Assessment of successful smoking cessation by psychological factors using the Bayesian network approach.

The association between psychological factors and smoking cessation is complicated and inconsistent in published researches, and the joint effect of psychological factors on smoking cessation is unclear. This study explored how psychological factors jointly affect the success of smoking cessation using a Bayesian network approach. A community-based case control study was designed with 642 adult male successful smoking quitters as the cases, and 700 adult male failed smoking quitters as the controls. General self-efficacy (GSE), trait coping style (positive-trait coping style (PTCS) and negative-trait coping style (NTCS)) and self-rating anxiety (SA) were evaluated by GSE Scale, Trait Coping Style Questionnaire and SA Scale, respectively. Bayesian network was applied to evaluate the relationship between psychological factors and successful smoking cessation. The local conditional probability table of smoking cessation indicated that different joint conditions of psychological factors led to different outcomes for smoking cessation. Among smokers with high PTCS, high NTCS and low SA, only 36.40% successfully quitted smoking. However, among smokers with low pack-years of smoking, high GSE, high PTCS and high SA, 63.64% successfully quitted smoking. Our study indicates psychological factors jointly influence smoking cessation outcome. According to different joint situations, different solutions should be developed to control tobacco in practical intervention.

Maternal tobacco smoking, obesity, and low socioeconomic status during early pregnancy in the etiology of esophageal atresia.

BACKGROUND: The etiology of the congenital malformation esophageal atresia (EA) is essentially unknown. We hypothesized that maternal tobacco smoking, obesity, and low socioeconomic status (SES) during early pregnancy might increase the risk of the fetus developing EA. METHODS: A nationwide, population-based, case-control study was nested in a cohort of children born in Sweden in 1982 to 2004. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression. Matching, stratification, and multivariable regression were used to control for confounding. RESULTS: Among 2,305,858 newborn children constituting the study cohort, 722 cases of EA and 3610 controls were included. For women smoking 10 cigarettes or more daily, the adjusted OR was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.62-1.25) compared to nonsmokers. For obese women (body mass index, >30), OR was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.64-1.55) compared to lean women (body mass index, <20). Women with more than 12 years of formal education, representing SES, had an OR of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.69-1.29) compared to those with less than 10 years of education. The lack of association remained in stratified analyses of isolated EA and EA accompanied by associated malformations. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence refuting the hypotheses of an increased risk of EA among children of women who smoke, are obese, or have a low SES during early pregnancy.

Epidemiological analysis of injury in Shandong Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Injury is an emerging public health problem with social development and modernization in developing countries. To describe the prevalence and burden of injury and provide elaborate information for policy development, we conducted a community-based household survey in the Shandong Province of China. METHODS: The survey was conducted in 2004. Participants were selected by a multi-stage random sampling method. Information on injuries occurring in 2003 was collected in four cities and six rural counties in Shandong Province, China. RESULTS: The estimated incidence rate of injury in Shandong Province was 67.7 per 1,000. Injury incidence was higher in rural areas (84.3 per 1,000) than in urban areas (42.9 per 1,000), and was higher among males (81.1 per 1,000) than females (54.1 per 1,000). The average years of potential life lost is 37.7 years for each fatal injury. All injuries together caused 6,080,407 RMB yuan of direct and indirect economic loss, with traffic injuries accounting for 44.8% of the total economic loss. CONCLUSION: Injury incidence was higher among males than females, and in rural areas than in urban areas. Youngsters suffered the highest incidence of injury. Injury also caused large losses in terms of both economics and life, with traffic injuries contributing the most to this loss. Strategies for prevention of injury should be developed.