Survey of health literacy level and related influencing factors in military college students in Chongqing, China: A cross-sectional analysis.

Health literacy (HL) has become an important public health issue and is receiving growing attention. However, the HL levels of military college students in China have never been analyzed. This study aimed to investigate the HL and related associate factors in military college students in Chongqing, China. Data was obtained with the "Chinese Citizen Health Literacy Questionnaire (2012 edition)" from 3183 military college students aged 16-28 years at Chongqing in December 2015. A total score of ≥80 points determined adequate HL, and HL level was defined as the proportion of students who had adequate HL out of the total number of participants. Multiple logistic regression analysis with a stepwise forward likelihood ratio (LR) method was used to determine the effects of sociodemographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, and family-related factors on HL level. The mean score of HL was 68.56, and the HL level of military college students was 21.05%; the overall knowledge rate was 71.33%. The independent factors that were associated with HL level were years in college, educational system, time playing online games, annual household income and father's education level. Senior (odds ratio [OR] = 1.229, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.018∼1.484), undergraduate (OR = 1.509, 95% CI 1.151∼1.978), time played games more than 5 hours each week (OR = 0.638, 95% CI 0.486∼0.837), annual household incomes more than 50,000 yuan (OR = 1.231, 95% CI 1.027∼1.476) and father's education level (high school: OR = 2.327, 95% CI 1.186∼4.565; university: OR = 2.450, 95% CI 1.244∼4.825), were independently associated with higher HL level. HL levels of military college students in Chongqing need to be improved across the board. Our data suggests that special emphasis should be placed on students in junior and those in the specialist educational system. School departments may also benefit from incorporating health literacy into their curricula and helping students manage the time they spend playing online games.

Occurrence and potential health risk of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China.

The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) is the biggest lake in the world and a major water source in China. There is no information about occurrence and impact of Cryptosporidium and Giardia on the aquatic ecosystem. 61 surface water samples from 23 monitoring sites and 5 treated effluent samples were collected and analyzed. Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts were found, respectively, in 86.4% and 65.2% of a total of 66 water samples, with high concentrations in treated effluent. The mean percent recovery was 29.14% for oocysts and 34.86% for cysts. A seasonal pattern was observed, with positive samples for Cryptosporidium more frequent in flood period and positive samples for Giardia more frequent in impounding period. Counts of enterococci, fecal coliforms and total coliforms, and turbidity were significantly associated with Cryptosporidium concentration in backwater (water in a main river which is backed up by the Three Gorges Dam) areas of tributaries but not Giardia. High associations were also found between oocyst and cyst in backwater areas of tributaries and cities. The risks of infection and illness due to water consumption in four different exposure routes were estimated. The results showed that swimming in the TGR has the highest infection risk with 1.39 × 10(-3) per time (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.05-600.3 × 10(-5)) for Cryptosporidium and 2.08 × 10(-4) per time (95% CI: 0.05-878.87 × 10(-6)) for Giardia, while directly drinking unboiled tap water treated with the conventional process has the highest morbidity with 524.98 per 100,000 population per year (95% CI: 10.35-2040.26) for Cryptosporidium and 5.89 per 100,000 population per year (95% CI: 0.08-22.67) for Giardia. This study provides new useful information for drinking water plants, health care workers and managers to improve the safety of tap water and deduce the risk of surface water contamination in China.