Upper gastrointestinal cancer (UGC) screening has been widely implemented in many Asian countries. However, there is little evidence of participation and diagnostic yields in population‐based UGC screening in China. The participation rate and detection of upper gastrointestinal lesions in this program were reported and related factors were explored. The analysis was conducted in the context of the Cancer Screening Program in Urban China, which recruited 179 002 eligible participants aged 40‐74 years from three cities in Henan province from 2013 to 2017. A total of 43 423 participants were evaluated to be high risk for esophageal cancer or gastric cancer by an established risk score system and were subsequently recommended for endoscopy. Of 43 423 with high risk for UGC, 7996 subjects undertook endoscopy (participation rate of 18.4%). We found that male sex, high level of education, marriage, smoking, current alcohol drinking, lack of physical activity, history of upper gastrointestinal system disease, and family history of UGC were associated with increased participation of endoscopy screening. Overall, 15 UGC (0.19%), 275 squamous epithelial dysplasia (3.44%), and 33 intraepithelial neoplasm (0.41%) cases were detected. Several factors including age, sex, smoking, current alcohol drinking, lack of physical activity, and dietary intake of processed meat were identified to be associated with the presence of upper gastrointestinal lesions. Health promotion campaigns targeting the specific group of individuals identified in our study will be helpful for improvement of the adherence of UGC screening in population‐based cancer screening programs. Participant rate and yield of UGC screening will provide important references for evaluating the effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness of cancer screening in China.

The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the development of esophageal cancer remains controversial. Our study aims to test the association between HPV 16 infection and esophageal cancer in China, providing useful information on this unclear association in Chinese population. Studies on HPV infection and esophageal cancer were identified. A random-effects model was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing cases with controls. A total of 1442 esophageal cancer cases and 1602 controls from 10 included studies were evaluated to estimate the association between HPV 16 infection and esophageal cancer risk. The ORs for each case–control studies ranged from 3.65 (95% CI: 2.17, 6.13) to 15.44 (95% CI: 3.42, 69.70). The pooled estimates for OR was 6.36 (95% CI: 4.46, 9.07). In sensitivity analysis, the estimates for OR ranged from 5.92 (95% CI: 4.08, 8.60) to 6.97 (95% CI: 4.89, 9.93). This study indicates that HPV-16 infection may be a risk factor for esophageal cancer among Chinese population, supporting an etiological role of HPV16 in this malignancy. Results in this study may have important implications for esophageal cancer prevention and treatment in China.

Identification of modifiable dietary factors, which are involved in the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), could inform strategies to prevent GDM. Therefore, we examined the dietary nutrient patterns and evaluated their relationship with GDM risk in a Chinese population using a case control study design. A total of 1,464 GDM cases and 8,092 non-GDM controls were included in the final analysis. Dietary intake was assessed using a 33-item food frequency questionnaire, and nutrients were estimated using the Chinese Standard Tables of Food Consumption. Dietary nutrient patterns were identified using factor analysis, and their associations with GDM risk were evaluated using unconditional logistic regression models adjusting for total energy intake, maternal age, high blood pressure, education, maternal body mass index (BMI), parity, and family history of diabetes. A “vitamin” nutrient pattern was characterized as the consumption of diet rich in vitamin A, carotene, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, dietary fiber, folate, calcium, and potassium. For every quartile increase in the vitamin factor score during one year prior to conception, the first trimester, and the second trimester of pregnancy, the GDM risk decreased by 9% (OR: 0.91, 95%CI: 0.86-0.96), 9% (OR: 0.91, 95%CI: 0.86-0.96), and 10% (OR: 0.90, 95%CI: 0.85-0.95), respectively. The significant reduced GDM risk was seen in women regardless of age and parity, and slightly stronger effect was found in women whose age≤30 and women who are nulliparous across the three time periods. The significant association was also found in women whose BMI≤24 with similar effect size across the three time periods. Our study suggests that the vitamin nutrient pattern diet is associated with decreased GDM risk. Additional studies are necessary to explore the underlying mechanism of this relationship.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the health systems of many countries worldwide. Several studies have suggested that the pandemic affects not only physical health but also all aspects of society. A lot of information has been reported about the disease since the beginning of the outbreak. For that reason, it is essential to investigate the attitudes and level of knowledge and awareness that different populations had regarding COVID-19 during the critical period of the outbreak. Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of and attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic among different populations in Central China during the critical period of the outbreak. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in Central China from February to March 2020. The study participants included three different populations: medical workers, students, and those with other occupations. In this study, a questionnaire was designed to collect information on the following four aspects: sociodemographic information, knowledge related to COVID-19, awareness of COVID-19, and attitude toward COVID-19. The chi-square test and Fisher test were used for comparison among groups. The level of significance was set at P<.05. Results: This study enrolled a total of 508 participants. Among them, there were 380 students (74.8%), 39 medical workers (7.7%), and 89 people with other occupations (17.5%). Most of the participants were female (n=272, 53.5%), lived in rural areas (n=258, 50.8%), and were single (n=423, 86.9%). The majority of the respondents had attended college (n=454, 89.4%). Most of the participants said they had heard about COVID-19 by January, and most of them looked for information on social media (Sina Weibo, 84.7%), and WeChat and QQ groups (74.2%). The participants showed an adequate level of knowledge about COVID-19 with no significant differences among the groups. However, medical workers demonstrated a slightly advanced knowledge in their responses to professional questions such as the potential susceptible population, possible host, treatment of COVID-19, and disease category. A higher proportion of medical workers (71.8%) and those in the other occupations group (52.8%) were highly concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 43% of the participants stated that the lockdown of their village/city had a significant impact on their lives. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents had an overall optimistic attitude toward the control of the disease (92.1% of students [n=350], 94.9% of medical workers [n=37], and 92.3% of those in other occupations [n=83]). Conclusions: All three groups reported an adequate background knowledge about COVID-19 but medical workers showed a slightly advanced knowledge in their responses to professional questions. Most of the participants were highly concerned about COVID-19 during the critical period of the outbreak. The majority of respondents declared that the village/city lockdown policy had a significant impact on their daily life but most of them held an optimistic attitude toward the control of COVID-19.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a growing public health concern for many reasons, and its etiology remains unclear. Due to the similarity of its pathophysiology with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), we evaluated the relationship between published T2DM susceptibility genes and the risk of GDM. A total of 303 SNPs from genes including IRS1, IGF2BP2, CDKAL1, GCK, TCF7L2, KCNQ1, and KCNJ11 and the risk of GDM were examined in a nested case-control study with 321 GDM cases and 316 controls. The odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated by unconditional logistical regression as a measure of the associations between genotypes and GDM in additive, recessive, dominant, and codominant models adjusting for maternal age, maternal BMI, parity, and family history of diabetes. At the gene level, CDKAL1 was associated with GDM risk. SNPs in the CDKAL1 gene including rs4712527, rs7748720, rs9350276, and rs6938256 were associated with reduced GDM risk. However, SNPs including rs9295478, rs6935599, and rs7747752 were associated with elevated GDM risk. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, rs9295478 and rs6935599 were still significant across the additive, recessive, and codominant models; rs7748720 and rs6938256 were significant in dominant and codominant models; and rs4712527 was only significant in the codominant model. Our study provides evidence for an association between the CDKAL1 gene and risk of GDM. However, its role in the GDM pathogenesis still needs to be verified by further studies.

Background: Identification of modifiable dietary factors, which are involved in the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), could inform strategies to prevent GDM. Methods: We examined the dietary patterns in a Chinese population and evaluated their relationship with GDM risk using a case-control study including 1,464 cases and 8,092 control subjects. Propensity score matching was used to reduce the imbalance of covariates between cases and controls. Dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis while their associations with GDM risk were evaluated using logistic regression models. Results: A "vegetable" dietary pattern was characterized as the consumption of green leafy vegetables (Chinese little greens and bean seedling), other vegetables (cabbages, carrots, tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, mushrooms, peppers, bamboo shoots, agarics, and garlic), and bean products (soybean milk, tofu, kidney beans, and cowpea). For every quartile increase in the vegetables factor score during 1 year prior to conception, the first trimester, and the second trimester of pregnancy, the GDM risk lowered by 6% (odds ratio [OR], 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89 to 0.99), 7% (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.88 to 0.99), and 9% (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86 to 0.96). Conclusion: In conclusion, our study suggests that the vegetable dietary pattern is associated with lower GDM risk; however, the interpretation of the result should with caution due to the limitations in our study, and additional studies are necessary to explore the underlying mechanism of this relationship.