Sudden Deaths Among Chinese Physicians

INTRODUCTION Sudden deaths are always an important topic, which catches physicians and health professionals＇ attention. Physicians and clinical scientists have reported their findings of unexpected deaths concerning about infants, children, young athletes, soldiers, adults with chronic diseases, and elderly people in thousands, if not millions of publications. However there are no existing clinical reports about sudden deaths among physicians and medical staff. Recently,

Nicotine gum or patch treatment for smoking cessation and smoking reduction： a multi-centre study in Chinese physicians

In China, around 23% of physicians （41% male, 3% female） currently smoke. Pharmacotherapy for tobacco dependence is available, but is not widely used in China. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effectiveness and the safety on smoking cessation of nicotine gum and nicotine patch in Chinese healthcare professionals. Three hundred regular smokers motivated to quit were recruited from six hospitals in China. All subjects were accepted nicotine replacement therapy, and they could choose nicotine gum （2 mg or 4 mg, depending on baseline smoking level） or nicotine patch （15 mg/16 h） for 12 weeks, with a 12-week follow-up. Limited behavioural support was provided. At Week 24, the 2-24 weeks continuous abstinence rate （verified by expired carbon monoxide） was 17%, the point prevalence abstinence rate （no smoking since the previous visit） was 35%, and 38% of subjects had continuously reduced their daily cigarette consumption by at least 50% versus baseline. Compliance with treatment was good, particularly with patch. No serious adverse event was reported, and most adverse events were mild or moderate. The most common treatment-related adverse events were gastro- intestinal （both gum and patch） and local irritation symptoms. Nicotine patch and gum were well tolerated in Chinese smokers. Abstinence rates were comparable to those previously reported with nicotine replacement therapy, and many smokers who did not quit substantially reduced their cigarette consumption.

Patterns of Herbal Combination for the Treatment of Insomnia Commonly Employed by Highly Experienced Chinese Medicine Physicians

Objective：To explore the most effective herbal combinations commonly used by highly experienced Chinese medicine（CM） physicians for the treatment of insomnia.Methods：We collected and analyzed data related to insomnia treatment from the clinics of 7 highly experienced CM physicians in Beijing.The sample included 162 patients and 460 consultations in total.Patient outcomes,such as sleep quality and sleep time per day,were manually collected from the medical records by trained CM clinicians.Three data mining methods,support vector machine（SVM）,logistic regression and decision tree,and multifactor dimensionality reduction（MDR）,were used to determine and confirm the herbal combinations that resulted in positive outcomes in patients suffering from insomnia.Results：Results show that MDR is the most efficient method to predict the effective herbal combinations.Using the MDR model,we identified several combinations of herbs with 100%positive outcomes,such as stir-fried spine date seed,Szechwan lovage rhizome,and prepared thinleaf milkwort root;white peony root,golden thread,and stir-fried spine date seed;and Asiatic cornelian cherry fruit with fresh rehmannia.Conclusions：Results indicate that herbal combinations are effective treatments for patients with insomnia compared with individual herbs.It is also shown that MDR is a potent data mining method to identify the herbal combination with high rates of positive outcome.

Brief ICF Core Set for Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Validation from the Perspective of Chinese Respiratory Physicians

Obstructive pulmonary diseases(OPDs)are the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide.The International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health(ICF)provides a framework for systemat-ically assessing functioning and disability in patients with chronic diseases.To date,the ICF core sets for OPDs have not been validated by respiratory physicians in China’s mainland.This study was aimed at validating the brief ICF core set for OPDs from the perspective of Chinese respiratory physicians.A three-round,consensus-building survey was conducted with Chinese respiratory physicians from Shanghai,Jiangsu,and Zhejiang from December 2 to December 16,2017,using the Delphi technique.Their answers were analyzed for consensus degree.In this study,52 experts(about 67.3%men)with a mean working experience of(19.3±6.3)years completed the consensus process.After 3 rounds,the following 13 ICF categories were considered crucial for the assessment of OPDs,with an agreement of over 70%:4 in body functions(b410-heart functions,b440-respiratory functions,b455-exercise tolerance functions,and b460-sensations associated with cardiovascular and respiratory functions),2 in body structures(s410-structure of cardiovascular system,and s430-structure of respiratory system),4 in activities and participation(d230-carrying out daily routine,d450-walking,d455-moving around,and d640-doing housework),and 3 in environmental factors(e110-products or substances for personal consumption,e225-climate,and e260-air quality).Twelve(70.6%)categories in the current brief ICF core set were validated,and one additional category,b410-heart functions,was added.In conclusion,Chinese respiratory physicians largely supported the current brief ICF core set for OPDs.However,the newly added and unconfirmed categories need further investigation.