Assessing eHealth Literacy and Identifying Factors Influencing Its Adoption Among Cancer Inpatients: A Cross-Sectional Study in Guangdong Population.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current state of eHealth literacy among cancer patients in a grade A tertiary hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, and to identify the factors that influence it, in order to provide a basis for improving the eHealth literacy of cancer patients. Patients and Methods: From September to November 2021, a convenience sampling method was employed to survey cancer patients in the oncology department of a grade A tertiary hospital in Guangzhou, using a self-administered general information questionnaire and the eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS). A total of 130 questionnaires were distributed, and 117 valid questionnaires were returned. Results: The mean total score of eHealth literacy among cancer patients was 21.32±8.35. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the frequency of searching for health information and education level were significant factors influencing eHealth literacy (p<0.05). Specifically, the education level (junior high school vs primary school or below) was found to have a significant association with eHealth literacy (beta=0.26, p=0.039). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the eHealth literacy of cancer patients is relatively low, with low scores on the dimensions of judgment and decision-making ability. The government and relevant regulatory authorities should focus on strengthening the reliability of online health information and implementing targeted e-interventions to enhance the eHealth literacy of cancer patients.

Short-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Hospital Admissions for Sequelae of Stroke in Chinese Older Adults.

Extensive evidence suggests that ambient air pollution contributes to a higher risk of hospital admissions for cerebrovascular diseases; however, its association with admissions for sequelae of stroke remains unclear. A time-stratified case-crossover study was conducted among 31,810 older adults who were admitted to hospital for sequelae of stroke in Guangzhou, China during 2016-2019. For each subject, daily residential exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), inhalable particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3) was extracted from a validated grid data set. Conditional logistic regression models were used for exposure-response analyses. In single-pollutant models, each interquartile range (IQR) increase of lag 04-day exposure to CO (IQR: 0.25 mg/m3) and lag 3-day exposure to O3 (69.6 µg/m3) was significantly associated with a 4.53% (95% confidence interval: 1.67%, 7.47%) and 5.63% (1.92%, 9.48%) increase in odds of hospital admissions for sequelae of stroke, respectively. These associations did not significantly vary across age or sex. With further adjustment for each of the other pollutants in 2-pollutant models, the association for CO did not change significantly, while the association for O3 disappeared. We estimated that 7.72% of the hospital admissions were attributable to CO exposures. No significant or consistent association was observed for exposure to PM2.5, PM10, SO2, or NO2. In conclusion, short-term exposure to ambient CO, even at levels below the WHO air quality guideline, was significantly associated with an increased odds of hospital admissions for sequelae of stroke, which may lead to considerable excess hospital admissions.

Short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and readmissions for heart failure among 3660 post-discharge patients with hypertension in older Chinese adults.

BACKGROUND: Despite ambient air pollution being associated with various adverse cardiovascular outcomes, the acute effects of ambient air pollution on hospital readmissions for heart failure (HF) among post-discharge patients with hypertension remain less understood. METHODS: We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study among 3660 subjects 60 years or older who were admitted to hospital for HF after discharge for hypertension in Guangzhou, China during 2016-2019. For each subject, individualised residential exposures to ambient particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤1 µm (PM1), ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), ≤10 µm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone were extracted from our validated grid dataset. RESULTS: An IQR increase of lag 04-day exposure to PM1 (IQR: 11.6 µg/m3), PM2.5 (IQR 21.9 µg/m3), PM10 (IQR 35.0 µg/m3), SO2 (IQR 4.4 µg/m3), NO2 (IQR 23.3 µg/m3) and CO (IQR 0.25 mg/m3) was significantly associated with a 9.77% (95% CI 2.21% to 17.89%), 8.74% (95% CI 1.05% to 17.00%), 13.93% (95% CI 5.36% to 23.20%), 10.81% (95% CI 1.82% to 20.60%), 14.97% (95% CI 8.05% to 22.34%) and 7.37% (95% CI 0.98% to 14.16%) increase in odds of HF readmissions, respectively. With adjustment for other pollutants, the association for NO2 exposure remained stable, while the associations for PM1, PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and CO exposures became insignificant. Overall, an estimated 19.86% of HF readmissions were attributable to NO2 exposure, while reducing NO2 exposure to the WHO and China air quality standards would avoid 12.87% and 0.54% of readmissions, respectively. No susceptible populations were observed by sex, age or season. CONCLUSION: Short-term exposure to ambient NO2 was significantly associated with an increased odds of HF readmissions among post-discharge patients with hypertension in older Chinese adults.

Association of short-term exposure to air pollution with recurrent ischemic cerebrovascular events in older adults.

The acute effects of ambient air pollution on recurrence of ischemic cerebrovascular events (ICEs) remains largely unknown. We therefore conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of 43,896 patients who were 60 years or older and were admitted to hospital for recurrent ICEs including ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack in Guangzhou, China during 2016-2019. Based on each patient's home address and pollutant data from its neighboring air quality monitoring stations, we used an inverse distance weighting method to assess exposures to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3). Conditional logistic regression models were used to quantify exposure-response associations. During the study period, there were 43,896 case days and 149,131 control days. In single-pollutant models, each 10 µg/m3 increase in exposure to PM10, NO2 and CO (mean exposure on date of admission and 1 day prior) was significantly associated with a 0.74% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-1.36%), 2.15% (1.38-2.93%) and 0.14% (0.07-0.21%) increase in odds of hospital admissions for recurrent ICEs, respectively, and no significant departures from linearity were detected. The association for NO2 exposure remained consistent in 2-pollutant models, while the associations for PM10 and CO disappeared or changed materially with adjustment for other pollutants. Stronger association for NO2 exposure was observed in cool season than that in warm season. We found that short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants, especially NO2, was associated with increased risk of hospital admissions for recurrent ICEs in older adults.

Individual exposure to ambient PM2.5 and hospital admissions for COPD in 110 hospitals: a case-crossover study in Guangzhou, China.

Few studies have evaluated the short-term association between hospital admissions and individual exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM2.5). Particularly, no studies focused on hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the individual level. We assessed the short-term effects of PM2.5 on hospitalization admissions for COPD in Guangzhou, China, during 2014-2015, based on satellite-derived estimates of ambient PM2.5 concentrations at a 1-km resolution near the residential address as individual-level exposure for each patient. Around 40,002 patients with COPD admitted to 110 hospitals were included in this study. A time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression models was applied to assess the effects of PM2.5 based on a 1-km grid data of aerosol optical depth provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on hospital admissions for COPD. Further, we performed stratified analyses by individual demographic characteristics and season of hospital admission. Around 10 µg/m3 increase in individual-level PM2.5 was associated with an increase of 1.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.6%, 2.7%) in hospitalization for COPD at a lag of 0-5 days. The impact of PM2.5 on hospitalization for COPD was greater significantly in males and patients admitted in summer. Our study strengthened the evidence for the adverse effect of PM2.5 based on satellite-based individual-level exposure data.

Temperature Variability and Hospital Admissions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Analysis of Attributable Disease Burden and Vulnerable Subpopulation.

Purpose: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic diseases causing considerable social and economic burden globally. Despite substantial evidence on temperature-COPD association, few studies have investigated the acute effect of temperature variability (TV), a potential trigger of exacerbation of COPD disease, and it remains unknown what fraction of the disease burden of COPD is attributable to TV. Patients and Methods: Based on 71,070 COPD hospitalizations during 2013-2015 in Guangzhou, China, we conducted a time-series analysis using quasi-Poisson regression to assess the association between TV and hospital admission for COPD after adjusting for daily mean temperature. Short-term TV was captured by the standard deviation of hourly or daily temperatures across various exposure days. We also provided the fraction (total number) of COPD attributable to TV. Stratified analyses by admission route, sex, age, occupation, marital status and season were performed to identify vulnerable subpopulations. Results: We found a linear relationship between TV and COPD hospitalization, with a 1°C increase in hourly TV and daily TV associated with 4.3% (95%CI: 2.2-6.4) and 4.0% (2.3-5.8) increases in COPD, respectively. The greater relative risks of TV identified males, people aged 0-64 years, blue collar, and divorced/widowed people as vulnerable population. There were 12.0% (8500 cases) of COPD hospitalization attributable to hourly TV during the study period. Daily TV produced similar estimates of relative effects (relative risk) but grater estimates of absolute effects (attributable fraction) than hourly TV. Conclusion: We concluded that TV was an independent risk factor of COPD morbidity, especially among the susceptible subgroups. These findings would be helpful to guide the development of targeted public intervention.