Do Lockdowns Bring about Additional Mortality Benefits or Costs? Evidence based on Death Records from 300 Million Chinese People

After the COVID-19 outbreak, China immediately adopted stringent lockdown policies to contain the virus. Using comprehensive death records covering around 300 million Chinese people, we estimate the impacts of city and community lockdowns on non-COVID-19 mortality outside of Wuhan. Employing a difference-in-differences method, we find that lockdowns reduced the number of non-COVID-19 deaths by 4.9% (cardiovascular deaths by 6.2%, injuries by 9.2%, and non-COVID-19 pneumonia deaths by 14.3%). The health benefits are likely driven by significant reductions in air pollution, traffic, and human interactions. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that more than 32,000 lives could have been saved from non-COVID-19 diseases/causes during the 40 days of the lockdown on which we focus. The results suggest that the rapid and strict virus countermeasures not only effectively controlled the spread of COVID-19 but also brought about massive unintended public health benefits. These findings can help better inform policymakers around the world about the benefits and costs of city and community lockdowns policies in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new prognostic score system of hepatocellular carcinoma following hepatectomy / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective@#To establish a new scoring system based on the clinicopathological features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to predict prognosis of patients who received hepatectomy.@*Methods@#A total of 845 HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy from 1999 to 2010 at Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were retrospectively analyzed. 21 common clinical factors were selected in this analysis. Among these factors, the cut-off values of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and intraoperative blood loss were evaluated by using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model were used to evaluate the independent risk factors associated with the prognosis of HCC patients after hepatectomy. HCC postoperatively prognostic scoring system was established according to the minimum weighted method of these independent risk factors, and divided the patients into 3 risk groups, including low-risk, intermediate-risk and high-risk group. The relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared among these groups.@*Results@#The univariate analysis showed that clinical symptoms, preoperative α-fetoprotein (AFP) level, serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level, tumor size, tumor number, abdominal lymph node metastasis, macrovascular invasion or tumor thrombus, extrahepatic invasion or serosa perforation, the severity of hepatic cirrhosis, intraoperative blood loss, the liver operative method, pathological tumor thrombus, intraoperative blood transfusion, perioperative blood transfusion were significantly associated with median RFS of these HCC patients (P<0.05). Alternatively, clinical symptoms, preoperative AFP level, serum ALP level, tumor size, tumor number, abdominal lymph node metastasis, macrovascular invasion or tumor thrombus, extrahepatic invasion or serosa perforation, the severity of hepatic cirrhosis, intraoperative blood loss, the liver operative method, pathological lymphocyte invasion, pathological tumor thrombus, intraoperative blood transfusion, perioperative blood transfusion were significantly associated with the median OS of these HCC patients (P<0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that AFP ≥20 ng/ml, clinical symptoms, tumor diameter ≥5 cm, multiple tumors, macrovascular invasion or tumor thrombus, extrahepatic invasion or serosa perforation, moderate and severe liver cirrhosis, non- anatomic resection were the independent risk factors of RFS and OS (P<0.05). The independent risk factor of RFS was intraoperative bleeding loss ≥325 ml (P<0.05); The independent risk factors of OS were abdominal lymph node metastasis and pathological tumors thrombus (P<0.05). The respective weight of 11 independent factors was used to establish the scoring system (scores range from 0 to 26). In the score system, 0 to 5 points were defined as the low-risk group (286 cases), 6 to 12 points were determined as the intermediate-risk group (503 cases), more than 13 points were classified as the high-risk group (56 cases). The median RFS of the low-risk, intermediate-risk and high-risk group were 80, 27 and 6 months, respectively. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.001). The median OS of the three groups were 134, 51 and 15 months, respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.001).@*Conclusion@#This new score system provides effective prediction of postoperative prognosis for HCC patients.

Rapid rehabilitation nursing mode reduces postoperative complications in elderly patients with appendicitis / 现代临床护理

Objective To investigate the effect of rapid rehabilitation nursing mode on postoperative complications in elderly patients with appendicitis. Methods Forty-eight elderly patients with appendicitis underwent surgery from July 2013 to June 2014 were set as the control group, and another fifty-three elderly patients from July 2014 to June 2015 as observation group. The patients in the control group were treated with routine care while the patients in the observation group with rapid rehabilitation nursing. Operative complications, gastrointestinal tumor recovery and postoperative hospitalization time were compared within one week after the operations between two groups. Result The rates of constipation, abdominal distention, chills and dysuria in the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control and the time of anal first exhaust, defecation and postoperative hospitalization in the observation group were significantly lower or shorter than those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion The rapid rehabilitation nursing mode based on evidence can reduce surgery complications in elderly patients, promoter recovery and shorten hospitalization time.

Evaluation of application effect of mental intervention on patients with postsurgical gastroparesis syndrome / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective To study the effect of mental intervention on patients with postsurgical gastroparesis syndrome (PGS). Methods 70 patients with gastroptroparesis syndrome after abdominal operation were divided into the control group and the experimental group with 35 patients in each group according to chronological order.The patients in the control group accepted routine care,and the experimental group was given mental intervention based on routine care.Center for Epidemiological Survey Depression Scale (CESD) was used to evaluated the emotional state before and after intervention.Besides,the recovery of gastrointestinal function was appraised. Results The improvement level of anxiety in the experimental group was higher than the control group.The extinction time of symptoms,indwelling time of gastric tube,recovery time of food intake were shorter than the control group.Drainage time when gastric juice ＞ 800ml/d was shorter,recovery time of PGS and hospitalization time were shorter,the treatment cost was reduced,compared with the control group. Conclusions Mental intervention can alleviate the negative emotion and shorten the recovery time of patients with postsurgical gastroparesis syndrome.

Investigation and analysis for community healthcare service usage in Taiyuan City and its influential factors / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective To find out the usage of community healthcare service by citizens in Taiyuan and its influential factors,for the purpose of offering references for sustainable development of community healthcare services.Methods By means of multiphase sampling,in-home surveys were made to 800 residents in Taiyuan,recovering 768 valid questionnaires.The single factorx2 test and unconditional logistic regression analysis using SPSS13.0 software.Results The two-week visit rate is 13.28%,and two- week non-visit rate is 45.16%.Ratio of community healthcare service usage by residents surveyed was 36.72%.Factors affecting utilization of such service for residents are education level,monthly average income,and knowledge of community healthcare services.Conclusion Usage of community healthcare service is low in Taiyuan.It is recommended to improve the system of community healthcare services in Taiyuan in view of the influential factors,in order to maximize efficient usage of the service.

PLASMA CORTICOSTEROID-BINDING GLOBULIN LEVELS IN SOME DISEASES / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

Plasma corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) was measured in 24 normal subjects, 180 cases with different diseases and 93 pregnant women. The plasma GBG level was found significantly raised in pregnancy, diabetes, decreased in Addison's disease, nephrotic syndrome, and no change in hyperthyroidism, primary liver carcinoma, Cushing's disease, Simmond-Sheehan's syndrome.