annual average [35,987 (95% CI 31,252–40,471)] attributable to heatwaves during 2000–2021. The vulnerability groups of heatwave-related mortality in 2022 primarily included patients with cardiovascular diseases [40,567 (95% CI 35,313–45,404)], females [35,876 (95% CI 31,035–41,005)], and people aged over 65 years [56,208 (95% CI 49,023–62,864)]; and greater heatwave-related mortality was found in eastern-central China. The attributable fraction (AF) of heatwave-related deaths increased from an annual average of 11.01‰ (95% CI 9.56–12.38) during 2000–2021 to 18.11‰ (95% CI 15.80–20.25) in 2022 with 64.43% increment (95% CI 38.10–93.78), and the increase rates were greater in Xizang Autonomous Region (159.77%, 95% CI 12.84–477.87) and Sichuan Province (133.64%, 95% CI 3.84–416.61). Conclusions: This study indicated that the frequency and intensity of heatwaves significantly increased in the past 2 decades in China, and the 2022 heatwaves were linked to a substantial mortality burden in China, with significant population and regional heterogeneity. Our findings underscore the need for developing comprehensive heat adaptation plans in the context of rapid aging and ongoing global warming.