ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo understand the current situation of tobacco use among rural adolescents in Sichuan Province and its influencing factors， to explore the relationship between smoking behavior and psychosocial influencing factors of rural adolescents in Sichuan Province， and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of smoking among rural adolescents. MethodsAn "Adolescent Health Questionnaire" was used as the survey tool to investigate 2 671 students in the 8th and 11th grades of two township middle schools in Zizhong County， Sichuan Province. The structural equation model in Mplus 7.0 was used to analyze the relationship between adolescent tobacco use behavior， mental health， and life satisfaction. ResultsAmong the surveyed adolescents， 28.3% （756/2 671） had tried tobacco products， and 9.5% （255/2 671） had used tobacco products in the past 30 days. The prevalence of tobacco use was higher among boys （16.6%） than girls （3.5%）， and among 11th grade students （21.9%） compared to 8th grade students （7.3%）， with statistically significant differences （χ2=131.99 and 4.24， both P<0.05）. The current tobacco use rate increased with the increase in monthly allowance （χ2=46.96， P<0.05）. The structural equation model of smoking behavior showed that mental health had a positive and direct impact on smoking behavior， and an indirect impact on smoking behavior through living environment satisfaction. Living environment satisfaction had a negative and direct impact on smoking behavior with the mediating effect accounting for 19.2% of the total effect. The non-standardized mediating effect of mental health on smoking behavior through life environment satisfaction and its 95%CI were 0.007 （0.002‒0.012）. ConclusionAdolescent smoking behavior is a complex psychosocial behavior， and the situation of adolescent tobacco use in rural areas in Sichuan is severe. There is a correlation between adolescent tobacco use behavior and psychosocial influencing factors. Psychosocial influencing factors can predict adolescents’ tobacco use behavior. Attention should be paid to the important role of psychosocial influencing factors when intervening in rural adolescents’ smoking behavior.
ABSTRACT
Objective To learn the relationship and operating mechanism between medical staff's loyalty and patient satisfaction.Methods Medical staff and inpatients of a tertiary hospital in Nanjing were sampled at a 1:2 ratio for study,with 840 questionnaires released and 269 valid questionnaires recovered;medical staff service quality as perceived by inpatients served as the intermediate variable,with Mplus7.0 used to build a structural formula model for an empirical study of the relationship between staff loyalty and patient satisfaction.Results Staff loyalty exerts certain positive influence on patient satisfaction and staff service quality ( P direct effect value 0.143).Conclusions Structural formula model can reveal the relationship and extent of the influence of staff loyalty on patient satisfaction.This indicates that hospitals should enhance the loyalty,medical competence and communication skills of their medical staff for higher patient satisfaction.
ABSTRACT
Genome-wise association studies (GWASs) have become popular approaches to identify genetic variants associated with human biological traits. In this study, we applied Structural Equation Models (SEMs) in order to model complex relationships between genetic networks and traits as risk factors. SEMs allow us to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms through identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways that are associated with a set of traits and the relationship among them. For efficient SEM analysis for GWASs, we developed a procedure, comprised of four stages. In the first stage, we conducted single-SNP analysis using regression models, where age, sex, and recruited area were included as adjusting covariates. In the second stage, Fisher's combination test was conducted for each gene to detect significant genes using p-values obtained from the single-SNP analysis. In the third stage, Fisher's exact test was adopted to determine which biological pathways were enriched with significant SNPs. Finally, based on a pathway that was associated with the four traits in common, a SEM was fit to model a causal relationship among the genetic factors and traits. We applied our SEM model to GWAS data with four central obesity related traits: suprailiac and subscapular measures for upper body fat, BMI, and hypertension. Study subjects were collected from two Korean cohort regions. After quality control, 327,872 SNPs for 8842 individuals were included in the analysis. After comparing two SEMs, we concluded that suprailiac and subscapular measures may indirectly affect hypertension susceptibility by influencing BMI. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrates that SEMs provide a better understanding of biological mechanisms by identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways.