The impact of ethnicity on awareness and knowledge of and attitudes towards the human papillomavirus and vaccine among adult women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ethnicity affects awareness, knowledge, and attitudes regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine. METHODS: English speaking women (n = 172) aged 18 and older were recruited from an outpatient gynaecology clinic to complete a self-administered cross-sectional questionnaire that gathered information about (1) virus awareness and knowledge, (2) vaccine awareness and knowledge, (3) attitudes towards the vaccine and (4) participant demographics. Subjects received a virus knowledge score (0 to 6), a vaccine knowledge score (0 to 10) and an attitudes score (8 to 40), with a higher score indicating more positive attitudes towards the vaccine. RESULTS: Virus and vaccine awareness was significantly higher in Caucasian respondents than in non-Caucasian respondents: 93% versus 69% (P < 0.001) and 94% versus 64%, (P < 0.001), respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression model, the Caucasian ethnic group, higher education status, and greater number of years in Canada each emerged as independent predictors of vaccine awareness. Both virus and vaccine knowledge scores were significantly higher in Caucasian than non-Caucasian women: 4.6 versus 3.89 (P = 0.001) and 7.2 versus 6.4, (P = 0.042), respectively. Caucasian women had significantly higher (more positive) attitudes towards the vaccine than non-Caucasians (31.4 vs. 29.2, P = 0.021). Higher HPV vaccine knowledge was positively associated with an interest in vaccination (r(2) = 0.26, P < 0.01) and a more positive vaccine attitudes score (r(2) = 0.40, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Virus and vaccine awareness were both higher in Caucasian women than in non-Caucasian women. Improving HPV vaccination knowledge has the potential to improve attitudes and vaccine uptake.

Objectif : Déterminer si l'ethnicité affecte la sensibilisation au virus du papillome humain (VPH) et au vaccin anti-VPH, ainsi que les connaissances et les attitudes à leur égard. Méthodes : La participation de femmes d'expression anglaise (n = 172) de 18 ans ou plus a été sollicitée au sein d'une clinique externe de gynécologie; nous leur avons demandé de remplir un questionnaire transversal autoadministré visant la collecte de données au sujet (1) de la sensibilisation au virus et des connaissances à cet égard; (2) de la sensibilisation au vaccin et des connaissances à cet égard; (3) des attitudes envers le vaccin; et (4) des caractéristiques démographiques des participantes. Celles-ci se sont vu attribuer un score sur les connaissances au sujet du virus (de 0 à 6), un score sur les connaissances au sujet du vaccin (de 0 à 10) et un score sur les attitudes (de 8 à 40), l'obtention d'un score accru indiquant des attitudes plus positives à l'égard du vaccin. Résultats : La sensibilisation au virus et au vaccin était considérablement plus élevée chez les répondantes de race blanche que chez les répondantes d'autres origines ethniques : 93 % vs 69 % (P < 0,001) et 94 % vs 64 %, (P < 0,001), respectivement. Dans le cadre d'un modèle de régression logistique multivariée, le groupe ethnique de race blanche, un niveau de scolarité supérieur et un nombre supérieur d'années passées au Canada ont tous constitué des facteurs prédictifs indépendants de la sensibilisation au vaccin. Les scores sur les connaissances au sujet du virus et du vaccin ont tous deux été considérablement plus élevés chez les répondantes de race blanche que chez les répondantes d'autres origines ethniques : 4,6 vs 3,89 (P = 0,001) et 7,2 vs 6,4, (P = 0,042), respectivement. Les répondantes de race blanche ont obtenu des scores sur les attitudes considérablement plus élevés (attitudes plus positives) en ce qui concerne le vaccin que les répondantes d'autres origines ethniques (31,4 vs 29,2, P = 0,021). Le fait de disposer de plus vastes connaissances au sujet du vaccin anti-VPH a été positivement associé au fait de s'intéresser à la vaccination (r2 = 0,26, P < 0,01) et à l'obtention d'un score sur les attitudes à l'égard du vaccin plus positif (r2 = 0,40, P < 0,001). Conclusion : La sensibilisation au virus et au vaccin était plus élevée chez les répondantes de race blanche que chez les répondantes d'autres origines ethniques. L'amélioration des connaissances au sujet de la vaccination anti-VPH a le potentiel d'entraîner l'amélioration des attitudes et de la mesure dans laquelle le vaccin est utilisé.

Emerging combinatorial hormone therapies for the treatment of obesity and T2DM.

Peptide hormones and proteins control body weight and glucose homeostasis by engaging peripheral and central metabolic signalling pathways responsible for the maintenance of body weight and euglycaemia. The development of obesity, often in association with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), reflects a dysregulation of metabolic, anorectic and orexigenic pathways in multiple organs. Notably, therapeutic attempts to normalize body weight and glycaemia with single agents alone have generally been disappointing. The success of bariatric surgery, together with emerging data from preclinical studies, illustrates the rationale and feasibility of using two or more agonists, or single co-agonists, for the treatment of obesity and T2DM. Here, we review advances in the science of co-agonist therapy, and highlight promising areas and challenges in co-agonist development. We describe mechanisms of action for combinations of glucagon-like peptide 1, glucagon, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, gastrin, islet amyloid polypeptide and leptin, which enhance weight loss whilst preserving glucoregulatory efficacy in experimental models of obesity and T2DM. Although substantial progress has been achieved in preclinical studies, the putative success and safety of co-agonist therapy for the treatment of patients with obesity and T2DM remains uncertain and requires extensive additional clinical validation.

Surname lists to identify South Asian and Chinese ethnicity from secondary data in Ontario, Canada: a validation study.

BACKGROUND: Surname lists are useful for identifying cohorts of ethnic minority patients from secondary data sources. This study sought to develop and validate lists to identify people of South Asian and Chinese origin. METHODS: Comprehensive lists of South Asian and Chinese surnames were reviewed to identify those that uniquely belonged to the ethnic minority group. Surnames that were common in other populations, communities or ethnic groups were specifically excluded. These surname lists were applied to the Registered Persons Database, a registry of the health card numbers assigned to all residents of the Canadian province of Ontario, so that all residents were assigned to South Asian ethnicity, Chinese ethnicity or the General Population. Ethnic assignment was validated against self-identified ethnicity through linkage with responses to the Canadian Community Health Survey. RESULTS: The final surname lists included 9,950 South Asian surnames and 1,133 Chinese surnames. All 16,688,384 current and former residents of Ontario were assigned to South Asian ethnicity, Chinese ethnicity or the General Population based on their surnames. Among 69,859 respondents to the Canadian Community Health Survey, both lists performed extremely well when compared against self-identified ethnicity: positive predictive value was 89.3% for the South Asian list, and 91.9% for the Chinese list. Because surnames shared with other ethnic groups were deliberately excluded from the lists, sensitivity was lower (50.4% and 80.2%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These surname lists can be used to identify cohorts of people with South Asian and Chinese origins from secondary data sources with a high degree of accuracy. These cohorts could then be used in epidemiologic and health service research studies of populations with South Asian and Chinese origins.