1.Infodemiology: past, present and future
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2024;45(12):1715-1719
The internet era has brought a dual impact on epidemiological research: on one hand, it has expanded the breadth and depth of public health surveillance, enriching the formulation of strategies for early warning for public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks, disease prevention, and health promotion through vast medical information resources. On the other hand, it has triggered the issue of "infodemic", wherein the rapid spread of misinformation disrupts public perception, weakens the effectiveness of public health responses, and adds complexity to the management of public health emergencies. This paper focuses on representative research areas of infodemiology, for example, infodemic caused by inforus, and explores its future development trends and potential challenges with the aim to deepen infodemiology research and optimize public health practice.
2.A review of pension status quo in China and domestic and overseas pension models
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2016;37(10):1424-1429
With the aging of population and progressive decline of traditional pension model,the problems in the aged supporting have caused serious social concern in China.Since 1980's,different opinions about pension models have been suggested in many research papers.This paper summarizes the characteristics of different pension model used in both China and abroad in terms of the financial sources of the aged supporting,life style and the combination with medical service,suggesting to establish a pension model with Chinese characteristics to provide multiple and personalized services on the basis of China's national situation and successful experiences of other countries.
3.Changes of serum CXCL16 and ANCA levels in allergic rhinitis and their clinical significance
Yujie ZHANG ; Jiahui LI ; Yuguang SI
International Journal of Laboratory Medicine 2024;45(3):330-334
Objective To investigate the levels of serum CXC-chemokine ligand 16(CXCL16)and anti-neu-trophil cytoplasmic antibody(ANCA)in patients with allergic rhinitis and their clinical diagnostic value.Meth-ods A total of 84 patients with allergic rhinitis(allergic rhinitis group)treated in the hospital from January to December 2022 were selected as the study objects,and were divided into mild group(44 cases)and moderate and severe group(40 cases)according to the severity of their disease.Another 80 healthy subjects who had physical examination in the same period were selected as the control group.The levels of CXCL16 and ANCA in serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The correlation between serum CXCL16 and ANCA levels and inflammatory factors[interleukin(IL)-4,IL-9,IL-13]and immunoglobulin E(IgE)was analyzed by Pearson.The value of serum CXCL16 and ANCA levels in the diagnosis of moderate and severe allergic rhinitis was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Compared with con-trol group,the levels of IL-4,IL-9,IL-13 and IgE in allergic rhinitis group were significantly increased,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Compared with control group,serum CXCL16 and ANCA levels in allergic rhinitis group were significantly increased,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of serum CXCL16 and ANCA in patients with allergic rhinitis was 0.897 and 0.844,respectively.The AUC of combined diagnosis was 0.959,both of which were better than that of individual diagnosis(Z=2.164,3.474,P<0.05),and the specificity was 93.75%.The sensitivity was 89.29%.The levels of serum CXCL16 and ANCA in patients with allergic rhinitis increased with the se-verity of the disease(P<0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that serum CXCL16 and ANCA levels were positively correlated with IL-4,IL-9,IL-13 and IgE in patients with allergic rhinitis(P<0.05).ROC curve analysis results showed that the AUC of the patients diagnosed with moderate and severe allergic rhini-tis by serum CXCL16 and ANCA was 0.862 and 0.832,respectively,and the AUC of the combined diagnosis of CXCL16 and ANCA was 0.949,both of which were better than those diagnosed separately(Z=1.981,2.378,P<0.05),and the specificity was 90.91%.The sensitivity was 90.00%.Conclusion The levels of se-rum CXCL16 and ANCA in patients with allergic rhinitis increased significantly,and increased with the severi-ty of the patients'disease,both of which have certain value in the clinical diagnosis of allergic rhinitis.
4.Associations between season of birth and age both at menarche and at menopause
Jiahui SI ; Ruogu MENG ; Jun LYU ; Yu GUO ; Zheng BIAN ; Canqing YU ; Ling YANG ; Yunlong TAN ; Pei PEI ; Junshi CHEN ; Zhengming CHEN ; Liming LI
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2017;38(7):877-882
Objective To examine the associations between season of birth and factors as age at menarche,age at menopause and reproductive span.Methods A total of 285 186 female from the China Kadoorie Biobank,with complete data on critical variables and had menarche at 9-18 years old,were included.A total of 132 373 female with natural menopause were included for the analysis on age at menopause and reproductive span.Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the associations of birth season and the age at menarche,menopause,and reproductive span.Subgroup analyses were performed on birth cohorts and urban/rural residence.Results Compared with the Spring-born (March,April,and May),participants who were born in Summer (June,July,and August),Autumn (September,October,and November),and Winter (December,January,and February)appeared late on both age at menarche and menopause.Multivariable-adjusted coefficients (95% CI)appeared as 0.14 (95%CI:0.13-0.16),0.26(95%CI:0.24-0.27),0.10 (95%CI:0.08-0.12) for age at menarche respectively and 0.14 (95%CI:0.08-0.20),0.18 (95%CI:0.12-0.24),0.09 (95%CI:0.03-0.16) for age at menopause respectively.No statistically significant association was found between the season of birth and reproductive span.The association was consistent between urban and rural residents and across the birth cohorts.Conclusions female born in spring showed both earlier age on both menarche and menopause,compared to the ones born in other seasons.Our findings suggested that exposures in early life with some degree of seasonal variation might influence the development of female reproductive system.
5.Association of lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk factors with epigenetic age acceleration in adults in China
Lu CHEN ; Jiahui SI ; Dianjianyi SUN ; Canqing YU ; Yu GUO ; Pei PEI ; Junshi CHEN ; Zhengming CHEN ; Jun LYU ; Liming LI
Chinese Journal of Epidemiology 2022;43(7):1019-1029
Objective:To explore the association of lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk factors with five epigenetic age acceleration (AA) indices.Methods:This study included 980 participants of China Kadoorie Biobank, for whom genome-wide DNA methylation of peripheral blood cells had been detected in baseline survey. Five indices of DNA methylation age (DNAm age) were calculated, i.e. Horvath clock, Hannum clock, DNAm PhenoAge, GrimAge and Li clock. Epigenetic AA was defined as the residual of regressing DNAm age on chronological age. Lifestyle factors studied included smoking status, alcohol consumption, eating habits, physical activity level and body shape defined by a combination of BMI and waist circumference. Cardiometabolic risk factors included blood pressure, blood glucose level and total cholesterol level. Linear regression model was used to analyze the association of lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk factors with AA ( β). Results:GrimAge_AA was associated with smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity level and BMI. Compared with non-smokers, non-drinkers, or participants with BMI of 18.5- 23.9 kg/m 2, the smokers who smoked 1-14 cigarettes/day ( β=0.71, 95% CI: 0.57-0.86), 15-24 cigarettes/day ( β=0.88, 95% CI: 0.73-1.03), and ≥25 cigarettes/day ( β=0.99, 95% CI: 0.81-1.18), respectively, heavy drinkers with daily pure alcohol consumption ≥60 g ( β=0.33, 95% CI: 0.11-0.55) and participants with BMI<18.5 kg/m 2 ( β=0.23, 95% CI: 0.03-0.43) showed accelerated aging. Compared with those in the lowest quintile of physical activity level, participants in the top three quintile of physical activity level showed decelerated aging ( β=-0.13, 95% CI: -0.26-0.01, β=-0.12, 95% CI: -0.26-0.02, and β=-0.14, 95% CI: -0.27- -0.00, respectively). GrimAge_AA decreased with the increase of the number of healthy lifestyle factors ( P<0.001). Compared with the participants with 0 to 1 healthy lifestyle factor, the β of those with 2, 3, or 4 to 5 healthy lifestyle factors were -0.30 (95% CI: -0.47- -0.12), -0.47 (95% CI: -0.65- -0.30) and -0.72 (95% CI: -0.90- -0.53), respectively. The other four indices were not statistically significantly associated with most lifestyle factors. None of the five indices of AA was associated with blood pressure, blood glucose level or total cholesterol level. Conclusion:People with unhealthy lifestyle showed accelerated epigenetic aging, that is, the predicted DNAm age is older than their own chronological age.
6.Minimal improvement in coronary artery disease risk prediction in Chinese population using polygenic risk scores: evidence from the China Kadoorie Biobank.
Songchun YANG ; Dong SUN ; Zhijia SUN ; Canqing YU ; Yu GUO ; Jiahui SI ; Dianjianyi SUN ; Yuanjie PANG ; Pei PEI ; Ling YANG ; Iona Y MILLWOOD ; Robin G WALTERS ; Yiping CHEN ; Huaidong DU ; Zengchang PANG ; Dan SCHMIDT ; Rebecca STEVENS ; Robert CLARKE ; Junshi CHEN ; Zhengming CHEN ; Jun LV ; Liming LI
Chinese Medical Journal 2023;136(20):2476-2483
BACKGROUND:
Several studies have reported that polygenic risk scores (PRSs) can enhance risk prediction of coronary artery disease (CAD) in European populations. However, research on this topic is far from sufficient in non-European countries, including China. We aimed to evaluate the potential of PRS for predicting CAD for primary prevention in the Chinese population.
METHODS:
Participants with genome-wide genotypic data from the China Kadoorie Biobank were divided into training ( n = 28,490) and testing sets ( n = 72,150). Ten previously developed PRSs were evaluated, and new ones were developed using clumping and thresholding or LDpred method. The PRS showing the strongest association with CAD in the training set was selected to further evaluate its effects on improving the traditional CAD risk-prediction model in the testing set. Genetic risk was computed by summing the product of the weights and allele dosages across genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Prediction of the 10-year first CAD events was assessed using hazard ratios (HRs) and measures of model discrimination, calibration, and net reclassification improvement (NRI). Hard CAD (nonfatal I21-I23 and fatal I20-I25) and soft CAD (all fatal or nonfatal I20-I25) were analyzed separately.
RESULTS:
In the testing set, 1214 hard and 7201 soft CAD cases were documented during a mean follow-up of 11.2 years. The HR per standard deviation of the optimal PRS was 1.26 (95% CI:1.19-1.33) for hard CAD. Based on a traditional CAD risk prediction model containing only non-laboratory-based information, the addition of PRS for hard CAD increased Harrell's C index by 0.001 (-0.001 to 0.003) in women and 0.003 (0.001 to 0.005) in men. Among the different high-risk thresholds ranging from 1% to 10%, the highest categorical NRI was 3.2% (95% CI: 0.4-6.0%) at a high-risk threshold of 10.0% in women. The association of the PRS with soft CAD was much weaker than with hard CAD, leading to minimal or no improvement in the soft CAD model.
CONCLUSIONS
In this Chinese population sample, the current PRSs minimally changed risk discrimination and offered little improvement in risk stratification for soft CAD. Therefore, this may not be suitable for promoting genetic screening in the general Chinese population to improve CAD risk prediction.
Male
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Humans
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Female
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Coronary Artery Disease/genetics*
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Biological Specimen Banks
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East Asian People
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Risk Assessment/methods*
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Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics*
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Risk Factors
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Genome-Wide Association Study