OBJECTIVE: To develop a specific quality of life (QOL) scale for Chinese patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: The scale was developed with the programmed decision methods. The item pool was certified by experts. Five methods were used in item selection after a pilot study for which 256 BPH patients had been recruited. The scale was evaluated by its reliability and validity. RESULTS: We formed a 27-item quality of life scale specific for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia prior test version (BPHSQL). The test-retest correlation coefficient and Cronbach's alpha coefficient of BPHSQL were 0. 774 and 0. 945. The structure of the scale was similar to the theory construction. The scale's correlation coefficients with criteria ranged from 0.531 to 0.700. BPHSQL could well discriminate the quality of life between BPH and non-BPH patients as well as patients with different degrees of symptoms, different sources and patients with or without urethral catheters. CONCLUSION BPHSQL is reliable, valid and sensitive, and will be a convenient tool in clinical research to provide advice on different treatments for different patients.
Adult ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; psychology ; Psychometrics ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; standards

OBJECTIVE: To develop a specific quality of life scale for Chinese Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. METHODS: According to the quality of life definition of WHO, we used methods adhered to the rigorous guidelines of instrument development in item pool formation, item selection and scale validation with the data of 236 Type 2 diabetic patients recruited. RESULTS: An 87-item Quality of Life Scale for patients with Type 2 DM-prior test version ( DMQLS), including 5 domains ( disease, physical, social, psychological, and satisfaction ) was developed and showed good reliability and validity. The disease domain made up of Type 2 diabetes mellitus-specific sub-scale and the other 4 domains formed the generic sub-scale for adults. The test-retest correlation coefficient, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient and split-half reliability coefficient of DMQLS were 0.996, 0.969 and 0.879, respectively. Twenty-one common factors were extracted according to the conceptual model. The scale's correlations with SF-36 and Diabetes Quality of Life Measure ( DQOL ) were 0.763 and 0.658. DMQLS could discriminate among those with different quality of lives. CONCLUSION DMQLS is reliable, valid and sensitive, and can be used to evaluate the curative effect of Type 2 diabetic patients.
Adult ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; psychology ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Psychometrics ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; standards

OBJECTIVETo assess the quality of life in cured patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

METHODSOne hundred and nineteen SARS outpatients, including 64 men and 55 women, with mean age (34.1 +/- 11.4) years and average days of discharge from hospital (28.0 +/- 12.8) days, were assessed by the St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), and 72 patients with spirometry test.

RESULTSThe patients had a moderately degree physiological impairment and increased SGRQ score. Scores of all four part of SGRQ correlated significantly with diffuse capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide/pre (DLco%). The correlation coefficients between the activation, impaction, total score, and diffuse capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide/alveolar ventilation/pre (DLco/Va%) were resembled (r = 0.47-0.54, P < 0.01). There was a significant relationship between the score of SGRQ and patients age, and gender. The time leaving hospital only had a significant relationship with the symptom score of SGRQ.

CONCLUSIONSSGRQ is a sensitive tool for assessing quality of life in cured SARS patients. The cured SARS patients' quality of life decrease moderately.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Convalescence ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; physiopathology ; Sex Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To investigate the prevalence of dentin hypersensitivity in Chinese urban adults aged between 20-69 years old and the factors related to dentin hypersensitivity.Methods The Chinese national survey on dentin hypersensitivity was conducted in 20-69 years old adults in six representative cities,Beijing,Shahghai,Guangzhou,Wuhan,Chengdu,and Xi'an in 2008.A muhi-stage stratified randomizing sampling method was used.Subjects were recruited from 36 urban survey sites in 6 cities. A structured questionnaire and a clinical examination on dentin hypersensitivity were used in the survey.The dentin hypersensitivity was diagnosed by a subject self-perceived short,sharp pain in resportse to a blast of cold air from a triple syringe administered to a tooth surface in 1 cm. Results In total,7939 twenty to sixty-nine years old subjects completed a structured interview and underwent a clinical examination on dentin hypersensitivity.Among them,40.7%(3230/7939) of the subjects reported being suffered from teeth sensitivity. When confirmed using a blast of air from a triple syringe and by ruling out other causes of sensitivity,such as caries,the prevalence was 29.7% (2354/7939),and the mean number of sensitive teeth was 1.4.The highest prevalence of dentin hypersensitivity[39.1%(622/1592)]was found in 50-59 years old group.The commonest teeth affected were the premolar teeth and the commonest initiating factor was cold drinks.Female,low education level,with gingival recession,attachment loss,and with the history of acidic substances derived from the stomach was related to dentin hypersensitivity.Conclusions Dentin hypersensitivity was comnlon in 20-69 years old Chinese urban adults.Dental professionals should give further emphasis to it.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

METHODSThree autopsy cases were studied retrospectively. Routine HE stain was used to study all the cases. Part of the lung tissue specimens were studied further with Macchiavello's stain, viral inclusion body stain, reticulin and PAS stains, immunohistochemistry, thin sections with staining, light microscopy and transmission electronic microscope investigation.

RESULTSThe earliest symptom of all 3 cases was hyperpyrexia and followed by progressive dyspnea and appearance of lung field shadows in X rays findings. Pulmonary lesions included: bilateral and extensive consolidation, localized hemorrhage and necrosis, desquamative alveolitis and bronchitis, alveolar proliferation and desquamation, accumulation of protein exudates, mononuclear cells, lymphocytes, and plasma cells as well as hyaline membrane formation in alveoli and viral inclusion bodies were seen in the alveolus epithelial cells. The exudated organization tended to become glomeruloid organizing pneumonitis in a few avaoli. Lesions of the immune organs included: large patchy necrosis in the spleens and localized necrosis in the lymph nodes were seen. Bone marrow became restrained. There were lesions of systemic small vasculitis including edema of the perivascular tissue and vascular wall of the small veins with localized fibrinoid necrosis distributing in the heart, lungs, kidneys, adrenal glands and the striated muscles accompanying with mononuclear cells and lymphocytes infiltration. Thrombosis was seen in part of the small veins. In addition, there were also the systemic poisonous changes including: degeneration and necrosis of the parenchyma cells in lungs, liver, kidneys, heart and adrenals. Electronic microscopy demonstrated clusters of virus particles seen in the lung tissue.

CONCLUSIONSARS is a systemic disease. Lungs, immune system and systemic small vessels are the main target organs attacked by the virus. Extensive consolidation of lungs, formation of hyaline membrane to a large extent, respiratory distress and decrease of immune function are the main causes of death.

Adult ; Cause of Death ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Middle Aged ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; etiology ; pathology

BACKGROUNDDonor organ rejection continues to be a significant problem for patients receiving transplants. We therefore tested whether transferring a donor's major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene to the recipient would mitigate the rejection of transplanted hearts in mice.

METHODSH-2K(k) gene from donor mice was amplified using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligated into a mammalian expression vector, which was then transfected into thymus ground mass cells collected from the recipients. Clones stably expressing the transgene were then injected into the recipients' thymus visualized using ultrasound. Control mice were administered cells previously transfected with empty vector. Following heart transplantation, cardiac activity was monitored electrocardiographically. Recipient thymus cells were tested for MHC antigenicity using flow cytometry and spleen cells were subjected to mixed lymphocyte culture tests. Finally, the transplanted hearts were sectioned, stained and examined under light microscopy.

RESULTSSouthern analysis following nested PCR revealed clear expression of H-2K(k) gene. Following transplantation, electrocardiosignals were detectable highly significantly longer in recipients administered thymal cells expressing donor H-2K(k) than in those receiving control cells. Flow cytometric analysis using an anti-H-2K(k) antibody confirmed its expression in H-2K(k) treated recipients but not in control mice. Mixed lymphocyte cultures containing H-2K(k) treated cells showed significantly less proliferation than those containing control cells. Hearts from control mice showed substantially greater lymphocyte infiltration than those from H-2K(k) treated mice and large areas of necrosis.

CONCLUSIONRejection of transplanted hearts can be mitigated substantially by introducing the donor's MHC into the recipient.

Animals ; Blotting, Southern ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Graft Rejection ; genetics ; immunology ; Heart Transplantation ; immunology ; methods ; Major Histocompatibility Complex ; genetics ; immunology ; Male ; Mice ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo discuss the clinical manifestations, therapeutic strategy and prognosis of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) older than 60 years.

METHODSElderly patients diagnosed as SARS in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were compared with younger patients.

RESULTSTwenty-four elderly patients and 53 younger patients were analysed. Elderly patients had more coexisting conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and renal disease than control group (P < 0.05). Rate of respiratory failure in elderly patients was higher than that in control group (P < 0.05). Elderly patients had more respiratory symptoms, such as cough, sputum, and shortness of breath (P < 0.05). Rate of lymphocytopenia and thrombocytopenia in elderly patients was higher than that in control group. All patients were given ribavirin and antibiotics. More patients in elderly group were given 3rd generation cephalosporin and imipenem. Mortality rate in elderly group was higher than that in control group (33.3% vs 3.8%, P < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that age, respiratory failure, and thrombocytopenia were risk factors of death, but logistic analysis did not find any independent risk factor.

CONCLUSIONSThough the elderly patients have a lower morbidity of SARS, they have more coexisting conditions. The therapy of elderly patients is more difficult than that of control group, and the mortality in elderly patients is high.

Age Factors ; Aged ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Diabetes Complications ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Ribavirin ; therapeutic use ; Risk Factors ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVETo study thoracic high resolution CT findings of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients in convalescent period and the relationship between the features with laboratory and pulmonary function results.

METHODSAll the 100 SARS patients who had been discharged from hospital for about 2 months underwent thoracic high resolution CT examinations. Among them, 65 also had laboratory results and 91 underwent examinations of pulmonary function.

RESULTSForty-nine SARS patients (49.0%, 49/100) in convalescent period still had abnormal findings in CT examination. And ground-glass opacification (95.9%, 47/49) and reticular opacification (59.2%, 29/49) were common. There was no significant difference in the level of lymphocytes and CD4 cells among groups divided according to severity of CT findings (P > 0.01). Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLco%) of level 2 and 3 were statistically lower than that of level 0 (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe features of CT findings of SARS patients in convalescent period are not the same as those of patients in period of apparent manifestation. The high resolution CT can reflect pulmonary diffusing function to some degree.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Convalescence ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the long-term effect of sodium glycididazole (CMNa) as a hypoxic radiosensitizer on the radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

METHODSBetween May 1999 and May 2002, 211 patients with pathologically confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma were randomized into group-A treated by radiotherapy plus CMNa or group-B by radiotherapy alone. The staging was determined according to 92' Fuzhou staging systerm. The type, procession and dosage of radiotherapy were identical in both groups. The early adverse effect grade was assessed based on the CTC2.0 criteria and the late adverse effects were evaluated according to the RTOG/EORTC criteria. The median follow-up time was 52 months. All the data was analyzed by the SPSS 13.0 software. Characteristics and adverse events of these patients were compared between the two groups using t-test and the Wilcoxin rank sum test. Time-to-event curves were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic parameters were analyzed using univariate analysis and the Cox multivariate regression analysis.

RESULTSThe clinical data of the two groups were comparable. The 3-year survival was 88.4% in group-A, while 75.2% in group-B, with a statistically significant difference between two groups (P = 0.010). Univariate analysis showed that the 3-year survival was statistically correlated with N-staging ((N0-1, 86.9%, N2-3 73.8%, P < 0.001), T-staging (T1-2 85.6%, T3-4 79.3%, P = 0.014), TNM staging (P = 0.039), and whether using CMNa or not during rediotherapy (Group-A 88.4%, Group-B 75.2%, P = 0.010). The 5-year recurrence-free survival, 5-year metastasis-free survival and 5-year overall survival were 75.8%, 74.9% and 77.7% in Group-A, while 63.0%, 63.0% and 62.4% in Group-B with a statistically significant difference between two groups (0.013, 0.022 and 0.010, respectively). If stratified in the subgroups, the overall survival of stage III - IV patients was statistically different between group A and B (P = 0.009), however, not of stage I - II patients (P = 0.502). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that the independent prognostic parameters for survival were N-stage (RR = 3.288) , T-stage (RR = 2.147) and use of CMNa during rediotherapy (RR = 0.407). However, there was no statistically significant difference between two groups in acute or late adverse effects on nervous system or heart, which suggested that use of CMNa during radiotherapy would not aggravate the toxicity caused by radiotherapy.

CONCLUSIONSodium glycididazole is well tolerable effective as a hypoxic radiosensitizer, which can improve the efficacy of radiotherapy and the long-term result of nasopharyngeal carcinom a patients, especially for the stage III - IV patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Metronidazole ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; statistics & numerical data ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; Vomiting ; chemically induced

Objective: This cross-sectional investigation aimed to determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, prognosis, and related risk factors of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain in mainland China. Methods: Data of patients with SARS-CoV-2 from December 28, 2022, to February 21, 2023, were collected through online and offline questionnaires from 45 tertiary hospitals and one center for disease control and prevention in mainland China. The questionnaire included demographic information, previous health history, smoking and alcohol drinking, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, olfactory and gustatory function before and after infection, other symptoms after infection, as well as the duration and improvement of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction. The self-reported olfactory and gustatory functions of patients were evaluated using the Olfactory VAS scale and Gustatory VAS scale. Results: A total of 35 566 valid questionnaires were obtained, revealing a high incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain (67.75%). Females(χ2=367.013, P<0.001) and young people(χ2=120.210, P<0.001) were more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Gender(OR=1.564, 95%CI: 1.487-1.645), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), oral health status (OR=0.881, 95%CI: 0.839-0.926), smoking history (OR=1.152, 95%CI=1.080-1.229), and drinking history (OR=0.854, 95%CI: 0.785-0.928) were correlated with the occurrence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2(above P<0.001). 44.62% (4 391/9 840) of the patients who had not recovered their sense of smell and taste also suffered from nasal congestion, runny nose, and 32.62% (3 210/9 840) suffered from dry mouth and sore throat. The improvement of olfactory and taste functions was correlated with the persistence of accompanying symptoms(χ2=10.873, P=0.001). The average score of olfactory and taste VAS scale was 8.41 and 8.51 respectively before SARS-CoV-2 infection, but decreased to3.69 and 4.29 respectively after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and recovered to 5.83and 6.55 respectively at the time of the survey. The median duration of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions was 15 days and 12 days, respectively, with 0.5% (121/24 096) of patients experiencing these dysfunctions for more than 28 days. The overall self-reported improvement rate of smell and taste dysfunctions was 59.16% (14 256/24 096). Gender(OR=0.893, 95%CI: 0.839-0.951), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), history of head and facial trauma(OR=1.180, 95%CI: 1.036-1.344, P=0.013), nose (OR=1.104, 95%CI: 1.042-1.171, P=0.001) and oral (OR=1.162, 95%CI: 1.096-1.233) health status, smoking history(OR=0.765, 95%CI: 0.709-0.825), and the persistence of accompanying symptoms (OR=0.359, 95%CI: 0.332-0.388) were correlated with the recovery of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2 (above P<0.001 except for the indicated values). Conclusion: The incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain is high in mainland China, with females and young people more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Active and effective intervention measures may be required for cases that persist for a long time. The recovery of olfactory and taste functions is influenced by several factors, including gender, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status, history of head and facial trauma, nasal and oral health status, smoking history, and persistence of accompanying symptoms.
Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Smell ; COVID-19/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Incidence ; Olfaction Disorders/etiology* ; Taste Disorders/etiology* ; Prognosis