The association between smoking status and carotid artery plaque in rural areas of Eastern part of China / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the correlation between smoking status and carotid plaque in rural population residing in Eastern part of China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between July and September of 2013, an epidemiological survey was carried out in residents aged 40 or above men who were enrolled randomly in rural areas of Anqing, Anhui province and Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. The data on epidemiological characteristics including smoking status, physical examination were collected using standardized protocol, and carotid ultrasonography was applied to examine the incidence of carotid plaque among never smokers, former smokers and current smokers. Logistic regress analysis was performed to determine the effect of smoking on carotid plaque.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the study, a total of 625 male participants were included in the study. 51.4% (321 cases) were current smokers, 21.3% (133 cases) were former smokers, and 27.4% (171 cases) were never smokers. 32.0% (200/625) had carotid plaque. The incidence of carotid plaques was significantly higher in current smokers (35.2%, 113/321) than that in never smokers(23.4%,40/171) (χ(2) = 7.26, P = 0.007) and the incidence in former smokers (35.3%, 47/133) was also higher than that in never smokers (23.4%, 40/171) (χ(2) = 5.23, P = 0.022). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that current cigarette smoking is significantly associated with the increased risk of carotid plaque (OR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.13-2.98, P = 0.014) in comparison with never smokers, and there was an interaction between current smoking and age in association with carotid plaque. Compared with the young (≤60 years old) and never smoking group (8%, 3/40), prevalence of carotid plaque among the elderly (>70 years old) and smoking group (55%, 31/56) was significantly higher (OR = 8.06, 95% CI: 2.07-31.45) after adjusting for age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride high-density lipoprotein, body mass index, drinking and regional differences.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It found that cigarette smoking was associated with increased risk of carotid plaque in rural elderly population residing in Eastern part of China.</p>

Study on activities of daily living and its related factors in the elderly in two cities of Anhui province / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective In order to assess the activities of daily living (ADL) in the elderly and its related factors. Methods 3 198 elderly people in cities of Hefei and Tongling in Anhui Province were selected by cluster sampling and random sampling method. The damage of PADL and IADL among the elderly were investigated. The main influencing factors related to the damage of PADL and IADL was analyzed by single and multiple variable logistic regression model. Results The rates for loss of independence of PADL and IADL in the elderly were found to be 7.2% and 20.9%, and were higher in women than in men. The number of those people losing independence of PADL and IADL grew increasingly with age. Multiple factor analysis showed that deterioration of ADL was found to be largely associated with age, sex, education level, chronic disease, lower income and not being engaged in working. Conclusions The prevalence of disability in PADL and IADL of the elderly increased rapidly with age and that in ADL was higher for women than for men, and was higher for PADL than for IADL. Healthy status of the elderly people should be paid special attention to.