The adoption of hypertension reference framework: An investigation among primary care physicians of Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: The Hong Kong Government released a Reference Framework (RF-HT) for Hypertension Care for Adults in Primary Care Settings since 2010. No studies have evaluated its adoption by primary care physicians (PCPs) since its release. AIM: We aimed to evaluate the level of PCPs' adoption of the RF-HT and the potential barriers of its use in family practice. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study was conducted by a self-administered validated survey among all PCPs in Hong Kong through various means. METHODS: We assessed the level of and factors associated with its adoption by multivariate logistic regression modelling. RESULT: A total of 3,857 invitation episodes were sent to 2,297 PCPs in 2014-2015. We received 383 completed questionnaires. The average score of adoption was 3.43 out of 4.00, and 47.5% of PCPs highly adopted RF-HT in their daily consultations. Male practitioners (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.524, 95% CI = 0.290-0.948, p = 0.033) and PCPs of public sector (aOR = 0.524, 95% CI = 0.292-0.940, p = 0.030) were significantly less likely to adopt the RF-HT. PCPs with higher training completion or being academic fellow are more likely to adopt RF-HT than those who were "nil to basic training completion" (aOR = 0.479, 95% CI = 0.269-0.853, p = 0.012) or "higher trainee" (aOR = 0.302, 95% CI = 0.093-0.979, p = 0.046). Three most-supported suggestions on RF-HT improvement were simplification of RF-HT, provision of pocket version and promoting in patients. CONCLUSION: Among PCP respondents, the adoption level of the RF-HT was high. These findings also highlighted some factors associated with its adoption that could inform targeted interventions for enhancing its use in clinical practice.

Lower Relative Contribution of Positive Family History to Colorectal Cancer Risk with Increasing Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 9.28 Million Individuals.

OBJECTIVES: Existing algorithms predicting the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) assign a fixed score for family history of CRC. Whether the increased CRC risk attributed to family history of CRC was higher in younger patients remains inconclusive. We examined the risk of CRC associated with family history of CRC in first-degree relative (FDR) according to the age of index subjects (<40 vs. ≥40; <50 vs. ≥50; and <60 vs. ≥60 years). METHODS: Ovid Medline, EMBASE, and gray literature from the reference lists of all identified studies were searched from their inception to March 2017. We included case-control/cohort studies that investigated the relationship between family history of CRC in FDR and prevalence of CRC. Two reviewers independently selected articles according to the PRISMA guideline. A random effects meta-analysis pooled relative risks (RR). RESULTS: We analyzed 9.28 million subjects from 63 studies. A family history of CRC in FDR confers a higher risk of CRC (RR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.57-1.97, p < 0.001). This increased risk was higher in younger individuals (RR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.67-6.49 for <40 years versus RR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.24-1.62 for ≥40 years, p = 0.017; RR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.94-4.07 for <50 years versus RR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.28-1.69 for ≥50 years, p = 0.001). No publication bias was identified, and the findings are robust in subgroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in relative risk of CRC attributed to family history was found to be higher in younger individuals. Family history of CRC could be assigned a higher score for younger subjects in CRC risk prediction algorithms. Future studies should examine if such approach may improve their predictive capability.

Benefits and limitations of implementing Chronic Care Model (CCM) in primary care programs: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Chronic Care Model (CCM) has been developed to improve patients' health care by restructuring health systems in a multidimensional manner. This systematic review aims to summarize and analyse programs specifically designed and conducted for the fulfilment of multiple CCM components. We have focused on programs targeting diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. METHOD AND RESULTS: This review was based on a comprehensive literature search of articles in the PubMed database that reported clinical outcomes. We included a total of 25 eligible articles. Evidence of improvement in medical outcomes and the compliance of patients with medical treatment were reported in 18 and 14 studies, respectively. Two studies demonstrated a reduction of the medical burden in terms of health service utilization, and another two studies reported the effectiveness of the programs in reducing the risk of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. However, CCMs were still restricted by limited academic robustness and social constraints when they were implemented in primary care. Higher professional recognition, tighter system collaborations and increased financial support may be necessary to overcome the limitations of, and barriers to CCM implementation. CONCLUSION: This review has identified the benefits of implementing CCM, and recommended suggestions for the future development of CCM.

The global epidemiology of bladder cancer: a joinpoint regression analysis of its incidence and mortality trends and projection.

We tested the hypotheses that the global incidence of bladder cancer was increasing but its mortality was reducing and its incidence was positively correlated with country-specific socioeconomic development. We retrieved data on age-standardized incidence and mortality rates/100,000 from the GLOBOCAN database in 2012. Temporal patterns were examined for 39 countries from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents volumes I-X and other national registries. We evaluated the correlation between the incidence/mortality rates and Human Development Index (HDI)/ logarithmic values of Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP). The average annual percent change of the incidence and mortality rates in the most recent 10 years was examined by joinpoint regression analysis. The highest incidence rates were observed in Southern Europe, Western Europe and North America. The mortality rates were the highest in Western Asia and Northern Africa. The incidence was positively correlated with HDI (r = 0.66 [men]; r = 0.50 [women]) and to a lesser extent logarithmic values of GDP per capita (r = 0.60 [men]; r = 0.50 [women], all p < 0.01). Many European countries experienced incidence rise. A substantial mortality reduction was observed in most countries, yet increases in mortality rates were observed in the Philippines and Iceland. These findings identified countries where more preventive actions are required.

A modified colorectal screening score for prediction of advanced neoplasia: A prospective study of 5744 subjects.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: We validated a modified risk algorithm based on the Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening (APCS) score that included body mass index (BMI) for prediction of advanced neoplasia. METHODS: Among 5744 Chinese asymptomatic screening participants undergoing a colonoscopy in Hong Kong from 2008 to 2012, a random sample of 3829 participants acted as the derivation cohort. The odds ratios for significant risk factors identified by binary logistic regression analysis were used to build a scoring system ranging from 0 to 6, divided into "average risk" (AR): 0; "moderate risk" (MR): 1-2; and "high risk" (HR): 3-6. The other 1915 subjects formed a validation cohort, and the performance of the score was assessed. RESULTS: The prevalence of advanced neoplasia in the derivation and validation cohorts was 5.4% and 6.0%, respectively (P = 0.395). Old age, male gender, family history of colorectal cancer, smoking, and BMI were significant predictors in multivariate regression analysis. A BMI cut-off at > 23 kg/m2 had better predictive capability and lower number needed to screen than that of > 25 kg/m2 . Utilizing the score developed, 8.4%, 57.4%, and 34.2% in the validation cohort were categorized as AR, MR, and HR, respectively. The corresponding prevalence of advanced neoplasia was 3.8%, 4.3%, and 9.3%. Subjects in the HR group had 2.48-fold increased prevalence of advanced neoplasia than the AR group. The c-statistics of the modified score had better discriminatory capability than that using predictors of APCS alone (c-statistics = 0.65 vs 0.60). CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating BMI into the predictors of APCS score was found to improve risk prediction of advanced neoplasia and reduce colonoscopy resources.

Association between investigator-measured body-mass index and colorectal adenoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 168,201 subjects.

The objective of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the odds of colorectal adenoma (CRA) in colorectal cancer screening participants with different body mass index (BMI) levels, and examine if this association was different according to gender and ethnicity. The EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched to enroll high quality observational studies that examined the association between investigator-measured BMI and colonoscopy-diagnosed CRA. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the summary odds ratio (SOR) for the association between BMI and CRA. The Cochran's Q statistic and I2 analyses were used to assess the heterogeneity. A total of 17 studies (168,201 subjects) were included. When compared with subjects having BMI < 25, individuals with BMI 25-30 had significantly higher risk of CRA (SOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.30-1.61; I2 = 43.0%). Subjects with BMI ≥ 30 had similarly higher risk of CRA (SOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.24-1.63; I2 = 18.5%). The heterogeneity was mild to moderate among studies. The associations were significantly higher than estimates by previous meta-analyses. There was no publication bias detected (Egger's regression test, p = 0.584). Subgroup analysis showed that the magnitude of association was significantly higher in female than male subjects (SOR 1.43, 95% CI 1.30-1.58 vs. SOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.07-1.24; different among different ethnic groups (SOR 1.72, 1.44 and 0.88 in White, Asians and Africans, respectively) being insignificant in Africans; and no difference exists among different study designs. In summary, the risk conferred by BMI for CRA was significantly higher than that reported previously. These findings bear implications in CRA risk estimation.