[Study on the situation of seat belt wearing among drivers and front-seat passengers of vehicles in Nanjing in 2005-2007].

OBJECTIVE: To find out the situation of seat belt wearing among drivers and passengers in Nanjing after the National Road Traffic Safety Law and its Ordinance had been issued for 3 years, in Jiangsu province. METHODS: Situation on seat belt wearing among drivers and front passengers on four types of vehicles including taxi, cars (below 8 seats), vans and pickups was studied during different time blocks at 4 sites in the city. RESULTS: A total number of 35 256 vehicles, their drivers and another 15 772 passengers sitting in the front, were observed. The prevalence rates of seat belt wearing, not wearing and pretend wearing among drivers were 49.9%, 44.1%, and 4.6% respectively while among front-seat passengers were 9.1% and 90.9% respectively. There were significantly declining trends in seat belt wearing among both drivers and front-seat passengers during the 3-years of observation, after adjustment by sex, types of vehicles and other factors (P < 0.01). Risk of not wearing among front seat passengers was higher for those 'not-wearing' drivers (OR = 8.10, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Neither the current law nor ordinance in Jiangsu province gives detailed regulations on seat belt wearing, which hampers the effective enforcement.

[Study on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among 35-74 year-olds in Jiangsu province].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in Jiangsu province, using IDF 2005 and ATP III 2005 definition. METHODS: Multistage cluster sampling method was used and the participants were interviewed by trained health workers under a structured questionnaire. The number of research subjects was 5888. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), blood lipids, body mass index, blood pressure (BP) of all sample population (5888 subjects) were measured. RESULTS: The prevalence of MS was 17.48% by IDF 2005 definition and 21.95% by ATP lII 2005 definition. Women had higher prevalence than men (P < 0.01). The prevalence of MS increased with age. Abrupt increase of the prevalence started at age of 50 in women. The prevalence varied by education, marital status, occupation and income. People from the urban and the south had a higher prevalence than from the rural and from the northern part of the country. The most common combination of MS individual components were 1) central obesity, dislipidemia and high BP; 2) central obesity, dislipidemia, high BP and high FPG. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of MS was high in Jiangsu province. Clustering of MS components was common. It is necessary to discuss the cut-off points of central obesity for the waist circumference diagnostic criteria of MS in Chinese population. The importance of prevention of MS should be strengthened both by health professionals and the government.