Association between occupational noise exposure and the risk of cardiovascular diseases / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective: To explore the association between occupational noise exposure and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in a large Chinese population. Methods: In December 2019, the study included 21412 retired participants from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort Study at baseline from September 2008 to June 2010, occupational noise exposure was evaluated through workplace noise level and/or the job titles. In a subsample of 8931 subjects, bilateral hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone mean of 25 dB or higher at 0.5, 1 , 2, and 4 kHz in both ears. Logistic regression models were used to explore the association of occupational noise exposure, bilateral hearing loss with 10-year CVD risk. Results: Compared with participants without occupational noise exposure, the 10-year CVD risk was significantly higher for noise exposure duration ≥20 years (OR=1.20, 95%CI:1.01-1.41 , P=0.001) after adjusting for potential confounders. In the sex-specific analysis, the association was only statistically significant in males (OR=2.34, 95%CI: 1.18-4.66, P<0.001) , but not in females (OR=1.15, 95%CI:0.97-1.37, P=0.153). In the subsample analyses, bilateral hearing loss, which was an indicator for exposure to loud noise, was also associated with a higher risk of 10-year CVD (OR= 1.17, 95% CI:1.05-1.44, P <0.001) , especially for participants who were males (OR =1.24, 95% CI:1.07-2.30, P<0.001) , aged equal and over 60 years old (OR=2.30, 95%CI: 1.84-2.88, P<0.001) , and exposed to occupational noise (OR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.02-2.70, P=0.001). Conclusion: Occupational noise exposure may be a risk factor for CVD.

Clinical study on long-term overall survival of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with Chinese medicine and Western medicine / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the prognostic influence on long-term overall survival (OS) from treatment with Chinese medicine (CM) and chemotherapy or targeted therapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 206 advanced NSCLC patients who were treated with CM and Western medicine in Beijing Cancer Hospital from April 1999 to July 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Long-term survivors were defined as OS ≥ 3 years after treatment with CM and chemotherapy. Twenty-eight patients had OS ≥ 3 years, 178 had OS < 3 years, and all clinical data were statistically analyzed with the Cox model. Variables were gender, age, smoking status, performance status (PS) score, pathological type, clinical stage, first-line chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and use of CM. Univariate survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank sequential inspection. Multivariate survival analysis was used to analyze the meaningful factors of univariate survival analysis with the Cox model.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The survival rate of patients with OS ≥ 3 years was 13.6% (28/206). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that PS score, clinical stage, disease control rate to first-line chemotherapy, and use of CM were independent factors of longterm OS (all <0.05). However, gender, age, smoking, and use of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitor were not significant (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PS score, clinical stage, disease control rate to first-line chemotherapy, and use of CM are probably independent prognostic factors for long-term OS in patients with advanced NSCLC.</p>