A population-based five-year study on the risk of stroke in patients with osteoporosis in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVES: Osteoporosis and stroke are common diseases in elder patients. The relationship between these two diseases is unclear. This study was intended to estimate the risk of stroke among elder persons aged ≥ 50 years within five years of being diagnosed with osteoporosis. METHODS: We retrieved data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005 (LHID2005) in Taiwan to perform a nationwide population-based study. There were 2580 patients with osteoporosis aged 50 years of age and older in the study cohort. All of them had at least 2 ambulatory care claims or at least 1 inpatient service claim. Each osteoporotic patient was matched to 5 non-osteoporotic patients based on gender, age, and the index year. Subjects in both groups were followed up for five years. Risk of developing stroke and 5-year stroke-free survival rates were evaluated. RESULTS: The risk of developing stroke was 1.24 times higher in osteoporotic patients within a 5-year follow-up period compared to an age- and gender-matched cohort without osteoporosis (95% confidence interval = 1.11-1.39; p < 0.001). Patients with osteoporosis also had a significantly lower 5-year stroke-free survival rate. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that patients with osteoporosis history had higher risk for development of stroke.

Osteoporosis increases subsequent risk of gallstone: a nationwide population-based cohort study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Osteopontin (OPN) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine which is expressed in various tissues. It participates in the bone remodeling process and stimulates bone resorption by osteoclasts. It is also a core protein of cholesterol gallstones. We hypothesized osteoporotic patients might have higher risk in developing gallstones and conducted a population-based study to examine the risk of developing gallstone in osteoporotic patients in Taiwan. METHODS: A total of 1,638 patients diagnosed with osteoporosis between 2003 and 2005 were identified in the National Health Insurance Research Database. A comparison cohort without osteoporosis (n =6,552) was randomly matched to each osteoporosis patient at a ratio of 4: 1 based on age and sex. A Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis was performed to evaluate the 5-year gallstone-free survival rates for the 2 cohorts. RESULTS: During the 5-year follow-up period, 114 and 311 cases of gallstone occurred in the osteoporosis and comparison cohorts, respectively. After adjusting for the confounders, the Cox regression analysis of the risk of gallstone in the osteoporosis and comparison cohorts yielded a hazard ratio of 1.35 (95% confidence interval: 1.07 - 1.69; p < 0 .01). CONCLUSION: Patients with osteoporosis in Taiwan have a higher risk of developing gallstone than the general population.

Sleep apnea and the subsequent risk of breast cancer in women: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia plays an important role in the development of solid tumors. Intermittent hypoxia is the hallmark of sleep apnea (SA). We tested the hypothesis that SA may increase the risk of breast cancer in Taiwan by using a population-based data set. METHODS: Our study cohort consisted of women diagnosed with SA between January 2003 and December 2005 (n = 846). For each SA patient, five age-matched control women were randomly selected as the comparison cohort (n = 4230). All participant cases were followed for 5 years from the index date to identify the development of breast cancer. Cox proportional-hazards regression was performed to evaluate the 5-year breast-cancer-free survival rates. RESULTS: Forty-four women developed breast cancer during the 5-year follow-up period, among whom 12 were SA patients and 32 were in the comparison cohort. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of breast cancer in patients with SA was higher [HR, 2.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-4.12; P < 0.05] than that of the controls during the 5-year follow-up. Despite not meeting statistical significance, we found increases in the risk of breast cancer in women aged 30-59 years (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 0.90-4.70) and ≥60 years (HR, 3.05; 95% CI, 0.90-10.32) compared with those aged 0-29 years. CONCLUSION: The findings of our population-based study suggest an association between SA and an increased risk of breast cancer in women.

A multilevel model of organizational health culture and the effectiveness of health promotion.

PURPOSE: Organizational health culture is a health-oriented core characteristic of the organization that is shared by all members. It is effective in regulating health-related behavior for employees and could therefore influence the effectiveness of health promotion efforts among organizations and employees. This study applied a multilevel analysis to verify the effects of organizational health culture on the organizational and individual effectiveness of health promotion. DESIGN: At the organizational level, we investigated the effect of organizational health culture on the organizational effectiveness of health promotion. At the individual level, we adopted a cross-level analysis to determine if organizational health culture affects employee effectiveness through the mediating effect of employee health behavior. SETTING: The study setting consisted of the workplaces of various enterprises. SUBJECTS: We selected 54 enterprises in Taiwan and surveyed 20 full-time employees from each organization, for a total sample of 1011 employees. MEASURES: We developed the Organizational Health Culture Scale to measure employee perceptions and aggregated the individual data to formulate organization-level data. Organizational effectiveness of health promotion included four dimensions: planning effectiveness, production, outcome, and quality, which were measured by scale or objective indicators. The Health Promotion Lifestyle Scale was adopted for the measurement of health behavior. Employee effectiveness was measured subjectively in three dimensions: self-evaluated performance, altruism, and happiness. ANALYSIS: Following the calculation of descriptive statistics, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to test the multilevel hypotheses. RESULTS: Organizational health culture had a significant effect on the planning effectiveness (ß = .356, p < .05) and production (ß = .359, p < .05) of health promotion. In addition, results of cross-level moderating effect analysis by HLM demonstrated that the effects of organizational health culture on three dimensions of employee effectiveness were completely mediated by health behavior. CONCLUSION: The construct connections established in this multilevel model will help in the construction of health promotion theories. The findings remind business executives that organizational health culture and employee health behavior help improve employee effectiveness.

Health-promoting organization and organizational effectiveness of health promotion in hospitals: a national cross-sectional survey in Taiwan.

To assess the organizational health-promotion (HP) status and its effect on the organizational effectiveness of HP in a national cross-sectional survey of all hospitals above the local community hospital level in Taiwan's hospitals, questionnaires were sent to 474 hospitals, of which 162 (34.18%) hospitals returned them and were rendered valid. The results of the organizational HP status reveal that the standardized overall score achieved is 76.26, suggesting that there is considerable room for improvement. The results of correlation analysis partially support the proposition of this study, suggesting that the higher the organizational HP status, the better the self-evaluated overall organizational and administrative effectiveness of its HP. When hierarchical multiple regression was performed, support for ownership (private hospitals), hospital accreditation grades (academic medical centers) and overall score of the Organizational Health of Hospital Assessment Scale were significant predicators of self-evaluated overall organizational effectiveness (F = 11.097, p < 0.01, R(2) = 0.369). Moreover, drafted annually, HP policies and plans and the number of staff HP training activities were found to partially mediate the relation between the organizational HP status, hospital characteristics and self-evaluated overall organizational effectiveness. The results contribute to clarify the conception of health-promoting hospital organizations and to identify a number of dimensions of health-promoting organizations related to the organizational effectiveness of HP in hospitals, which could allow hospitals to establish a healthier organization and more effective HP programs. This study also supplies the research field with important data and insights that can be used in future research.

The organisational diagnosis of a Health Promoting Hospital in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the practices of organisational diagnosis of Health Promoting Hospitals (HPH) in Taiwan through a case study, and further identifies a diagnostic model that could be utilized as a suitable reference. METHODS: The three major techniques used in gathering the quantitative and qualitative diagnostic data are in-depth interviews, evaluation of archival data, and questionnaire survey. RESULTS: Several key findings on the organisational effectiveness of health promotion are outlined in the study. With regard to overall appropriateness of HPH practices, the hospital is found to have only marginally met the WHO-HPH standards. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that to launch HPH, hospitals could adopt a systematic process to complete a comprehensive and accurate diagnosis of the organisation's problems and formulate plans for interventions to facilitate the successful implementation of HPH. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The model developed by this study and the practical experience gained provide hospitals with diagnostic references as they introduce the HPH program.