Association of ABO blood groups with the severity of coronary artery disease: a cross-sectional study

Objective To investigate whether ABO blood groups is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease(CAD). Methods Between January 2015 and December 2017, 1425 first diagnosed CAD patients confirmed by selective coronary angiography were recruited into this cross-sectional study, and their baseline characteristics, ABO blood groups, Gensini score were collected. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to test the association between the severity of CAD and ABO blood groups. Results The Gensini score was significantly higher in the blood group A than in the non-A groups(41.2 ± 32 vs. 38 ± 27;P = 0.026). After adjusting for age, male, smoking, family history of CAD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia, multivariate linear regression indicated that blood group A was associated with the severity of CAD(β= 3.298, 95% CI: 0.91–6.505, P = 0.044). In diabetes group, A blood type was also associated with increased Gensini score(P = 0.02) after adjusting for age, male, family history of CAD, hypercholesterolemia, smoking and hypertension. Conclusion In this cross-sectional study, the data indicated that blood group A was an independent risk factor of severity of CAD in Chinese population and Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Post-traumatic stress disorder status in a rescue group after the Wenchuan earthquake relief

Previous studies have suggested that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder in earthquake rescue workers is relatively high. Risk factors for this disorder include demographic characteristics, earthquake-related high-risk factors, risk factors in the rescue process, personality, social support and coping style. This study examined the current status of a unit of 1 040 rescue workers who participated in earthquake relief for the Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on May 12th, 2008. Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed primarily using the Clinician-Administered Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Scale during structured interviews. Univariate and multivariate sta-tistical analyses were used to examine major risk factors that contributed to the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder. Results revealed that the incidence of this disorder in the rescue group was 5.96%. The impact factors in univariate analysis included death of family members, contact with corpses or witnessing of the deceased or seriously injured, near-death experience, severe injury or mental trauma in the rescue process and working at the epicenter of the earthquake. Correlation analysis suggested that post-traumatic stress disorder was positively correlated with psychotic and neurotic personalities, negative coping and low social support. Impact factors in mul-tivariate logistic regression analysis included near-death experience, severe injury or mental trauma, working in the epicenter of the rescue, neurotic personality, negative coping and low social support, among which low social support had the largest odds ratio of 20.42. Findings showed that the oc-currence of post-traumatic stress disorder was the result of the interaction of multiple factors.

Socio-demographics and asthma prevalence,management,and outcomes among children 1-11 years of age in California

Background:Asthma disproportionately affects minority and low-income children.We examined asthma prevalence,management and outcomes,focusing on race/ethnicity and acculturation of parents(particularly English language proficiency).Methods:This cross-sectional,correlational analysis used a de-identified population-based survey,the California Health Interview Survey,for years 2001–2015.Survey-weighted analysis with SAS 9.4 was used to determine asthma prevalence among children 1 to 11 years of age.Descriptive analysis was conducted,adjusting for survey design and combination of multiple years of data.The Pearson test,using design-based F values was used to determine statistically significant differences between those having/not having a doctor diagnosis of asthma.Multivariable logistic regression,with jackknife approach to obtain confidence intervals,was used to examine associations of child and parental characteristics with asthma prevalence,management,and outcomes.Results:The 61,625 completed surveys represented an estimated annual population of 5.7 million children,of which 12.9%had asthma.There were significant(p<0.001)differences by age,gender,race,and language proficiency,with higher asthma prevalence for children 6 to 11 years of age(15.5%),males(15.3%),African Americans(19.5%),and parents speaking English very well(14.1%).Compared to children whose parents spoke English very well,those whose parents spoke English not well or not at all were less likely to achieve optimal asthma management,i.e.to have received a management plan from doctor(OR 0.30;95%Confidence Interval 0.20–0.46)),to be currently taking medication to control asthma(OR 0.52;95%CI 0.36–0.74)),or to be not confident in ability to control asthma(OR 3.10;95%CI 1.49–6.42).Children whose parents spoke English fairly well rather than very well had worse outcomes,i.e.were more likely to have an emergency room visit in past 12 months(OR 1.92;95%CI 1.03–3.61)and were more likely to miss school due to asthma in past 12 months(OR 0.71;1.01–2.94).Conclusions:Socio-demographics had a limited role in explaining differences across a handful of asthma management and outcome measures in California.Parental English language proficiency had the most consistent influence,underscoring the need for culturally and linguistically competent care.