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Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on physical function and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in China. Method: A cross‐section survey was conducted in 21 general hospitals in China. Eight hundred and seven patients were recruited. Data on demographics, clinical data, physical function (Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index, HAQ‐DI) and HRQoL (Study Short Form 36 Health Survey, SF‐36) were collected on site. Results: In our cohort, physical function was impaired in 77.6% of patients (HAQ‐DI >0). The median (interquartile range, IQR) of HAQ‐DI was 0.750 (0.125, 1.500). Rated by HAQ‐DI 0‐1, >1‐2, and >2‐3, percentage of patients with mild, moderate and severe disability was 61.0%, 25.4%, and 13.6%, respectively. Older age, long disease duration, presence of extra‐articular manifestations, tender joint count (TJC), overall status (assessed by patient Global Visual Analogue Scale [G‐VAS] and physician G‐VAS) and lacking disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs were identified as predictive factors for worse physical function (P < .05). The composite scores of SF‐36 in the observed patients were: physical component summary 40.4 (IQR 27.4, 60.3), and mental component summary 49.0 (IQR 33.6, 70.9). Impaired physical health may be predicted by low income, presence of extra‐articular manifestations, TJC, patient G‐VAS and high HAQ‐DI. Predictors for suboptimal mental health were low income, physical labor, married status, increased swollen joint count (SJC), physician G‐VAS and high HAQ‐DI. Conclusion: Rheumatoid arthritis has profound effects on physical function and HRQoL in Chinese patients. Patients with identified predictive factors for poor outcome should be closely monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on the relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and the potential modifying factors are limited and inconsistent., Objective: To explore the relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and CVD risk, and potential modification effect factors., Method: A time series study was conducted on 52,991 hospital admissions for CVD from 2015 to 2019 in Xiangyang City, China. Air pollution data from four national fixed monitoring stations were collected to estimate exposure level in Xiangyang City. A quasi-Poisson generalized additive model incorporating a distributed lag nonlinear model was applied to evaluate the association between air pollution and CVD risk. The potential modification effect of sex, age, and season on the above associations was also evaluated., Results: CVD risk was positively associated with air pollution. Peak associations in single lag day structures were observed for particulate matter ≤10 μm in aerodynamic (PM 10 ; RR: 1.040, 95 % CI: 0.996-1.087), PM 2.5 (1.025, 1.004-1.045), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ; 1.074, 1.039-1.111), and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ; 1.079, 1.019-1.141) at Lag 0 and ozone (O 3 ; 1.018, 1.004-1.031) at Lag 4. In cumulative lag day structures, the highest RRs were 1.225 (1.079,1.392) for PM 10 at Lag 06, 1.054 (1.013, 1.098) for PM 2.5 at Lag 03, 1.200 (1.119, 1.287) for NO 2 at Lag 04, and 1.135 (1.025, 1.257) for SO 2 at Lag 02. Moreover, the association between air pollution and CVD risk was modified by sex and age (P < 0.05). Females and individuals aged ≤65 years were more vulnerable to NO 2 and had a higher CVD risk., Conclusion: Short-term exposure to air pollution was positively associated with CVD risk. Moreover, sex and age could modify the effect of air pollution on CVD risk. Females and individuals aged ≤65 years had a higher NO 2 exposure-induced CVD risk., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Liver transplantation can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in recipients, but the risk factors associated with PTSD in living donors are unknown. To investigate this progression in pediatric living donors, a cross-sectional investigation was carried out.All participants completed 2 questionnaires: a PTSD self-rating scale (PTSD-SS) and a validated Chinese version of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36). Clinical and demographic data were collected from medical records and self-report questionnaires. Univariate analysis was conducted to identify statistical differences.The prevalence of full PTSD (all symptom clusters) and partial PTSD (2 out of 3 symptom clusters) was 12.1% and 31.1%, respectively. Those with an educational status of elementary school (P = .001), who were donors to their children (P = .008), who were in the first 6 months after transplant (P < .001), or were involved in transplants where the recipients had severe complications (P = .02) were more likely to have higher PTSD-SS scores than other groups. The non-PTSD group had a higher health-related quality-of-life score compared with the full and partial PTSD groups in the domains of physical function, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, and mental health. In addition, the occurrence of PTSD was related to a poorer quality of life.The occurrence of PTSD was common in living donors after pediatric liver transplantation. Those with a lower educational status, who were donors to their children, were in the first 6 months after transplant, or were involved in transplants where the recipients had severe complications were most likely to experience PTSD. Post-traumatic stress symptom severity was significantly associated with a poorer quality of life after transplant.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of RA on work capacity and identify factors related to work capacity impairment in patients with RA., Methods: A cross-sectional multicentre study was performed in 21 tertiary care hospitals across China. A consecutive sample of 846 patients with RA was recruited, of which 589 patients of working age at disease onset constituted the study population. Information on the socio-demographic, clinical, working and financial conditions of the patients was collected. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with work capacity impairment., Results: The rate of work capacity impairment was 48.0% in RA patients with a mean disease duration of 60 months (interquartile range 14-134 months), including 11.7% leaving the labour force early, 33.6% working reduced hours and 2.7% changing job. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that reduced working hours was significantly related to current smoking [odds ratio (OR) 2.07 (95% CI 1.08, 3.97)], no insurance [OR 1.94 (95% CI 1.20, 3.12)], in manual labour [OR 2.66 (95% CI 1.68, 4.20)] and higher HAQ score [OR 2.22 (95% CI 1.36, 3.60)]. There was an association of current smoking [OR 3.75 (95% CI 1.54, 9.15)], in manual labour [OR 2.33 (95% CI 1.17, 4.64)], longer disease duration [OR 1.01 (95% CI 1.00, 1.01)] and lower BMI [OR 0.90 (95% CI 0.82, 0.99)] with leaving the labour force early., Conclusion: There is a substantial impact of RA on the work capacity of patients in China. Social-demographic, disease- and work-related factors are all associated with work capacity impairment., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)