Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease closely related to personal life style. Therefore, achieving effective self-management is one of the most important ways to control it. There is evidence that social support can help to improve the self-management ability of patients with T2DM, but which social support is more effective has been rarely explored. The purpose of this study is to construct an integrated model to analyze which social support has more significant impact on self-management of T2DM, and provide reasonable suggestions to health care providers on how to effectively play the role of social support. We established a social support indicator evaluation system and proposed an integrated model that combines ANP (Analytical Network Process) and CRITIC (CRiteria Importance through Intercriteria Correlation) methods to evaluate the impact of social support on T2DM self-management from both subjective and objective perspectives. The weights calculated by the model will serve as the basis for us to judge the importance of different social support indicators. Informational support (weighting 49.26%) is the most important criteria, followed by tangible support (weighting 39.24%) and emotional support (weighting 11.51%). Among 11 sub-criteria, guidance (weighting 23.05%) and feedback (weighting 14.68%) are two most relevant with T2DM self-management. This result provides ideas and evidence for health care providers on how to offer more effective social support. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools, specifically ANP and CRITIC, are used to evaluate the impact of social support on improving self-management of type 2 diabetes. The study suggests that incorporating two sub-indicators of guidance and feedback into the diabetes care programs may have great potential to improve T2DM self-management and further control patient blood glucose and reduce complications.

Human brucellosis is caused by Brucella species and remains a major burden in both human and domesticated animal populations, especially in Inner Mongolia, China. The aims of this study were to analyze the spatiotemporal trends in human brucellosis in Inner Mongolia during 2010 to 2015, to explore the factors affecting the incidence of brucellosis. The results showed that the annual incidence was 29.68–77.67 per 100,000, and peaked from March to June. The majority of human brucellosis was male farmers and herdsmen, aged 40–59 years. The high-risk areas were mainly Xilin Gol League and Hulunbeier City. The incidence of human brucellosis in Inner Mongolia decreased during 2010 to 2015, although the middle and eastern regions were still high-risk areas. The regions with larger number of sheep and cattle, lower GDP per capita, less number of hospital beds, higher wind speed, lower mean temperature more likely to become high-risk areas of human brucellosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an important public health issue worldwide. However, evidence concerning the impact of environmental factors on TB is sparse. We performed a retrospective analysis to determine the spatiotemporal trends and geographic variations of, and the factors associated with, the TB prevalence in Inner Mongolia. We performed a retrospective analysis of the epidemiology of TB. A Bayesian spatiotemporal model was used to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution and trends of the TB prevalence. A spatial panel data model was used to identify factors associated with the TB prevalence in the 101 counties of Inner Mongolia, using county-level aggregated data collected by the Inner Mongolia Center for Disease Control and Prevention. From January 2010 to December 2014, 79,466 (6.36‱) incident TB cases were recorded. The TB prevalence ranged from 4.97‱ (12,515/25,167,547) in 2014 to 7.49‱ (18,406/ 24,578,678) in 2010; the majority of TB cases were in males, and in those aged 46–60 years; by occupation, farmers and herdsmen were the most frequently affected. The Bayesian spatiotemporal model showed that the overall TB prevalence decreased linearly from 2010 to 2014 and occupation-stratified analyses yielded similar results, corroborating the reliability of the findings. The decrease of TB prevalence in the central-western and eastern regions was more rapid than that in the overall TB prevalence. A spatial correlation analysis showed spatial clustering of the TB prevalence from 2011 to 2014 (Moran’s index > 0, P < 0.05); in the spatial panel data model, rural residence, birth rate, number of beds, population density, precipitation, air pressure, and sunshine duration were associated with the TB prevalence. The overall TB prevalence in Inner Mongolia decreased from 2010 to 2014; however, the incidence of TB was high throughout this period. The TB prevalence was influenced by a spatiotemporal interaction effect and was associated with epidemiological, healthcare, and environmental factors.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for the global burden of disease, particularly in countries that are not economically developed. This study aimed to evaluate risk factors associated with self-reported hypertension among residents of Inner Mongolia using a cross-sectional study and to explore trends in the rate of self-reported hypertension. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to survey 13,554 participants aged more than 15 years residing in Inner Mongolia for the 2013 Fifth Health Service Survey. Hypertension was self-reported based on a past diagnosis of hypertension and current use of antihypertensive medication. Adjusted odds risks (ORs) of self-reported hypertension were derived for each independent risk factor including basic socio-demographic and clinical factors using multivariable logistic regression. An optimized risk score model was used to assess the risk and determine the predictive power of risk factors on self-reported hypertension among Inner Mongolia residents. During study period, self-reported hypertension prevalence was 19.0% (2571/13,554). In multivariable analyses, both female and minority groups were estimated to be associated with increased risk of self-reported hypertension, adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 1.22 (1.08, 1.37) and 1.66 (1.29, 2.13) for other minority compared with Han, increased risk of self-reported hypertension prevalence was associated with age, marital status, drinking, BMI, and comorbidity. In the analyses calculated risk score by regression coefficients, old age (≥71) had a score of 12, which was highest among all examined factors. The predicted probability of self-reported hypertension was positively associated with risk score. Of 13,421 participants with complete data, 284 had a risk score greater than 20, which corresponded to a high estimated probability of self-reported hypertension (≥67%). Self-reported hypertension was largely related to multiple clinical and socio-demographic factors. An optimized risk score model can effectively predict self-reported hypertension. Understanding these factors and assessing the risk score model can help to identify the high-risk groups, especially in areas with multi-ethnic populations.

Background: Short messages service (SMS) provides a practical medium for delivering content to address patients to adherence to self-management. The aim of study was to design some patient-centered health education messages, evaluate the feasibility of messages, and explore the effect of this model. Methods: The messages were designed by a panel of experts, and SMS Quality Evaluation Questionnaire was used to evaluate their quality. A two-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this management model. Participants were randomly divided into an intervention group (IG) who received evaluated messages and a control group (CG) who received regular education. The primary outcomes were changes in plasma glucose and control rates, and the secondary outcomes were improvements in diet control, physical activities, weight control, etc. Results: A total of 42 messages covering five main domains: health awareness, diet control, physical activities, living habits and weight control were designed, and the average scores of the messages were 8.0 (SD 0.7), 8.5 (SD 0.6), 7.9 (SD 1.0), 8.0 (SD 0.7), and 8.4 (SD 0.9), respectively. In the SMS intervention, 171 patients with an average age of 55.1 years were involved, including 86 in the CG and 85 in the IG. At 12 months, compared with the control group (CG), the decrease of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (1.5 vs. 0.4, P = 0.011) and control rate (49.4% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.034), the postprandial glucose (PPG) (5.8 vs. 4.2, P = 0.009) and control rate (57.8% vs. 33.7%, P = 0.002) were better in the intervention group (IG). In terms of self-management, improvements in weight control (49.3% vs. 28.2%, P = 0.031), vegetables consumption (87.3% vs. 29.0%, P < 0.001), fruits consumption (27.5% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.022), and physical activities (84.7% vs. 70.0%, P = 0.036) were better in the IG than in the CG. Conclusions: The overall quality of the messages was high. It was effective and feasible to carry out an SMS intervention to improve the behavioral habits of patients with chronic diseases in remote and undeveloped areas. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, ChiCTR1900023445. Registered May 28, 2019--Retrospectively registered.

The objective of our study was to identify the causes of death in children <15 years of age in Inner Mongolia and to examine the age-specific causes of death. Study data from 2008–2012 were obtained from the Death Registry System that is maintained by the Inner Mongolia Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mortality rate (per 100,000) for children <15 years of age was calculated and stratified by age in different years. We computed the proportion of age-specific causes of death for children <15 years that occurred between 2008 and 2012 across eight monitoring points in Inner Mongolia. We used a log-linear model to analyze the year and age effects on childhood mortality. From 2008-2012, the standardized mortality of children 0.05); the mortality rate was the highest in the <1-year age group (p<0.05); and the mortality rate of the <1-year age group was higher in 2012 compared to that in 2009 (p<0.05), 2010 (p<0.05), and 2011 (p<0.05). In children aged 1-14 years, the leading cause of death was injuries, among which transport accident injuries were the most prevalent. To reduce the childhood mortality rate in Inner Mongolia, China, we should focus on the prevention of perinatal deaths in infants <1 year of age and on the prevention of transport accident injuries among older children (1-14 years).