Visceral adiposity index (VAI), a novel sex-specific index for visceral fat measurement, has been proposed recently. We evaluate the efficacy of VAI in identifying diabetes risk in Chinese people, and compare the predictive ability between VAI and other body fatness indices, i.e., waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and waist- to- height ratio (WHtR). Participants (n = 3,461) were recruited from an ongoing cohort study in Jiangsu Province, China. Hazard ratio (HR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) between diabetes risk and different body fatness indices were evaluated by Cox proportional hazard regression model. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under curve (AUC) were applied to compare the ability of identifying diabetes risk between VAI, WC, WHtR and BMI. A total number of 160 new diabetic cases occurred during the follow-up, with an incidence of 4.6%. Significant positive associations were observed for VAI with blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglyceride, WC, BMI and WHtR. Moreover, increased VAI was observed to be associated with higher diabetes risk with a positive dose–response trend (p for trend < 0.001). As compared to individuals with the lowest VAI, those who had the highest VAI were at 2.55-fold risk of diabetes (95% CI: 1.58-4.11). The largest AUC was observed for VAI, following by WC, WHtR and BMI. VAI is positively associated with the risk of diabetes. Compared to other indices for body fatness measurements, VAI is a better and convenience surrogate marker for visceral adipose measurement and could be used in identifying the risk of diabetes in large-scale epidemiologic studies.

Police reports indicate an increasing burden of electric bike (E-bike) casualties in China; however, hospitalised injury data have not been reported. The aim of the present work was to describe hospitalised injury patterns for E-bikers involved in road crashes and explore injury risk disparities among them. For the period October 2010 to April 2011, this cross-sectional study retrospectively collected information for hospitalised E-bikers involved in road crashes from hospital records, in Suzhou China, using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) injury diagnosis codes. Injury nature and body region were further categorised using ICD-10 codes. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the risk of specific injury types. We found that hospitalised E-biker injuries (n=323) accounted for 57.2% of road traffic hospitalisations over the 6-month study period. The average age, length of stay and hospitalisation cost were 43.8 years, 10.0 days and ¥8229 (US$1286), respectively. Fractures and head injuries were common. The odds of traumatic brain injuries were significantly elevated for night-time E-bike crashes and incidents other than colliding with motor vehicles. These findings confirm E-bike injuries as an important population health problem and identify elevated injury odds in different E-biker groups. Future injury prevention initiatives should include encouraging helmet use among E-bikers.

Although the association for esophageal cancer with tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been well established, the risk appears to be less strong in China. To provide more evidence on the effect of smoking and alcohol consumption with esophageal cancer in China, particularly among Chinese women, a population-based case–control study has been conducted in Jiangsu, China, from 2003 to 2007. A total of 1,520 cases and 3,879 controls were recruited. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied. Results showed that the odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) for ever smoking and alcohol drinking were 1.57 (95% CI: 1.34–1.83) and 1.50 (95% CI: 1.29–1.74). Dose–response relationships were observed with increased intensity and longer duration of smoking/drinking. Risk of smoking and alcohol drinking at the highest joint level was 7.32 (95% CI: 4.58–11.7), when compared to those never smoked and never drank alcohol. Stratifying by genders, smoking and alcohol drinking increased the risk among men with an OR of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.44–2.09) and 1.76 (95% CI: 1.48–2.09); however, neither smoking nor alcohol consumption showed a significant association among women. In conclusion, smoking and alcohol drinking were associated with esophageal cancer risk among Chinese men, but not among Chinese women.

[Purpose] The objective of this study is to investigate and analyze the epidemiologic characteristics and time trends of ovarian cancer incidence and mortality in Jiangsu Province of China during 2003 to 2012. [Method] Data were collected from eligible cancer registries in Jiangsu Province. Crude rates, age-specific rates, truncated age-standardized rate (TASR) and proportions of ovarian cancer were calculated. The Segi’s World Population was used to calculate age-standardized rates for world (ASW). Poisson distribution was used to analyze the differences between urban and rural areas. Joinpoint regression was performed to estimate the annual percent change (APC) of ovarian cancer incidence/mortality. [Results] A total number of 4,401 new cases and 1,918 deaths were identified during period 2003-2012. The incidence and mortality ASW was 3.64/ and 1.52/100,000, respectively. ASW of incidence was 4.48/ in urban areas, while 3.04/100,000 in rural areas. The mortality of ASW was slight higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Age specific incidence showed a peak at the 60-64 age group, while mortality peaked at age group of 65-69 years old. A significant increase of incidence was observed from 2003 to 2006, with an APC of 34.0% (95%CI: 9.7, 63.7), the increasing rate declined since 2006 (APC=3.3%, 95%CI: -3.5, 10.5). The mortality showed a gentle upward trend as compared to incidence, with an APC of 9.9% (95%CI: 7.7, 12.2) per year, continuously from 2003 to 2012. It is apparent that both incidence and mortality presented a rising trend in all areas, but urban were higher than that in rural areas. [Conclusions] Ovarian cancer is a highly lethal disease which is becoming a significant public health problem in Chinese women. It is vital to improve the understanding of current status of ovarian cancer. Moreover, prevention and control policies should be formulated to reduce the disease burden of ovarian cancer in China.

Purpose This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression and to investigate its associated factors and impacts on daily life functioning among the general adult population in Jiangsu Province of China. Methods As part of the Jiangsu Provincial Survey on Chronic Disease and Behavioural Risk Factors (2010), a sample of 8400 community residents aged ≥ 18 years were recruited. Study data were collected through a questionnaire-administered face-to-face interview. Depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire. Results The estimated prevalence of depression was 0.56% (0.54% in men and 0.58% in women). Increased risk of depression was found to be associated with rural residents (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.33–3.78) and the comorbidity of chronic diseases (OR 3.83, 95% CI 1.33–11.02). Respondents with depression reported an average of 11.75 unhealthy days caused by physical illnesses and 8.31 unhealthy days by mood problems within the previous 30 days. Depression was also found to be related to worse self-ranked health status, worse relationships with families and lower life satisfaction. Conclusions A low prevalence of depression was found in this population of China, though it is not clear the extent to which it reflects issues related to the measurement and/or other factors of the survey. Depression was found to be related to poorer health and poorer life functioning. Further research into the link between depression and access to mental health services in rural areas is necessary. Meanwhile, depression among chronic disease patients should be addressed in clinical settings, health plans and resources allocation.

The long-term characteristics of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among COVID-19 patients remain largely unclear. Tracking the longevity of these antibodies can provide a forward-looking reference for monitoring COVID-19.