Association between long-term visit-to-visit blood pressure variability and depression among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.

BACKGROUND: Whether there is a longitudinal association between long-term blood pressure variability (BPV) and subsequent depression among Chinese adults remains inconclusive. METHODS: This study utilized data from a nationwide cohort of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, which included participants aged > 45 years without prevalent psychiatric or memory-related diseases. The intra-individual coefficient of variation (CV) and standard deviation (SD) across 3 visits from 2011 to 2015 were used to examine the long-term variability in systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP). The depressive symptoms were examined using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10), and moderate-to-severe depression was defined as CES-D-10 ≥ 15. RESULTS: A total of 5,249 participants (mean age: 61.4 ± 8.1 years, 46.5% were men) were included in the current analysis. Individuals in the highest quartile of both BP CV and SD were independently correlated with a higher total CES-D-10 score compared to those in the lowest quartile after multivariable adjustment. 1,070 participants (20.4%) had moderate-to-severe depression during the 3-year follow-up period. Participants in the Q4 of SBP and DBP CV had 1.23-fold higher odds (95% CI: 1.01, 1.49) and 1.20-fold higher odds (95% CI: 1.01, 1.41) of moderate-to-severe depression compared to those in Q1. Subgroup analyses revealed that men with higher BP CVs had a greater risk of severe depressive symptoms (p for SBP CV-by-sex interaction = 0.050, p for SBP CV-by-sex interaction = 0.025). CONCLUSIONS: Depression was common among Chinese middle-aged and older adults and long-term visit-to-visit BPV was positively associated with depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of implementing intensive prevention strategies for depression and enhancing blood pressure monitors in China.

Trial of the Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Rapid Test Kit: Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: In response to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, a convenient, rapid, and sensitive diagnostic method for detecting COVID-19 is crucial for patient control and timely treatment. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to validate the detection of SARS-CoV-2 with the Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 rapid test kit developed based on a novel thermostatic amplification technique called RNase hybridization-assisted amplification. METHODS: From November 25 to December 8, 2022, patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, close contacts, and health care workers at high risk of exposure were recruited from 3 hospitals and 1 university. Respiratory specimens were collected for testing with the Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 rapid test kit and compared with reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and a commercial antigen assay kit. Samples from 1447 cases were obtained from 3 "ready-to-test" scenarios in which samples were collected on site and tested immediately, and samples from 503 cases were obtained from a "freeze-thaw test" scenario in which samples were collected, frozen, and thawed for testing. RESULTS: Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 rapid testing of samples from the "ready-to-test" scenario was found to be accurate (overall sensitivity and specificity of 98.3% and 99.3%, respectively) and diagnostically useful (positive and negative likelihood ratios of 145.45 and 0.02, respectively). Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 rapid testing of samples from the "freeze-thaw test" scenario was also found to be accurate (overall sensitivity and specificity of 71.2% and 98.6%, respectively) and diagnostically useful (positive and negative likelihood ratios of 51.01 and 0.67, respectively). Our findings demonstrated that the time efficiency and accuracy of the results in a "ready-to-test" scenario were better. The time required from sample preparation to the seeing the result of the Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 rapid test was 10 to 38 minutes, which was substantially shorter than that of RT-qPCR (at least 90 minutes). In addition, the diagnostic efficacy of the Pluslife SARS-CoV-2 rapid test was better than that of a commercial antigen assay kit. CONCLUSIONS: The developed RNase hybridization-assisted amplification assay provided rapid, sensitive, and convenient detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and may be useful for enhanced detection of COVID-19 in homes, high-risk industries, and hospitals.