OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status of clinical genetics specialization development and the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for hereditary diseases across medical institutions in Shanghai, and to assess the necessity and feasibility of establishing training bases for clinical genetics specialists. METHODS: By employing a cross-sectional survey design, the Clinical Genetics Committee of Shanghai Medical Association has conducted questionnaire surveys from March to April 2025 across 54 healthcare institutions in Shanghai (including 33 tertiary hospitals and 21 secondary hospitals). The survey involved administrative departments and medical personnel from 15 clinical specialties. The survey has covered current genetic disease diagnosis and treatment practices, relevant and specialised disease types, genetic department establishment, testing capabilities, personnel teams, and training requirements. RESULTS: The results revealed that 78.0% of clinical departments surveyed had treated patients with hereditary disorders. Shanghai possesses diagnostic and therapeutic expertise for over 95% of hereditary diseases listed in its rare disease catalogue, reflecting both the practical clinical demand for such conditions and the city's overall diagnostic and therapeutic strengths in this field. Nevertheless, significant disparities exist in the development of genetics departments across different tiers of healthcare institutions. Resources for genetic testing capabilities (including molecular, cellular, and biochemical testing) are also unevenly distributed across different tiers of hospitals. The survey further revealed that only 26.0% of departments believe that their current physician structure fully meets the diagnostic and treatment demands. Over 90% of departments consider standard training for clinical genetic specialists necessary, with 74.0% expressing willingness to participate in establishing training bases. Based on above findings and thorough deliberation, the Clinical Genetics Committee of the Shanghai Medical Association proposes advancing specialist training and discipline development through establishing a standard training system. The committee has drafted a three-year training protocol featuring a "joint training"-centered model, recommending a pilot-first, dynamically optimized strategy for steadily advancing training base development. CONCLUSION Shanghai faces substantial demand for genetic disease diagnosis and treatment, yet exhibits shortcomings in clinical genetics specialization development, resource allocation, and talent pipeline cultivation. To establish a standard training system holds significant practical importance and is underpinned by a broad demand.
Humans ; China ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Genetic Diseases, Inborn/genetics* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Genetics, Medical/education* ; Genetic Testing

Education, Medical ; Education ; Research

BACKGROUND

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, schools had to switch online. The sudden transition to blended teaching and learning (BTL) poses challenges for students and teachers, especially for health science programs that require hands-on practical experience. The validity, reliability, and responsiveness of these self-report questionnaires (SRQs) should be established to ensure the accuracy of the results as intended by the SRQ.

This study critically appraised, compared, and summarized the psychometric properties of SRQ evaluating BTL among health science university students. This review determined the SRQ’s reliability, internal consistency, various forms of validity (content, criterion, construct), and responsiveness.

Following a 10-step procedure based on COSMIN guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of SRQs used by health science university students to evaluate blended teaching and learning. Studies were eligible if they reported psychometric properties of SRQs related to blended learning among university health science students; exclusions included studies focusing on perceptions, attitudes, self-efficacy, and satisfaction, as well as articles such as biographies, editorials, and conference materials. Searches covered multiple electronic databases until April 26, 2023, including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, MEDLINE (OVID), PsycInfo, CINAHL, EBSCOHOST, ERIC, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, JSTOR, Acta Medica Philippina, Philippine Journal of Health Research and Development, and HERDIN, managed through Zotero. Two independent reviewers performed database searches, title and abstract screening, and full-text evaluations, with a third reviewer resolving any disputes. The COSMIN Risk of Bias Checklist was employed to evaluate included studies on the development and various measurement properties of SRQs. The reviewers assessed SRQ standards, including validity, reliability, internal consistency, measurement error, responsiveness, interpretability, and feasibility. Data extraction and result tabulation were independently completed, with content comparison by two health education experts. This evaluation categorized the SRQs into three quality and validity levels.

The study examined five articles; four were rated as 'doubtful' and one as 'inadequate' in the overall development of SRQ. All four 'doubtful' studies demonstrated questionable content validity when university students were asked about the questionnaire's relevance, comprehensiveness, and comprehensibility. Only half of these studies achieved an 'adequate' rating for content validity based on expert opinions on relevance and comprehensiveness. All but one study scored from 'very good' to 'adequate' in structural validity. Three out of the four studies scored a very good rating for internal consistency, while one was deemed 'inadequate' in internal consistency, cross-cultural validity, and reliability. Three out of four studies scored 'very good' on construct validity, but all overlooked criterion validity and responsiveness. Conducted in various locations, including Australia, Romania, Turkey, and Taiwan, these studies highlighted both common characteristics and limitations in questionnaire development according to the COSMIN guidelines. Four studies were deemed reliable and valid for BTL constructs (Category A); Wu et al. requires further validation (Category B). Study limitations included heterogeneity in populations, settings, and questionnaire versions, potential subjective bias in SRQ content comparison, and the evolving nature of SRQs in blended learning contexts.

The systematic review reports the development and evaluation of SRQs for BTL while identifying gaps in their applicability to health science programs. The Blended Learning Scale (BLS) of Lazar et al. and the Blended Learning Questionnaire (BLQ) of Ballouk et al. showed an ‘adequate' rating for content validity. BLS revealed very good structural validity, internal consistency, and adequate content validation. Although the BLQ lacked Confirmatory Factor Analysis, it yielded valuable constructs for evaluating health sciences students' experiences in BTL. Both tools require improvements on recall period, completion time, interpretability, and feasibility. The review underscores the necessity for cont inuous assessment and enhancement of such instruments in BTL, advocating a rigorous scale development process. Furthermore, it encourages the customization of teaching and learning evaluation tools to suit specific institutional contexts while promoting further validation of these questionnaires across different populations in future research.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to synthesize existing literature on nursing informatics (NI) and propose updates to the Philippine Nursing Informatics curriculum that embrace current trends and integrate a globally acknowledged framework.

A literature search was conducted on PubMed and ScienceDirect. This search identified 79 articles, of which only eight met the inclusion criteria. The Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) initiative provided the framework for analyzing the literature review outcomes and for developing the revised course structure for the Nursing Informatics (NI) curriculum in the Philippines.

The revised course outline incorporated 31 topics across the six domains outlined by the TIGER framework. Upon comparison, it was found that numerous topics identified were absent from the existing NI curriculum in the Philippines. Key subjects identified for inclusion encompass research, examination of standards and terminologies, application in community health, cybersecurity, project management, and advocacy. These areas hold particular relevance for the Philippines, attributed to the limited recognition of NI and the ongoing advancements related to technological applications in healthcare.

The nursing informatics curriculum in the Philippines is not up to date, failing to align with global NI standards. It is recommended that a thorough revision and enhancement be undertaken to ensure alignment with international frameworks and current industry practices.

BACKGROUND

With childhood overweight and obesity becoming widespread in the Philippines, there is an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases at a younger age. The school environment, found to be associated with body mass index, offers an avenue to address and prevent school-aged obesity. However, the lack of data on the current school environment poses a barrier to improving these conditions.

This study aimed to describe the physical, political, and sociocultural environment characteristics of primary schools in the Municipality of Pateros (Philippines) that affect nutrition and physical activity of school-aged children. 

Self-administered questionnaires for key school personnel and observational checklists were used to examine available resources, policies, and current practices for obesity prevention in five public schools in a municipality. The role perceptions of all school personnel on childhood obesity prevention were also gathered. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the number and categories of food items, functional spaces and equipment for physical activity, policies and scores of attitude toward obesity prevention. Data were collected in May to June 2019 and were analyzed descriptively.

Majority of the schools serve food items that contain high amounts of saturated fat, sugar, or salt, provide excess calories, and are not recommended to be sold at school canteens based on guidelines by the Department of Education. While all schools have areas and functional equipment for physical activity, students have limited access to these. Policies and guidelines for nutrition were present but sparse for physical activity and obesity prevention. Positive attitude towards childhood obesity prevention was seen across all school personnel respondents.

Participant primary schools are eager to address childhood obesity, however, the physical, political, and sociocultural environments do not seem to enable this. This situation may promote, rather than prevent, overweight and obesity among school children. This points to the need of reorientation and implementation of policies on obesity prevention to the schools as well as developing the skills of both teaching and non-teaching personnel in healthy eating and physical activity to students. School-based healthcare workers like school nurses and doctors would have critical roles in supporting schools in this regard.

INTRODUCTION: Health literacy plays an essential role in one's ability to acquire and understand critical medical information in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infodemic and in other pandemics. We aimed to summarise the assessment, levels and determinants of pandemic-related health literacy and its associated clinical outcomes. METHODS: A systematic review was performed in Medline ® , Embase ® , PsycINFO ® , CINAHL ® and four major preprint servers. Observational and interventional studies that evaluated health literacy related to the novel COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) were included. Items used in health literacy instruments were grouped under the themes of knowledge, attitudes and practices. Determinants of health literacy were grouped into five domains: sociodemographic, medical, psychological/psychiatric, health systems-related and others. RESULTS: Of the 2,065 articles screened, 70 articles were included. Of these, 21, 17 and 32 studies evaluated health literacy related to COVID-19, SARS and MERS, respectively. The rates of low pandemic health literacy ranged from 4.3% to 57.9% among medical-related populations and from 4.0% to 82.5% among nonmedical populations. Knowledge about the symptoms and transmission of infection, worry about infection, and practices related to mask usage and hand hygiene were most frequently evaluated. Sociodemographic determinants of health literacy were most frequently studied, among which higher education level, older age and female gender were found to be associated with better health literacy. No studies evaluated the outcomes associated with health literacy. CONCLUSION The level of pandemic-related health literacy is suboptimal. Healthcare administrators need to be aware of health literacy determinants when formulating policies in pandemics.
Humans ; Health Literacy ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Pandemics ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology* ; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus ; Female ; Male

INTRODUCTION: The study objective was to determine the levels of self-care and health literacy (HL) and their associations among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in a public primary care setting in Singapore. A total of 289 participants aged 21-80 years with hypertension were recruited. Self-care profiles were measured using the Hypertension Self-Care Profile (HTN-SCP; range 0-240, domain range 0-80). Health literacy was measured using the Short-Form Health Literacy Scale (HLS-SF12; range 0-50, limited literacy ≤33). RESULTS: The mean self-care score was 182.7 (standard deviation [SD] 23.2). The median HL score was 34.7 (interquartile range [IQR] 31.9-40.3), and 31.1% of participants had limited HL. Self-care was not associated with age, CKD status, household income and education, but was associated with gender and HL score. In the final regression model, lower HL scores (adjusted β = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.7 to 1.36, P < 0.001) and male gender (adjusted β = -5.29, 95% CI -10.56 to -0.03, P = 0.049) were associated with lower self-care scores. The HL scores were associated with self-care domains of self-efficacy (HL: β = 0.30, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.42, P < 0.001), motivation (HL: β = 0.40, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.53, P < 0.001) and behaviour (HL: β = 0.38, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.50, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Thirty-one percent of the participants had limited HL. Self-care was not associated with age, race, CKD status, household income or education. Male gender and limited HL were associated with lower self-care. Self-care was associated with self-efficacy, motivation and behaviour. Future research could focus on more targeted approaches to improve self-care and HL among patients with CKD.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Health Literacy ; Middle Aged ; Self Care ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Aged ; Adult ; Primary Health Care ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic/therapy* ; Singapore ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Aged, 80 and over ; Young Adult ; Hypertension/therapy*

The academic thought of Professor GAO Shuzhong on acupuncture and moxibustion is investigated systematically and summarized as 5 aspects: establishing GAO 's theory and methodological method of "siguan santong" (four gates and three opens); structuring the theory of "yinyang, qi movement, ascending and descending" pivoted at the umbilicus; deepening the laws of "stereo-layered holographic correspondence in the human body"; proposing "the method of bi-location" of acupoint systems based on meridian and collateral theories; developing the characteristic differentiation theory of acupuncture and moxibustion. These summaries reflect the unique perspective and distinctive features of Professor GAO Shuzhong on the theory of acupuncture and moxibustion, and his clinical thinking; and bring the practical significance for the discipline and academic development of acupuncture and moxibustion.
Moxibustion/history* ; Humans ; China ; Acupuncture/education* ; Acupuncture Therapy/history* ; History, 20th Century

During the period of the Republic of China, acupuncture faced different opportunities and developments in China and the West. The correspondence between Soulié de Morant, the father of European acupuncture, and FANG Shen'an, a famous acupuncture master of the Republic of China, is of great significance to explore the exchange of acupuncture between China and France, the development of acupuncture in France, the Western learning of Chinese medicine, and the dissemination of academic ideas of acupuncture in the Republic of China. The authors studied Soulié de Morant's collection stored in the Museum of Western Studies of Chinese Medicine of Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, and found Soulié de Morant's annotation of Jinzhen Mizhuan (Secrets of Golden Needle), the 1937 edition, and 3 paper letters with FANG Shen'an (2 letters in French and 1 letter in Chinese). After the language translation and collation, based on the correspondence between two masters, in association with the historical background and the narration of CHEN Yemeng, the inheritor of Fang's acupuncture, this paper reviews the process of academic exchanges between them, so as to display the historical development of acupuncture in China and the West.
China ; History, 20th Century ; Acupuncture/education* ; Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy/history* ; France ; Correspondence as Topic/history*

This paper focuses on the necessity and feasibility of the multidimensional integration of clinic, culture and language in the international education of acupuncture-moxibustion within a cross-cultural context. In view of the current gap between theory and practice, and the barrier of culture and language in the international education of acupuncture-moxibustion, it proposes the specific integration approaches, such as the "trinity teaching method" and "modularization of acupuncture courses", which develops the framework of international education of acupuncture-moxibustion, guided by "cultural exploration" in macroscopic view and implemented through "cultural experience", aiming to achieve a seamless integration of clinic, culture, and language. This initiative not only inherits and promotes Chinese acupuncture-moxibustion, maintains its unique position in global healthcare, but also fosters dialogue and exchange between Eastern and Western medicine. Ultimately, it enhances the international recognition of Chinese acupuncture-moxibustion. By offering fresh perspectives and methodologies, this paper paves the way for a more comprehensive and systematic approaches to international education of acupuncture-moxibustion, presenting the theoretical and practical significance in advancing the globalization of traditional Chinese medicine.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Language ; Acupuncture/education* ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Culture ; China