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Objectives: This retrospective study evaluated epidemiological trends in childhood tuberculosis (TB), and examined whether or not universal vaccination should be retained in Taipei City. Study design: Data of all recorded cases of TB among children from 2001 to 2005 were obtained from the TB Registry Database. Methods: The trend in TB incidence among children was analysed. Tuberculin skin tests were also performed to estimate the prevalence and annual risk of TB infection in second-grade school children. Results: The average annual incidence of meningeal TB in children aged 0-4 years was 0.76 per 10 million general population for the previous 5 years. Among cases of pulmonary TB, smear-positive rates increased from 17.88 to 18.54 per 100,000 population during the study period. In second-grade children, the annual risk of TB infection was 1.01g in 2005, with an increasing trend over the study period. Conclusions: The findings indicate that one of the criteria established by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease to discontinue universal BCG vaccination has been met in Taipei. Despite this favourable condition, considering that the sputum-smear-positive rates were as high as 20.11 per 100,000 population, universal BCG vaccination should be retained until the risk of exposure decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health-promoting lifestyles of adolescents are closely related to their current and subsequent health status. However, few studies in mainland China have examined health-promoting behaviors among university students, notwithstanding the dramatic development of higher education over the past two decades. Moreover, no study has applied a standardized scale to such an investigation. The adolescent health promotion (AHP) scale has been developed and is commonly used for measuring adolescent health-promoting lifestyles in Taiwan. The aim of this study is to determine the appropriateness of the AHP for use in mainland China. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on a total of 420 undergraduates, who were randomly selected using a two-stage stratified sampling method in a university in Guangzhou city, mainland China. The simplified Chinese version of the AHP scale, comprising six dimensions (Nutrition behavior, Social support, Life-appreciation, Exercise behavior, Health-responsibility and Stress-management), was used to measure health-promoting lifestyles among undergraduates. The reliability of the AHP scale was assessed using split-half reliability coefficients, intraclass correlation coefficients and Cronbach's α coefficient. Validity was assessed by factor analysis and correlation analysis. Factors associated with health-promoting lifestyles were identified using multiple linear regression. Results: Cronbach's coefficients were greater than 0.7 in all dimensions of the AHP scale except for Nutrition behavior (0.684). Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.689 to 0.921. Splithalf reliability coefficients were higher than 0.7 in three AHP dimensions (Social support, Life-appreciation and Exercise behavior). Our results were generally in accordance with the theoretical construction of the AHP scale. The mean score for each of the six dimensions was lower than 70. Gender and grade were the factors primarily associated with health-promoting lifestyles among undergraduates. Conclusion: The AHP is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing health-promoting lifestyles of undergraduates in mainland China, which remain at a low level. Health behavior education taking account of gender and grade differences may also be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]