Sociodigital Determinants of eHealth Literacy and Related Impact on Health Outcomes and eHealth Use in Korean Older Adults: Community-Based Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: eHealth literacy is an essential skill for pursuing electronic health information, particularly for older people whose health needs increase with age. South Korea is now at the intersection of a rapidly digitalizing society and an increasingly aged population. eHealth literacy enables older people to maximize the effective use of emerging digital technology for their health and quality of life. Understanding the eHealth literacy of Korean older adults is critical to eliminating the gray digital divide and inequity in health information access. Objective: This study aims to investigate factors influencing eHealth literacy in older Korean adults and its impact on health outcomes and eHealth use. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey. Community-dwelling older adults 65 years and older in 2 urban cities in South Korea were included. eHealth literacy was measured by the eHealth Literacy Scale. Ordinal logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with eHealth literacy and multivariate ANOVA for the impact of eHealth literacy on health outcomes and eHealth use. Results: In total, 434 participants were analyzed. A total of 22.3% (97/434) of participants had high eHealth literacy skills. Increasing age, higher monthly income, and time spent on the internet were significantly associated with eHealth literacy (P<.001), and social media users were 3.97 times (adjusted odds ratio 3.97, 95% CI 1.02-15.43; P=.04) more likely to have higher skill. Higher eHealth literacy was associated with better self-perceived health and frequent use of digital technologies for accessing health and care services (P<.001). Conclusions: Disparity in socioeconomic status and engagement on the internet and social media can result in different levels of eHealth literacy skills, which can have consequential impacts on health outcomes and eHealth use. Tailored eHealth interventions, grounded on the social and digital determinants of eHealth literacy, could facilitate eHealth information access among older adults and foster a digitally inclusive healthy aging community.

Negotiating and Struggling for a New Life: Stigma, Spirituality, and Coping Strategies of People Living with HIV in Myanmar.

Although enacted and internalized stigma is a continuing problem for people living with HIV (PLWH) in Southeast Asia, there is little understanding of how PLWH cope with discrimination, exclusion, and other negative outcomes caused by HIV-related stigmatization. This article aims to bridge this gap by analyzing the lived experiences of HIV-related stigmatization and coping strategies among 30 people with HIV in Myanmar, a country heavily influenced by religion, especially Buddhism. Among the 30 study participants, 20 were female and 10 were male, with ages ranging from 18 to 50 years. Through the lens of Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field, and capital, this article first elucidates the various forms of stigmatization in family, work, social, and other settings as symbolic violence on people with HIV. The present article shows that spirituality serves as a perceptual and action framework for people with HIV to generate reflexivity toward their HIV infection and related stigmatization and to further engage in agentic responses. More importantly, this article demonstrates how people with HIV draw on spirituality to support peers in reclaiming control over their lives and how they are perceived by society. The findings indicate that the local context, especially cultural and religious resources, should be considered when developing interventions to mitigate HIV-related stigmatization in Southeast Asia.

Disparity in the Burden of Caring for Older Persons between Families Living in Housing Estates and Traditional Communities in Thailand.

Thailand's rapid population aging and reliance on family-based long-term care requires research into disparities in family caregiver burden. Since the type of residence matters to the caregiving outcome, this research aimed to examine the difference in caregiver burden between residents of private housing estates and traditional village communities. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 1276 family caregivers of community-dwelling Thai older adults, in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The caregiver burden was examined using the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI), and the care recipients' dependency status was examined using Barthel's Activity of Daily Living (ADL). Descriptive analysis, multivariate analysis of variance test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. Family caregivers living in a traditional village community were 1.607 times more likely to experience emotional burden (adj. OR 1.607, 95% CI: 1.049, 2.462) and 2.743 times more likely to experience overall caregiver burden (adj. OR: 1.163, 95% CI: 1.163, 6.471) compared to those in the private housing estate group. Our findings showed significant differences in caregiver burden based on residential area, contributing with insights to evidence-based policies, interventions, and programs to minimize disparities and promote family caregivers' health and well-being.

The alveolus: Our current knowledge of how the gas exchange unit of the lung is constructed and repaired.

The mammalian lung completes its last step of development, alveologenesis, to generate sufficient surface area for gas exchange. In this process, multiple cell types that include alveolar epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts undergo coordinated cell proliferation, cell migration and/or contraction, cell shape changes, and cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions to produce the gas exchange unit: the alveolus. Full functioning of alveoli also involves immune cells and the lymphatic and autonomic nervous system. With the advent of lineage tracing, conditional gene inactivation, transcriptome analysis, live imaging, and lung organoids, our molecular understanding of alveologenesis has advanced significantly. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the constituents of the alveolus and the molecular pathways that control alveolar formation. We also discuss how insight into alveolar formation may inform us of alveolar repair/regeneration mechanisms following lung injury and the pathogenic processes that lead to loss of alveoli or tissue fibrosis.

Prevalence and social determinants of depression: A cross-sectional survey of Myanmar migrant workers in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common mental disorder and the sixth leading cause of disability in Thailand. Chiang Mai has historically been a city of attraction for labour migration for Shan migrants from the adjacent Southern Shan State of Myanmar. Currently, only infectious diseases are screened during the pre-employment period. Prevention and early detection of noncommunicable diseases can improve a healthy workforce and reduce the healthcare burden on the host country. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was done among Myanmar migrant adults legally working in Chiang Mai, Thailand. RESULTS: The final analysis included 360 participants and the prevalence of depression was 14.4%. Being female, duration of stay in Thailand of more than 10 years, co-residence with co-workers, and marginalisation pattern of acculturation were significant associated factors affecting depression in a multivariate regression analysis model. CONCLUSION: Although the culture and dialect were not different between the host and country of origin, Myanmar migrant workers of Shan ethnicity suffered from depression. Our findings highlighted the importance of social determinants beyond common predictors of depression among migrants and the need for public health measures to promote migrants' integration into the host culture.

Association Between Dietary Habits and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Thai Adults: A Case-Control Study.

Background: The prevalence of T2DM is escalating in Thailand affecting over 10% of adults aged 20-79 years old. It is imperative to identify modifiable risk factors that can potentially help mitigate the risk of developing diabetes. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary habits and type 2 diabetes in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Methods: This case-control study involved 300 individuals aged 25-74 years residing in Chiang Mai, Thailand including 150 newly diagnosed T2DM patients (cases) and 150 community residents without diabetes (controls). Dietary habits were assessed based on Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Socio-demographic characteristics and anthropometric information of the participants were collected. Data analysis was performed using the STATA-17. Results: The case group participants were older and had a higher proportion of males compared to the control group. The case group exhibited a significantly higher consumption of meat, beans, nuts, soft drinks, and topping seasonings (p<0.001), conversely, a lower intake of vegetables (p<0.001), fruits (p=0.006), fish, rice (p<0.001), eggs (p=0.032), milk products, coffee, and tea (p<0.001) compared to the control group. Furthermore, the case group demonstrated a higher level of certain dietary practices such as a greater frequency of having meals with family, not removing visible fat from food (p<0.001), and eating snacks between meals compared to controls. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for potential confounding factors not removing visible fat from food (aOR 5.61, 95% CI: 2.29-13.7, p<0.001) and using topping seasonings (aOR 3.52 95% CI: 1.69-7.32 p=0.001) were significantly associated with the risk of T2DM, whereas daily vegetable intake (aOR 0.32 95% CI: 0.15-0.68 p=0.003) was inversely associated with T2DM. Conclusion: The study findings caution against the consumption of food rich in fat and using salty seasonings, while advocating for an increased intake of vegetables to prevent the prevalence of T2DM.