Changing trend in demographic characteristics of voluntary blood donors in Shandong, China / 中国输血杂志

【Objective】 To analyze the changes in demographic profile of voluntary blood donors from 2012 to 2019 in Shandong, so as to provide scientific basis for establishing effective recruitment strategy and promoting sustainable development of voluntary blood donation. 【Methods】 The demographic information of voluntary blood donors was obtained via the Shandong Blood Management Information System. The gender, age, occupation and education level of blood donors were descriptively analyzed. High socioeconomic status (SES) and low SES districts were defined according to GDP per capita, and the demographic characteristics of blood donors in the two districts were compared. 【Results】 The proportion of blood donors with a bachelor degree or above increased from 14.28% in 2012 to 20.81% in 2019, showing a significant increase in education level (P<0.01). The proportion of college students and medical staff increased from 14.82% and 2.36% in 2012 to 19.19% and 3.73% in 2019, respectively (P<0.01); the proportion of blood donors aged 26~35 years decreased by 8.82%, and those aged 46~60 years increased by 10.86% (P<0.01). The proportion of blood donors aged 18~25 years increased from 30.72% to 38.12% in high SES district, and decreased from 22.77% to 13.04% in low SES district. 【Conclusion】 The demographic profile of voluntary blood donors in Shandong showed significant changes during the past 8 years ( from 2012 to 2019), which may also exist in other areas in China. It is necessary to improve the recruitment strategies according to those changes, thus promot the sustainable and healthy development of voluntary blood donation.

Impact of comorbidities in mexican SARS-COV-2-positive patients: a retrospective analysis in a national cohort

ABSTRACT Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak is a significant challenge for health-care systems around the world. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the impact of comorbidities on the case fatality rate (CFR) and the development of adverse events in patients positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the Mexican population. Materials and methods: We analyzed the data from 13,842 laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients in Mexico between January 1, 2020, and April 25, 2020. We investigated the risk of death and the development of adverse events (hospitalization, pneumonia, orotracheal intubation, and intensive care unit [ICU] admission), comparing the number of comorbidities of each patient. Results: The patient mean age was 46.6 ± 15.6 years, 42.3% (n = 5853) of the cases were women, 38.8% of patients were hospitalized, 4.4% were intubated, 29.6% developed pneumonia, and 4.4% had critical illness. The CFR was 9.4%. The risk of hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.7-3.7), pneumonia (OR = 3.02, 95% CI: 2.6-3.5), ICU admission (OR = 2, 95% CI: 1.5-2.7), and CFR (hazard ratio = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.9-4.2) was higher in patients with three or more comorbidities than in patients with 1, 2, or with no comorbidities. Conclusions: The number of comorbidities may be a determining factor in the clinical course and its outcomes in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients.

The Prevalence and Demographic Characteristics of Anterior Polar Cataract in a Hospital-Based Study in Korea

PURPOSE: Anterior Polar Cataract (APC) develops by a mechanism different from that of other age-related cataracts, and outside of Korea, it is an extremely rare condition. We investigated the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of APC in Koreans. METHODS: The evaluation on the prevalence of APC in comparison to the other age-related cataracts was performed on the 2,108 cataract patients who were treated at 5 different areas in Korea from August 2003 to December 2003. The demographic characteristics of APC were studied on the, 656 cataract patients who were treated from January 2004 to January 2005 at one hospital. These patients were classified according to the type of lens opacity (nuclear, cortical, posterior subcapsular, mixed and APC). RESULTS: The prevalence of patients with APC among all the cataract patients was 6.02% during the 5 months in this hospital-based study. Eighty-seven per cent of patients with APC were male. In contrast, the proportion of female was greater than 50% in the other cataracts. The mean age of APC patients was 52.7 years. Among the APC patients, 38.9% were under 50 years of age, 42.6% in their 50s, 14.8% in their 60s, and 3.7% were in their 70s. However, 80% of patients were over the age of 60 years in nuclear, cortical, and mixed-type cataracts. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of APC among all cataracts was high in comparision with another country. The proportion of APC was high in individuals younger than 60 years of age, and in males.

Demographic characteristics of standardized patients (SPs) and their satisfaction and burdensome in Japan: The first report of a nationwide survey / 医学教育

SPs have made a dramatic development in medical education over 10 years, due to the influence of medical education curriculum reform and the introduction of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination. However the quality of SPs' activities varies. In order to increase the quality it is necessary to analyze the psychological needs of SPs. The purpose of this survey is to explore SPs' personal characteristics and how they feel during their activities.<BR>1) In a nationwide survey of Japanese SPs, 332 SPs (62%) out of 532 responded.<BR>2) Sixty percent of SPs were between the ages of 50 and 69 years and the ratio of male to female SPs was 1: 4. The ratio of workers and non-workers was 1: 2.<BR>3) A qualitative analysis found that SP motivations were derived mainly from making a contribution to society and self-improvement. Ninety six percent of SPs were satisfied with being an SP, especially when they saw improvements in the students.<BR>4) However, 67% of SPs expressed difficulty with the three core skills of feedback, evaluation and performance.