BACKGROUND: Health screening is a preventive and cost-effective public health strategy for early detection of diseases. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased health screening participation. The aim of this study was to examine regional differences in health screening participation between before and during COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerabilities of health screening participation in the regional context. METHODS: Administrative data from 229 districts consisting of 16 provinces in South Korea and health screening participation rate of each district collected in 2019 and 2020 were included in the study. Data were then analyzed via descriptive statistics and geographically weighted regression (GWR). RESULTS: This study revealed that health screening participation rates decreased in all districts during COVID-19. Regional vulnerabilities contributing to a further reduction in health screening participation rate included COVID-19 concerns, the population of those aged 65+ years and the disabled, lower education level, lower access to healthcare, and the prevalence of chronic disease. GWR analysis showed that different vulnerable factors had different degrees of influence on differences in health screening participation rate. CONCLUSIONS These findings could enhance our understanding of decreased health screening participation due to COVID-19 and suggest that regional vulnerabilities should be considered stringent public health strategies after COVID-19.
Humans ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Pandemics ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology* ; Educational Status ; Disabled Persons

PURPOSE: To systematically review the risk of permanent disability related to road traffic injuries (RTIs) and to determine the implications for future research regarding permanent impairment following road traffic crashes. METHODS: We conducted this systematic review according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis statement. An extended search of the literature was carried out in 4 major electronic databases for scientific research papers published from January 1980 to February 2020. Two teams include 2 reviewers each, screened independently the titles/abstracts, and after that, reviewed the full text of the included studies. The quality of the studies was assessed using the strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. A third reviewer was assessed any discrepancy and all data of included studies were extracted. Finally, the data were systematically analyzed, and the related data were interpreted. RESULTS: Five out of 16 studies were evaluated as high-quality according to the STROBE checklist. Fifteen studies ranked the initial injuries according to the abbreviated injury scale 2005. Five studies reported the total risk of permanent medical impairment following RTIs which varied from 2% to 23% for car occupants and 2.8% to 46% for cyclists. Seven studies reported the risk of permanent medical impairment of the different body regions. Eleven studies stated the most common body region to develop permanent impairment, of which 6 studies demonstrated that injuries of the cervical spine and neck were at the highest risk of becoming permanent injured. CONCLUSION The finding of this review revealed the necessity of providing a globally validated method to evaluate permanent medical impairment following RTIs across the world. This would facilitate decision-making about traffic injuries and efficient management to reduce the financial and psychological burdens for individuals and communities.
Humans ; Accidents, Traffic ; Disabled Persons ; Abbreviated Injury Scale ; Databases, Factual ; Wounds and Injuries/etiology*

OBJECTIVES: The interaction between elderly people with disabilities and their caregivers and the improvement of caregiver burden is important for elderly people with disabilities and their caregivers. This study aims to explore the multiple mediating roles of caregiver's caring ability and resilience in depression in the elderly people with disabilities on caregiver burden. METHODS: A total of 246 elderly people with disabilities at home and their family caregivers from 5 regions were investigated by questionnaires, including the General Information Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Family Caregiver Task Inventory, the Resilience Scale, and the Caregiver Burden Interview. A multiple mediation model was constructed and tested. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that the caregiver burden of disabled elderly men is higher than that of women; the lower the level of self-care of disabled elderly individuals, the greater the burden on their caregivers (both P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that depression of the disabled elderly people was positively correlated with the caregiver burden (P<0.01). Caregiver's caring ability was positively correlated with caregiver's resilience (P<0.01), and both were negatively correlated with caregiver burden (both P<0.01). The multiple mediating effects of caregiver caring capacity and resilience between depression of the disabled elderly people and caregiver burden were significant, with the mediating effects of caregiver caring capacity and resilience accounting for 68.9% and 26.2% of the total effect, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Depression in the elderly people with disabilities can indirectly affect caregiver burden through the caregiver's caring ability and resilience. Families of older people with disabilities need to focus on both the elderly and their caregivers. It is possible to reduce the caregiver burden and improve the physical and mental health of the dyads by empowering the caregiver's caring ability and resilience.
Male ; Humans ; Female ; Aged ; Caregiver Burden ; Disabled Persons ; Caregivers ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Mental Health

Objective To compare the functional status of diabetic patients with and without nephropathy and identify the items that diabetic patients with nephropathy are more likely to develop dysfunction than diabetic patients without nephropathy based on the international classification of functioning,disability and health rehabilitation set(ICF-RS).Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted.A total of 320 diabetic patients hospitalized in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine from August 2021 to February 2022 were selected and assigned into a group with nephropathy and a group without nephropathy.The general characteristics,clinical examination,and laboratory findings were compared by the t test,rank sum test,and Chi-squared test.The functional status of the patients was compared between the two groups by the t test based on the ICF-RS.Logistic regression was employed to control interferential factors between the two groups and identify the association between nephropathy and ICF-RS problematic items among diabetic patients.Results The diabetic patients with nephropathy had more problematic items in ICF-RS(P<0.001),the body function dimension(P=0.003),the activity dimension(P<0.001),and the participation dimension(P<0.001)than those without nephropathy.Moreover,the diabetic patients with nephropathy experienced severer problems in 5 body function items(energy and drive functions,sleep functions,sexual functions,exercise tolerance functions,and muscle power functions),10 activity items(transferring oneself,walking,moving around using equipment,moving around,washing oneself,caring for body parts,toileting,dressing,doing housework,and looking after one's health),and 4 participation items(using transportation,assisting others,basic interpersonal interactions,and recreation and leisure)(all P<0.05).The Logistic regression results showed that compared with the diabetic patients without nephropathy,the diabetic patients with nephropathy were more likely to develop problems in energy and drive functions(aOR=4.35,95%CI=1.28-14.79,P=0.019),emotional functions(aOR=1.88,95%CI=1.06-3.34,P=0.031),sexual functions(aOR=3.39,95%CI=1.82-6.34,P<0.001),moving around(aOR=3.11,95%CI=1.76-5.52,P<0.001),doing housework(aOR=17.48,95%CI=3.57-85.60,P<0.001),looking after one's health(aOR=1.97,95%CI=1.13-3.43,P=0.017),using transportation(aOR=2.59,95%CI=1.38-4.88,P=0.003),and recreation and leisure(aOR=2.52,95%CI=1.46-4.35,P<0.001).Conclusion Compared with the diabetic patients without nephropathy,the patients with nephropathy suffer more ICF-RS problematic items and are more likely to develop dysfunction in certain items in all the three dimensions.
Humans ; Disability Evaluation ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Functional Status ; Disabled Persons/rehabilitation* ; Kidney Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Activities of Daily Living

Humans ; Heart ; Coronary Angiography ; Disabled Persons

Objective: To explore the trend of disease burden of degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD) in the Chinese population from 1990 to 2019. Methods: Based on the 2019 Global Burden of Disease database (GBD 2019), the number of patients, the number of new cases, the number of deaths, the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) as well as the prevalence, incidence and death rate, DALY rate and their age-standardized rates were used to analyze the trend of the burden of DMVD in the Chinese population from 1990 to 2019. Results: In 2019, the number of patients, the number of new cases, and the number of deaths with DMVD in China were 461.2, 27.0 and 0.129 ten thousand, respectively, which increased by 209.0%, 199.1% and 13.2% when compared with 1990. In 2019, the age-standardized prevalence, incidence and death rate were 228.1/100 000, 12.7/100 000 and 0.075/100 000, respectively. Compared with 1990, the change of the age-standardized prevalence, incidence and death rate were 32.6%, 42.8% and -54.1%, respectively. In addition, the 2019 data also showed that the age-standardized prevalence and incidence were higher in females than in males (the age-standardized prevalence was 190.1 (181.5-198.9)/100 000 for males and 262.0 (250.3-273.9)/100 000 for females); the age-standardized incidence was 10.5 (10.0-11.0)/100 000 for males and 14.9 (14.3-15.6)/100 000 for females. The age group with the largest number of DMVD patients was 65 to 69 years old, and the highest incidence was 60 to 64 years old. From 1990 to 2019, DALY caused by DMVD showed an upward trend in China, from 46 439 person-years in 1990 to 69 402 person-years in 2019, with an increase of 49.4%. While the age-standardized DALY rate continued to decline, from 5.5/100 000 in 1990 to 3.8/100 000 in 2019, with a drop of 30.8%. The DALY and the age-standardized DALY rate of females were always higher than that of males in different years. Conclusion: From 1990 to 2019, DALY and the age-standardized prevalence and incidence of DMVD in China shows an increasing trend, and the disease burden caused by DMVD is severe in China.
Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Cost of Illness ; Disabled Persons ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mitral Valve ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years

Disabled Persons/rehabilitation* ; Humans ; International Classification of Diseases ; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

BACKGROUND: The relationship between leisure activities (LA) in old age and prevention of disability has not been fully investigated, and age and gender differences of these relationships are unknown. This study aimed to investigate whether physical and cognitive LA predicted incident disability among community-dwelling older adults by age and gender. METHODS: We prospectively observed 8,275 residents aged 65 or above without disability at baseline for 3 years. Incident disability was defined as a new certification of the public long-term care insurance system. LA were classified into two types: physical LA and cognitive LA. The frequency of LA was categorized into frequent (i.e., once a week or more), moderate (i.e., monthly or yearly), and non-engagement. Covariates included age, gender, family number, education, perceived economic situation, body mass index, chronic medical conditions, alcohol consumption, smoking status, regular dental visits, depression, cognitive functioning, and social participation. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted cumulative incidence ratio (CIR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for incident disability. We performed stratified analyses by age groups (i.e., the young-old aged 65-74 and the old-old aged 75-97) and gender (i.e., men and women). RESULTS: The 3-year cumulative incidence of disability was 7.5%. After adjustment for covariates and mutual adjustment for both types of LA, a significant dose-response relationship between more frequent LA and lower risk of incident disability was found in young-old physical LA (P-trend < 0.001), in old-old cognitive LA (P-trend = 0.012), in male cognitive LA (P-trend = 0.006), and in female physical LA (P-trend = 0.030). Compared with people without LA, adjusted CIR (95% CI) of frequent LA was 0.47 (0.30-0.74) in young-old physical, 0.75 (0.58-0.96) in old-old cognitive, 0.65 (0.46-0.89) in male cognitive, and 0.70 (0.52-0.95) in female physical. Regarding the effect modification according to age and gender, only interaction between age and physical LA significantly prevented incident disability (P for interaction = 0.019). CONCLUSION We found age differences in the association of physical LA with incident disability among community-dwelling older adults. An effective measure to prevent long-term care in the community would be to recommend frequent physical LA for the young-old.
Aged ; Disabled Persons ; Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Independent Living ; Leisure Activities ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Social Participation

Brachial Plexus/injuries* ; Disabled Persons ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between educational attainment and the onset of disability in activities of daily living (ADL), and to explore the mediating effect of social participation on such association. METHODS: A longitudinal dataset was drawn from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2015 to 2018). The measurements of educational attainment, social participation and other covariates were identified from 2015, while the outcome measurement of ADL disability was constructed with data from survey 2018. Descriptive analyses were conducted, and basic characteristics and social engagement of the respondents were compared between illiterates and non-illite-rates using Chi-square test. Logistic regression was used to investigate the associations of educational attainment and social participation on the onset of ADL disability. Mediation analysis was employed to examine the mediator role of the social participation on the linkage from being illiterate to the ADL disability onset. RESULTS: A total of 11 359 adults aged 45 years and above were included in the sample, of whom 3 222 were illiterates. The incidence of the onset of ADL disability of illiterates and non-illiterates were 10.4% and 6.2%, respectively. Among these respondents, only half of them were involved in social activities. Of all the 8 social activities, the percentage of interacting with friends (34. 1%) was the highest, and the lowest percentage was observed in participating in an educational or training course (0.6%). Moreover, the percentages of participation in all these 8 social activities among illiterates were significantly lower than that of their educated counterparts (all P < 0.001). The illiterate middle-aged and older adults were less likely to develop ADL disability in the follow-up period [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=1.22, 95%CI: 1.02-1.45], and social participation was significantly associated with ADL disability onset (aOR=0.73, 95%CI: 0.63-0.85). Findings from mediation analysis illustrated that social participation accounted for 12.22% of the adverse effect of being illiterate on ADL disability onset. CONCLUSION Social participation could buffer the negative effect of being illiterate on ADL disability onset in middle-aged and older adults, suggesting that engagement in social activities might have impact on prevention of impairments in physical function, especially for middle-aged and older illiterates.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Disabled Persons ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Middle Aged ; Social Participation