Data from 736 patients undergoing prosthetic heart valve replacement surgery and concomitant surgery (combined surgery) from January 1998 to January 2004 at Union Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Univariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors For prolonged mechanical ventilation. The results showed that prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass duration, prolonged aortic cross clamp time and low ejection fraction less than 50 percent (50%) were found to be independent predictors for prolonged mechanical ventilation. Meanwhile age, weight, and preoperative hospital stay (days) were not found to be associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation. It was concluded that, for age and weight, this might be due to the lower number of old age patients (70 years and above) included in our study and genetic body structure of majority Chinese population that favor them to be in normal weight, respectively.

HIV/AIDS is increasing in prevalence in China and spread of infection from highly risk populations to the general populations was recognized. Despite the fact, there are still only few scien- tific reviews on quality of life (QOL) for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). However, many PLWHAs are struggling with social and psychological influences such as substances abuse, cultural beliefs, depression, stigma, poverty, which can affect their QOL. Public unawareness about infection and disease, willingness to seek medical care and motivation to follow therapy are indirectly influ- encing health outcome. In 2003 Chinese government has established the so-called the "Four Frees and One Care" policy. The policy was officially implemented from 2004 in some areas, yet to date it is not implemented nationwide. This paper discussed the epidemiology of HIV, underlying psychoso- cial factors affecting PLWHAs and their impact on QOL. We put forward some recommendations for stakeholders, advocacy groups, non-government organizations and Chinese government.

Data from 736 patients undergoing prosthetic heart valve replacement surgery and concomitant surgery (combined surgery) from January 1998 to January 2004 at Union Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Univariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors for prolonged mechanical ventilation. The results showed that prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass duration, prolonged aortic cross clamp time and low ejection fraction less than 50 percent (50 %)were found to be independent predictors for prolonged mechanical ventilation. Meanwhile age,weight, and preoperative hospital stay (days) were not found to be associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation. It was concluded that, for age and weight, this might be due to the lower number of old age patients (70 years and above) included in our study and genetic body structure of majority Chinese population that favor them to be in normal weight, respectively.

This study is aimed to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) for individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Hubei province-central China by using WHOQOL-BREF instrument (Chinese version).One hundred and thirty six respondents (HIV/AIDS individuals) attending out-patient department of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese CDC) were administered a structured questionnaire developed by investigators.QOL was evaluated by using WHOQOL-BREF instrument (Chinese version).The resuits showed that the mean score of overall QOL on a scale of 0-100 was 25.8.The mean scores in 4 domains of QOL on a scale of 0-100 were 82.9 (social domain),27.5 (psychological domain),17.7 (physical domain) and 11.65 (environmental domain).The significant difference of QOL was noted in the score of physical domain between asymptomatic (14.6) and early symptomatic individuals (12) (P=0.014),and between patients with early symptoms (12) and those with AIDS (10.43) (P<0.001).QOL in psychological domain was significantly lower in early symptomatic (12.1) (P<0.05) and AIDS patients (12.4) (P<0.006) than in asymptomatic individuals (14.2).The difference in QOL scores in the psychological domain was significant with respect to the income of patients (P<0.048) and educational status (P<0.037).Significantly better QOL scores in the physical domain (P<0.040) and environmental domain (P<0.017) were noted with respect to the occupation of the patients.Patients with family support had better QOL scores in environmental domain.In our research,QOL for HIV/AIDS individuals was associated with education,occupation,income,family support and clinical categories of the patients.It was concluded that WHOQOL-BREF Chinese version was successfully used in the evaluation of QOL of HIV/AIDS individuals in Chinese population and proved to be a reliable and useful tool.