Childhood and adolescence outcomes in offspring to parents with bipolar disorder: the impact of lifetime parental comorbidity, parental sex, and bipolar subtype.

BACKGROUND: Offspring of parents with bipolar disorder have increased risks of their own psychopathology. However, a large-scale survey of psychiatric, somatic, and adverse social outcomes up to adulthood, which could aid in prioritizing and tailoring prevention, is lacking. It also remains to clarify how risks are modified by other parental factors. METHODS: Swedish population registers were linked to compare offspring having (N = 24,788) and not having (N = 247,880) a parent with bipolar disorder with respect to psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic medication, birth-related and somatic conditions, social outcomes, accidents, suicide attempts, and mortality. Individuals were followed until age 18. We estimated the influence of lifetime parental psychiatric comorbidity, bipolar disorder subtype, and sex on outcomes. RESULTS: Children of parents with bipolar disorder had 2-3 times higher risks of all psychiatric diagnoses, except for bipolar disorder, for which the risk was 11-fold. Significantly increased risks were also found for several somatic conditions, low school grades, criminal behavior, victimization, accidents, and suicidal behavior. Adjusting for lifetime parental psychiatric comorbidity attenuated most associations. Offspring of a parent with bipolar disorder type 2 had statistically significantly higher risks of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, respiratory tract conditions, and accidents compared with offspring of a parent with bipolar disorder type 1. Offspring of mothers with bipolar disorder had higher risks of several psychiatric diagnoses, respiratory tract conditions, low school grades, and accidents compared with offspring of fathers with bipolar disorder. Having two parents with bipolar disorder entailed the highest risks of psychiatric outcomes in offspring. CONCLUSIONS: Early intervention and family support are particularly warranted for the offspring of a parent with bipolar disorder in the presence of lifetime parental psychiatric comorbidity, when the parent has bipolar disorder type 2, or when the mother or both parents have bipolar disorder.

Association between doctor-patient familiarity and patient-centred care during general practitioner's consultations: a direct observational study in Chinese primary care practice.

BACKGROUND: Patient-centred care is a core attribute of primary care. Not much is known about the relationship between patient-centred care and doctor-patient familiarity. This study aimed to explore the association between general practitioner (GP) perceived doctor-patient familiarity and the provision of patient-centred care during GP consultations. METHODS: This is a direct observational study conducted in eight community health centres in China. Level of familiarity was rated by GPs using a dichotomized variable (Yes/No). The provision of patient-centred care during GP consultations was measured by coding audiotapes using a modified Davis Observation Code (DOC) interactional instrument. Eight individual codes in the modified DOC were selected for measuring the provision of patient-centred care, including 'family information', 'treatment effects', 'nutrition guidance', 'exercise guidance', 'health knowledge', 'patient question', 'chatting', and 'counseling'. Multivariate analyses of covariance were adopted to evaluate the association between GP perceived doctor-patient familiarity and patient-centred care. RESULTS: A total of 445 audiotaped consultations were collected, with 243 in the familiar group and 202 in the unfamiliar group. No significant difference was detected in overall patient-centred care between the two groups. For components of patient-centred care, the number of intervals (1.36 vs 0.88, p = 0.026) and time length (7.26 vs. 4.40 s, p = 0.030) that GPs spent in 'health knowledge', as well as time length (13.0 vs. 8.34 s, p = 0.019) spent in 'patient question' were significantly higher in unfamiliar group. The percentage of 'chatting' (11.9% vs. 7.34%, p = 0.012) was significantly higher in the familiar group. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that GP perceived doctor-patient familiarity may not be associated with GPs' provision of patient-centred care during consultations in the context of China. Not unexpectedly, patients would show more health knowledge and ask more questions when GPs were not familiar with them. Further research is needed to confirm and expand on these findings.

An overview of general practitioner consultations in China: a direct observational study.

BACKGROUND: General practitioner (GP) consultation has long been considered an important component of general practice, but few studies have focused on its characteristics in China. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the content and elucidate the characteristics of GP consultations in general practice in China. METHODS: A multimethod investigation of GP consultations in eight community health centres in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China was conducted between July 2018 and January 2019. Data from 445 GP consultations were collected by direct observation and audio tape and analysed by a modified Davis Observation Code with indicators for frequencies and detailed time durations. GP and patient characteristics were collected by post-visit surveys. RESULTS: The mean visit duration was approximately 5.4 minutes. GPs spent the most time on treatment planning, history taking, negotiating, notetaking and physical examination and less time on health promotion, family information collecting, discussing substance use, procedures and counselling. The time spent on procedures ranked first (66 seconds), followed by history taking (65 seconds) and treatment planning (63 seconds). Besides, patients were very active in the consultation, specifically for topics related to medicine ordering and drug costs. CONCLUSIONS: This study described the profile of GP consultations and illustrated the complexity of care provided by GPs in China. As patient activation in GP consultations becomes increasingly important, future studies need to explore how to promote the engagement of patients in the whole consultation process other than just requesting for medicine.

Association of primary care physician supply with maternal and child health in China: a national panel dataset, 2012-2017.

BACKGROUND: The Chinese government has been strengthening the primary care system since the launch of the New Healthcare System Reform in 2009. Among all endeavors, the most obvious and significant improvement lays in maternal and child health. This study was designed to explore the association of primary care physician supply with maternal and child health outcomes in China, and provide policy suggestions to the law makers. METHODS: Six-year panel dataset of 31 provinces in China from 2012 to 2017 was used to conduct the longitudinal ecological study. Linear fixed effects regression model was applied to explore the association of primary care physician supply with the metrics of maternal and child health outcomes while controlling for specialty care physician supply and socio-economic covariates. Stratified analysis was used to test whether this association varies across different regions in China. RESULTS: The number of primary care physicians per 10,000 population increased from 15.56 (95% CI: 13.66 to 17.47) to 16.08 (95% CI: 13.86 to 18.29) from 2012 to 2017. The increase of one primary care physician per 10,000 population was associated with 5.26 reduction in maternal mortality per 100,000 live births (95% CI: - 6.745 to - 3.774), 0.106% (95% CI: - 0.189 to - 0.023) decrease in low birth weight, and 0.419 decline (95% CI: - 0.564 to - 0.273) in perinatal mortality per 1000 live births while other variables were held constant. The association was particularly prominent in the less-developed western China compared to the developed eastern and central China. CONCLUSION: The sufficient supply of primary care physician was associated with improved maternal and child health outcomes in China, especially in the less-developed western region. Policies on effective and proportional allocation of resources should be made and conducted to strengthen primary care system and eliminate geographical disparities.

Relationship between patient-perceived quality of primary care and self-reported hospital utilisation in China: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Reducing avoidable hospital admissions is a global healthcare priority, with optimal primary care recognised as pivotal for achieving this objective. However, in developing systems like China, where primary care is evolving without compulsory gatekeeping, the relationship between patient-perceived primary care quality and hospital utilisation remains underexplored. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the association between patient-perceived primary care quality and self-reported hospital utilisation in China. METHODS: Data were collected from 16 primary care settings. Patient-perceived quality of primary care was measured using the Assessment Survey of Primary Care scale across six domains (first-contact care, continuity, comprehensiveness, accessibility, coordination, and patient-centredness). Hospital utilisation included patient self-reported outpatient visits, hospital admissions, and emergency department (ED) visits in the last six months. Logistic regression analyses were examined associations between self-reported hospital utilisation and perceived primary care quality adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: Of 1,185 patients recruited, 398 (33.6%) reported hospital utilisation. Logistic regression analyses showed that higher total scores for patient-perceived quality of primary care were associated with decreased odds of hospital utilisation (adjusted odds ratio(AOR): 0.417, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.308-0.565), outpatient visits (AOR: 0.394, 95% CI: 0.275-0.566) and hospital admissions (AOR: 0.496, 95% CI: 0.276-0.891). However, continuity of care was positively associated with ED visits (AOR: 2.252, 95% CI: 1.051-4.825). CONCLUSION: Enhanced patient-perceived quality of primary care in China is associated with a reduction in self-reported overall hospital utilisation, including outpatient visits and hospital admissions. However, better continuity of care may be associated with increased ED visits. Further research is warranted for precise insights and validation of these findings.

Improved patient-perceived primary care quality in China was linked to lower self-reported hospital utilisation, including outpatient visits and hospital admissions.Better primary care accessibility was associated with decreased self-reported emergency department visits and outpatient visits.Continuity of care showed a positive association with emergency department visits, warranting further research.

Psychiatric Diagnoses in Parents and Psychiatric, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Outcomes in Their Offspring: A Swedish Population-Based Register Study.

OBJECTIVE: Associations were examined between six psychiatric diagnoses in parents and a broad range of psychiatric and nonpsychiatric outcomes in their offspring. METHODS: All individuals born in Sweden between 1970 and 2000 were linked to their biological parents (N=3,286,293) through Swedish national registers. A matched cohort design, with stratified Cox regression and conditional logistic regression analyses, was used examine associations between six psychiatric diagnoses in the parents and 32 outcomes in their offspring. All children, including those exposed and those not exposed to parents with psychiatric diagnoses, were followed from their date of birth to the date of emigration from Sweden, death, or December 31, 2013, when the offspring were 14-44 years old. RESULTS: In terms of absolute risk, most children who had parents with psychiatric diagnoses were not diagnosed in specialist care themselves, and the proportion of offspring having any of the 16 types of psychiatric conditions ranged from 22.17% (of offspring exposed to parental depression) to 25.05% (of offspring exposed to parental drug-related disorder) at the end of follow-up. Nevertheless, in terms of relative risk, exposure to any of the six parental psychiatric diagnoses increased probabilities of the 32 outcomes among the offspring, with hazard ratios that ranged from 1.03 to 8.46 for time-to-event outcomes and odds ratios that ranged from 1.29 to 3.36 for binary outcomes. Some specificities were observed for parental diagnoses of psychosis and substance-related disorders, which more strongly predicted psychotic-like and externalizing-related outcomes, respectively, in the offspring. CONCLUSIONS: The intergenerational transmission of parental psychiatric conditions appeared largely transdiagnostic and extended to nonpsychiatric outcomes in offspring. Given the broad spectrum of associations with the outcomes, service providers (e.g., psychiatrists, teachers, and social workers) should consider clients' broader psychiatric family history when predicting prognosis and planning interventions or treatment.

The Association between Physical Activity and Intrinsic Capacity in Chinese Older Adults and Its Connection to Primary Care: China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).

BACKGROUND: In 2015, intrinsic capacity (IC) was proposed by the WHO as a new measure for healthy aging. Evidence has shown that physical activity (PA) benefits the physical and mental health of older adults. However, the association between PA and IC among older adults was not well evaluated or reported. This study aims to investigate the association between PA and general and specific IC among Chinese older adults. METHOD: The study included individuals aged 60 and above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2015. The IC scores were constructed based on the WHO concept of five domains: psychological capacity, cognition, locomotion, vitality, and sensory abilities. Total PA and leisure PA were measured based on different activity purposes. Linear mixed-effects models and generalized linear mixed-effects models were developed to assess the associations between PA and IC. RESULTS: A total of 3359 participants were included in this study. Older adults who reported some PA were associated with a higher composite IC score, with a mean difference of 0.14 (95% CI: 0.09-0.18, p < 0.001) compared to those who reported no PA. In terms of leisure PA, physically active adults had a higher composite IC score with a mean difference of 0.06 (95% CI: 0.03-0.09, p < 0.001). Older adults with a high level of leisure PA also had a significantly higher composite IC score (diff. in mean = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01-0.13, p < 0.05) compared to those with low-level leisure PA. In addition, PA was positively and significantly associated with three specific IC domains: locomotion, cognition, and vitality. CONCLUSIONS: Improving both general and leisure PA can be an effective way to prevent the decline in IC among older adults, thus reducing the personal and public load of primary healthcare for aging countries such as China.

Intergenerational Transmission of Psychiatric Conditions and Psychiatric, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Outcomes in Offspring.

Importance: Psychiatric conditions in parents are associated with many psychiatric and nonpsychiatric outcomes in offspring. However, it remains unknown whether this intergenerational transmission is attributable to broader psychopathology comorbidity or to specific conditions. Objective: To estimate associations between general and specific psychopathology factors in parents and a wide range of register-based outcomes in their offspring. Design, Setting, and Participants: This Swedish national register-based cohort study included 2 947 703 individuals born between 1970 and 2000 and followed up with participants through December 31, 2013. Statistical analysis was performed from October 2022 to October 2023. Exposures: Hierarchical factor model consisting of 1 general and 3 specific psychopathology factors fit to 9 parental psychiatric diagnoses and violent criminal court convictions. Main Outcomes and Measures: A total of 31 outcomes were measured in offspring and sorted into 6 broad clusters: psychotic-like outcomes, neurodevelopmental outcomes, internalizing outcomes, externalizing outcomes, behavior and accidents, and psychosocial outcomes. Results: Of 2 947 703 individuals, 1 518 252 (51.5%) were male, and the mean (SD) age at the end of follow-up was 28.7 (8.9) years. The general psychopathology factor in parents was significantly associated with all 31 offspring outcomes (range: odds ratio [OR] for accidents, 1.08 [95% CI, 1.07-1.08] to OR for social welfare recipiency, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.39-1.40]), which means that children whose parents scored 1 SD above the mean on the general psychopathology factor had an 8% to 40% higher odds of different studied outcomes. The specific psychotic factor in parents was primarily associated with all 5 psychotic-like outcomes (range: OR for prescription of antiepileptics, 1.05 [95% CI, 1.04-1.06] to OR for schizophrenia, 1.25 [95% CI, 1.23-1.28]) and the specific internalizing factor in parents was primarily associated with all 6 internalizing outcomes (range: OR for prescription of anxiolytics, 1.10 [95% CI, 1.09-1.10] to OR for depression, 1.13 [95% CI, 1.12-1.13]) and all 6 neurodevelopmental outcomes (range: OR for intellectual disability, 1.02 [95% CI, 1.01-1.03] to OR for autism spectrum disorder, 1.10 [95% CI, 1.09-1.11]) in offspring. The specific externalizing factor in parents was associated with all 6 externalizing outcomes (range: OR for violent crimes, 1.21 [95% CI, 1.19-1.23] to OR for oppositional defiant disorder, 1.32 [95% CI, 1.32-1.33]) and all 6 internalizing outcomes (range: OR for obsessive-compulsive disorder, 1.01 [95% CI, 1.00-1.02] to OR for posttraumatic stress disorder, 1.13 [95% CI, 1.12-1.13]) in offspring. Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study of the Swedish population suggests that the intergenerational transmission of psychiatric conditions across different types of spectra may largely be attributable to a parental general psychopathology factor, whereas specific factors appeared to be primarily responsible for within-spectrum associations between parents and their offspring. Professionals who work with children (eg, child psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers, and social workers) might benefit from taking the total number of parental psychiatric conditions into account, regardless of type, when forecasting child mental health and social functions.

Development and Validation of a Rapid Assessment Version of the Assessment Survey of Primary Care in China.

Background: Measuring quality of primary care has attracted much attention around the world. Our team has developed and validated an Assessment Survey of Primary Care (ASPC) for evaluating quality of primary care in China. To facilitate the daily use of ASPC, this study aimed to develop and validate a rapid assessment version of ASPC (RA-ASPC) in China. Methods: This is a multi-phase study on 21 experts and 1,184 patients from 12 primary care facilities in 10 cities in China. Importance, representativeness, easy understanding, and general applicability of each item in ASPC scale were rated to select the top two ranked items for constituting RA-ASPC. Reliability of RA-ASPC was tested by calculating both Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients. Structural validity was assessed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA). Concurrent validity was performed by analyzing the relationship between RA-ASPC and patient satisfaction. Discriminant validity was tested by assessing the difference of RA-ASPC scores between patients with or without family doctors. Results: Ten items were selected for RA-ASPC. Both Cronbach's alpha (0.732) and McDonald's omega (0.729) suggested satisfactory internal consistency. In EFA, explained variance of RA-ASPC (72.6%) indicated its ability to measure quality of primary care in China. CFA indicators showed convincing goodness-of-fit (GFI = 0.996, AGFI = 0.992, CFI = 1.000, NFI = 0.980, RMR = 0.022, and the RMSEA = 0.000) for RA-ASPC. Positive association between RA-ASPC and patient satisfaction supported the concurrent validity of RA-ASPC. Patients with family doctors perceived higher quality of primary care than those without family doctors, indicating good discriminant validity of RA-ASPC. Conclusion: The theoretical framework of RA-ASPC was in line with internationally recognized core functions of primary care. Good psychometric properties of RA-ASPC proved its appropriateness in assessing quality of primary care from patients' perspectives in China.

Association between Primary Care Utilization and Emergency Room or Hospital Inpatient Services Utilization among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in a Self-Referral System: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2018.

With rapid economic growth and aging, hospital inpatient and emergency services utilization has grown rapidly, and has emphasized an urgent requirement to adjust and optimize the structure of health service utilization. Studies have shown that primary care is an effective way to reduce inpatient and emergency room (ER) service utilization. This study aims to examine whether middle-aged and elderly individuals who selected primary care outpatient services in the last month had less ER and hospital inpatient service utilization than those who selected hospitals outpatient services via the self-referral system. Data were obtained from four waves of the nationally representative China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We pooled respondents who had outpatient visits and were aged 45 years and above. We used logistic regressions to explore the association between types of outpatient and ER visits or hospitalization, and then used zero-truncated negative binomial regression to examine the impact of outpatient visit types on the number of hospitalizations and the length of hospitalization days. A trend test was used to explore the trend of outpatient visit types and the ER or hospital inpatient services utilization with the increase in outpatient visits. Among the 7544 respondents in CHARLS, those with primary care outpatient visits were less likely to have ER visits (adjusted OR = 0.141, 95% CI: 0.101-0.194), hospitalization (adjusted OR = 0.623, 95% CI: 0.546-0.711), and had fewer hospitalization days (adjusted IRR = 0.886, 95% CI: 0.81-0.969). The trend test showed that an increase in the number of total outpatient visits was associated with a lower hospitalizations (p = 0.006), but a higher odds of ER visits (p = 0.023). Our findings suggest that policy makers need to adopt systematic policies that focus on restructuring and balancing the structure of resources and service utilization in the three-tier healthcare system.

Effect of Family Practice Contract Services on the Perceived Quality of Primary Care among Patients with Multimorbidity: A Cross-Sectional Study in Guangdong, China.

Family practice contract services, an important primary-care reform policy for improving primary healthcare quality in China, incorporate patients with multiple chronic conditions into the priority coverage groups and focus on their management. This study aims to explore the family practice contract services' effectiveness in improving the quality of primary care experienced by this population. A cross-sectional study using a three-stage sampling was conducted from January to March 2019 in Guangdong, China. A multivariable linear regression, including interaction terms, was applied to examine the associations between the contract services and primary care quality among people with different chronic conditions. The process quality of primary care was measured in six dimensions using the validated assessment survey of primary care (ASPC) scale. People with contract services scored higher in terms of quality of primary care than those without contract services. Contract services moderated the association between chronic condition status and primary care quality. Significantly positive interactions were observed in the patient-centred care dimension and negative interactions were reflected in the accessibility dimension. Our findings suggest that family practice contract services play a crucial role in improving patient-perceived primary care quality and provide emerging evidence that patients with multimorbidity tend to benefit more from the services, especially in patient-centred care.

Association between Primary Healthcare and Medical Expenditures in a Context of Hospital-Oriented Healthcare System in China: A National Panel Dataset, 2012-2016.

Total health expenditure in China has grown considerably since a new round of health system reform was enacted in 2009. Researchers have shown that strengthening primary healthcare may be an option for countries to solve the rapid expansion of their medical expenditures. This study was designed to explore the association between the strength of primary healthcare and medical expenditures, in the context of the hospital-oriented healthcare system in China. A longitudinal ecological study was conducted using a 5-year panel dataset of 27 provinces in mainland China. The linear mixed effects regression model was used to assess the effects of primary healthcare-related metrics on medical expenditures, controlling for the provincial level specialty care physician supply and socio-economic parameters. All of the three primary healthcare-related metrics showed negative associations with the two medical expenditure parameters. Primary care physicians per 10,000 population was significantly associated with the per capita hospital medical expenditures (p < 0.05), and the percentage of public health expenditure in total health expenditure was significantly associated with both per capita total medical expenditure and per capita hospital medical expenditures (p < 0.01 for both). Our study found negative associations between the primary healthcare capacity and medical expenditure in the context of hospital-oriented healthcare systems in China, adding to the previous evidence that primary healthcare may play a positive role in reducing medical expenditure. Policies on increasing the primary care physician supply and the public share of total health expenditure should be conducted to strengthen the primary healthcare system. With the gradual advance of medical reform and the policy inclination to primary healthcare, this will play a more important role in controlling the rapid growth of medical expenditure.

Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to Investigate the Intention to Use Physical Activity Apps: Cross-Sectional Survey.

BACKGROUND: Many university students are lacking adequate physical exercise and are failing to develop physical activity (PA) behaviors in China. PA app use could improve this situation. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to investigate the intention to use PA apps among university students in Guangzhou, China, and how body mass index (BMI) moderates the effects of UTAUT in explaining PA app use intention. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1704 university students from different universities in Guangzhou, China. The UTAUT model was used to measure the determinants of intention to use PA apps. RESULTS: Of the participants, 41.8% (611/1461) intended to use PA apps. All three UTAUT-related scales (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence) were positively associated with the intention to use PA apps after adjusting for background variables (adjusted odds ratio 1.10-1.31, P<.001). The performance expectancy scale had stronger associations with the intention to use PA apps among those whose BMI were beyond normal range compared with those whose BMI were within normal range (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: UTAUT is useful for understanding university students' intention to use PA apps. Potential moderating effects should be kept in mind when designing UTAUT-based interventions to improve PA via app use.

Functioning styles of personality disorders and five-factor normal personality traits: a correlation study in Chinese students.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies show that both the categorical and dimensional descriptors of personality disorders are correlated with normal personality traits. Recently, a 92-item inventory, the Parker Personality Measure (PERM) was designed as a more efficient and precise first-level assessment of personality disorders. Whether the PERM constructs are correlated with those of the five-factor models of personality needs to be clarified. METHODS: We therefore invited 913 students from poly-technical schools and colleges in China to answer the PERM, the Five-Factor Nonverbal Personality Questionnaire (FFNPQ), and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ). RESULTS: Most personality constructs had satisfactory internal alphas. PERM constructs were loaded with FFNPQ and ZKPQ traits clearly on four factors, which can be labelled as Dissocial, Emotional Dysregulation, Inhibition and Compulsivity, as reported previously. FFNPQ Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness and Extraversion formed another Factor, named Experience Hunting, which was not clearly covered by PERM or ZKPQ. CONCLUSION: The PERM constructs were loaded in a predictable way on the disordered super-traits, suggesting the PERM might offer assistance measuring personality function in clinical practice.