Survival of HIV/AIDS patients treated under ART follow-up at the University hospital, northwest Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION@#The survival of HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is determined by a number of factors, including economic, demographic, behavioral, and institutional factors. Understanding the survival time and its trend is crucial to developing policies that will result in changes. The aim of this study was to compare the survival estimates of different subgroups and look into the predictors of HIV/AIDS patient survival.@*METHODS@#A retrospective cohort study of HIV/AIDS patients receiving ART at the University of Gondar teaching hospital was carried out. To compare the survival of various groups, a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify factors influencing HIV/AIDS patient survival rates.@*RESULTS@#In the current study, 5.91% of the 354 HIV/AIDS patients under ART follow-up were uncensored or died. Age (HR = 1.051) and lack of formal education (HR = 5.032) were associated with lower survival rate, whereas family size of one to two (HR = 0.167), three to four (HR = 0.120), no alcoholic consumption (HR = 0.294), no smoking and chat use (HR = 0.101), baseline weight (HR = 0.920), current weight (HR = 0.928), baseline CD4 cell count (HR = 0.990), baseline hemoglobin (HR = 0.800), and no TB diseases were associated with longer survival rate.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Fewer deaths were reported in a study area due to high patient adherence, compared to previous similar studies. Age, educational status, family size, alcohol consumption, tobacco and chat usage, baseline and current weight, baseline CD4 cell count, baseline hemoglobin, and tuberculosis (TB) diseases were all significant predictors of survival of HIV/AIDS patients.

Factors Associated with the Timing of First Sexual Intercourse Among College Students in Busan, Korea / 대한남성과학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to predict when college students in Korea have their first sexual intercourse and to explore the factors associated with the timing of first sexual intercourse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data are collected by using self-report survey toward total 797 of male and female college students who are currently attending the college in Busan, Korea. Students were divided by four groups according to their age of timing of first sexual intercourse, <16 years, between 16 to under 19, over 19 years and non-experienced. To examine the difference of four groups, Chi-square test and ANOVA (analysis of variance) were used. For estimation of the timing of first sexual intercourse we used Kaplan-Meier estimation and for differences of each group we used log-rank test. To identify the factors associated with the timing of first sexual intercourse we used Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: 41.4% of college students have experienced sexual intercourse. Of four groups the early sexual intercourse group (<16 years) had high rate of cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, drug use, open sexual attitude, and a high number of sex partner. The factors associated with the timing of first sexual intercourse among college students was identified male, open parents attitude about sex, pornography experiences, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking. CONCLUSIONS: This study predicts the timing of first sexual intercourse among college students in Korea. Early sexual debut is an important indicator for continued risk behavior regarding reproductive health.

Protein expressions of multi-gene for predicting the prognosis of early breast cancer with COX model analysis / 中国癌症杂志

Background and purpose:The prognosis in patients with early breast cancer(EBC) was poorly defined by clinical and histopathological features.There were more than 200 genes that might be correlated with development,progression,recurrence and prognosis of breast cancer in the published literature.This study evaluated the prognosis of patients with EBC at molecule level according to the protein expressions of 16 selecting genes(HER2,ER,PR,BCL2,Ki-67,BMYB,Cyclin B1,STK15,MMP11,BAG1,NM23,PTEN,P53,P27,VEGF,PCN A).Methods:The immunohistochemical method was used to detect the protein expressions of these genes in 76 patients with EBC and the statistical analysis was performed by COX proportional hazards model.Results:COX proportional hazard model revealed that BCL2,VEGF and STK15 were independent prognostic factors for patients with EBC.A formula of PI was set up according the three genes.The predictive outcomes with PI were compared with the actual follow-up outcomes in 48 patients with EBC.As a result,the predictive accuracy of good and bad prognosis was 86.67% and 91.67%,respectively.Conclusion:A formula of PI derived from protein expressions of the 16 genes correlated with breast cancer was ultimately set up and might be used to predict the outcomes of the patients with EBC.

The evaluation of Survivin protein expression for the prognosis of postoperative patients with hepatocellular carcinoma / 中国普通外科杂志

Objective To evaluate the correlation between the expression of Survivin、VEGF and MMP 2 and the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma Methods Expressions of Survivin、 VEGF and MMP 2 were detected by immunohistochemical S P method in 67 postoperative HCC cases Twelve candidate factors associated with long term survival were analyzed by Kaplan Meier Log rank estimation A multivariative Survival analysis of these individual variables was undertaken using the cumulative survival rate by the COX proportional hazards model Results A multivariative analysis determined three independent significant factors influencing overall cumulative survival including Survivin, VEGF, liver function (Child grade) The three prognostic factors predicted an increased risk of death from HCC Conclusion Survivin, VEGF, liver function, particularly the Child Pugh classification are the most significant prognostic factors for HCC patients undergoing hepatic resection

Therapeutic results and prognostic predictors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Cox regression analysis

Determining the current status of therapeutic results of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and identifying the important clinical predictors of survival and relapse are essential for establishing therapeutic strategies. Sixty-two children with ALL who were admitted to Chonnam University Hospital from January 1983 to June 1991 were studied. With a mean follow-up period of 53.7 months, the overall 5-year survival rate (5YSR) was 46.1%. The overall rate of 5-year event-free survival (EFS) was 25.4% and significantly differed between risk groups: 48.7% for standard, 16.3% for high, and 12.5% for very high (p<.05). Overall 4-year survival after initial relapse was 34.2% and there was no significant difference in survival between those who relapsed during maintenance therapy and those who relapsed after completing maintenance. The Cox proportional hazards model identified central nervous system (CNS) irradiation (P<0.001) as having the most important influence upon EFS, followed by serum alanine aminotransferase level, platelet level, and age. On the other hand, CNS leukemia at diagnosis, followed by mediastinal mass, and hemoglobin level were found to be the most important prognostic predictors for relapse. On the basis that present results differ from those of developed countries, we suggest the necessity of a nation-wide cohort study to delineate the characteristics of Korean ALL in children, to make our own protocols, and ultimately to improve the therapeutic outcome.