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Background: In recent years, neonatal hearing screening (NHS) has gained rapid traction in both developed and developing nations. However, the efficacy of these efforts depends on comprehensive standardization across all screening facets. This study aimed to assess the status and quality of NHS by investigating the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of hearing screening practitioners regarding NHS. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, and an online questionnaire based on the knowledge-attitude/belief (A/B)-practice model was distributed to all NHS practitioners in Luzhou, western China. Valid questionnaires were examined and uniformly graded. Results: A total of 63 valid questionnaires were collected. The practitioners were mainly female (96.83%), with nursing backgrounds (63.49%), and undergraduate degrees (66.67%). Most had ≤5 years of experience (74.60%) and had junior/intermediate titles (93.65%). The NHS within the Luzhou area started in 2006 with provincial institutions, expanding to 42 institutions by 2022. Statistically significant correlations were observed between the A/B score and the conducting years of each NHS institution (p <.05) as well as between the Knowledge (K) and Practice (P) scores (p <.01). No significant correlation was found between the K score, P score, A/B score, and working years of practitioners (p >.05), or in the total score of NHS institutions at different levels or in different counties by one-way ANOVA (p >.05). Conclusions: It has been 17 years since the first medical institution in Luzhou launched NHS, and the overall performance of practitioners from different institutions has been consistent in terms of their knowledge, attitudes, or level of practice. However, there is room for further improvement in both the professional development of individuals and aspects related to work, such as health education and long-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Whether an increased genetic risk of steatotic liver disease (SLD) can be offset by maintaining a healthy weight remains unknown. We aimed to clarify the associations among the body mass index (BMI) and its change patterns with SLD and assess whether genetic susceptibility can modify these associations in Chinese people. Methods: A total of 10,091 and 6124 participants from the Health Omics Preventive Examination (HOPE) Program were enrolled in cross-sectional and follow-up analyses, respectively. BMI change patterns were defined according to the BMI at baseline and the last follow-up visit. Genetic risk was estimated using the polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from variants in PNPLA3, TM6SF2, MBOAT7, and GCKR. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models and Cox proportional-hazards models. Results: The analyses of the BMI and genetic risk simultaneously showed a dose–response association with the risk of SLD (p-trend < 0.001). Significant interactions between BMI and PRS were found for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation (p = 0.007) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) elevation (p < 0.001). Weight loss led to a 71%, 60%, and 67% lower risk of SLD, ALT elevation, and AST elevation, compared with stable overweight/obesity. A significant interaction between the genetic risk and BMI change patterns in ALT elevation was observed (p = 0.008). The absolute risk reductions associated with weight loss were greater for participants at a high genetic risk (26.60, 12.29, and 9.31 per 100 person years for SLD, ALT elevation, and AST elevation, respectively). Conclusions: Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the liver injury risk among all individuals, and the risk reduction is greater among the subset with a high genetic risk of SLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It is difficult to detect acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss (ALHL) because of only low-frequency hearing loss and atypical early symptoms. The etiology of ALHL is still elusive, and psychosomatic factors influence deafness and tinnitus. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the correlation between psychosomatic factors and the incidence of ALHL to facilitate the prevention of ALHL. Methods: Patients with stuffy ears and tinnitus who were admitted to the Outpatient Clinic of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwestern Medical University (Luzhou, China) from July 2020 to May 2023 were identified in this retrospective study. The general data, hearing screening form, the Life Event Scale, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scale were employed to assess patients' hearing levels and stimuli of psychosomatic symptoms. Finally, the correlation among the stimuli of life events, sleep quality, and ALHL was statistically analyzed. Results: A total of 97 ALHL patients and 97 healthy participants were enrolled in the case group and control group, respectively. The two groups had no significant differences in general information (all p > 0.05). The amount of negative life event stimuli was significantly larger in ALHL patients than in the normal population (p = 0.000). Patients with ALHL had significantly poorer sleep quality than the healthy population (p = 0.000). There was a positive correlation between sleep quality and ALHL severity (250 Hz: r = 0.336, p = 0.001; 500 Hz: r = 0.299, p = 0.003), and a positive correlation between the stimuli of life events and sleep quality (r = 0.535, p = 0.000). Discussion: Sleep quality was found to be closely associated with the degree of hearing loss in ALHL patients, and there was also a strong correlation between sleep quality and the stimuli of life events. Therefore, psychosomatic factors may play an important role in the occurrence of ALHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological data is scarce regarding the association between exposure to mixtures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and liver injury in the general populace. The current research used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2009-2018). The PFAS exposure levels were defined by the serum concentrations of PFASs with > 70% detection in samples, namely perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDeA), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). Liver injury was assessed from two aspects: first, the degree of liver inflammation was determined based on serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamyltransferase (GGT), and total bilirubin (TBIL) levels; second, the degree of liver fibrosis was determined based on fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index. We assessed the associations between individual or total PFAS exposure and these outcomes using multivariable linear regression models and logistic regression models, restricted cubic splines, and weighted quantile sum regression. Among the samples of 7484 American adults, the median concentration of PFOS was the highest, followed by PFOA and PFHxS. Using multivariable linear regression, a positive correlation was observed between all PFASs and liver enzymes such as ALT, AST, and TBIL. Additionally, the weighted quantile sum model indicated an overall positive association between the five PFASs and liver injury indicators. For liver function biomarkers and liver fibrosis, PFNA and PFOS were the most heavily weighting chemicals, respectively. Our findings provide new epidemiological evidence indicating a potential association between PFAS exposure and adverse effects on liver injury biomarkers, highlighting the potentially harmful effects of PFAS exposure on liver health.