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本文由林維祥醫師領導與執行，使用中華民國心臟學會心衰竭資料庫分析臺灣老年人收縮性心衰竭死亡風險的性別差異，再進一步分析在臺灣老年人急性心衰竭中存在之生理性別(sex)與社會性別(gender)的差異。本研究發現心衰竭病人的生理性別與社會性別相互交織會影響病程發展與醫師診斷，因此提供醫療照護時，應看見病人生理性別與社會性別交織的影響，而非以男女的生理性別為基礎進行診治。本研究為本土的性別醫學新知識，若能在各專科醫學課程增列類似的本土研究案例，必能提高醫師與醫學生的性別敏感度，增強性別醫學知識，提升醫療照護品質。 This study was conducted under the leadership of Dr. Wei-Shiang Lin. The heart failure database of the Taiwan Society of Cardiology provided the source data for the analysis of sex differences in the risk of dying from systolic heart failure in Taiwanese older adults, and the findings were used to further determine the sex and gender differences in Taiwanese older adults that developed acute heart failure. This study noted that the intertwining sex and gender concepts of patients with heart failure affected their disease development and diagnoses. Therefore, the provision of medical care should be based on the effect of a patient’s intertwining sex and gender concepts rather than the patient’s sex. This study has enriched the field of gender medicine in Taiwan. The addition of similar studies on local cases to the curricula of medical schools will improve the gender sensitivity of physicians and medical students, expand their knowledge in gender medicine, and enhance the quality of medical care. &nbsp

Feminist researchers have used social movement concepts such as the “velvet triangle,” mobilizing structures, and political opportunity to explain why national governments and international...

This study was to assess the microbiological quality of commercial ready-to-eat (RTE) food products sold in southern Taiwan. A total of 126 RTE food samples, including staple, meat, seafood, and vegetarian food products, were purchased from traditional markets, supermarkets, and warehouse stores. These foods were kept at refrigerator, room temperature, or hot stored at the time of sale. Aerobic plate count (APC), coliform, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated. APC in excess of 5 log CFU/g was obtained in traditional markets (27 samples), supermarkets (20 samples), and warehouse stores (15 samples). Seafood products were the most contaminated compared to staple products, meat products, or vegetarian foods. The highest incidence of APC greater than 5 log CFU/g was detected from food products stored at room temperature. Refrigerator stored food products were the second incidence, followed by hot kept food products. No significant differences were found for coliform and E. coli among the various markets or food types (p ＞ 0.05). RTE food products sold in the traditional market, supermarkets, and warehouse stores contaminated with S. aureus were 19.0%, 12.7%, and 9.5%, respectively. The percentage of samples over-contaminated with S. aureus was 15.9% (seafood), 9.5% (staple and meat products), and 6.3% (vegetarian food products). RTE food products stored at room temperature had the highest contamination of S. aureus, followed by refrigerator and hot stored food products (p ＜ 0.05).

Accurate identification of smoking behaviour is crucial to monitor the smoking rate. This study used urinary cotinine (UC) as a biomarker to verify the effectiveness of self-reported smoking behaviour among conscripts during recruit training. The influence of second-hand smoke (SHS) on the UC concentration was also analysed. A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2014 to December 2014. The participants comprised a total of 621 military service and basic military training conscripts. A self-administered questionnaire survey and a urine test were performed to verify the participants’ smoking behaviour. The UC concentration of 100 ng/mL was adopted as the baseline to identify smokers. A high level of consistency was observed between the conscripts’ self-reported results and the results validated by the UC concentrations (the overall kappa coefficient was 0.918). Moreover, the overall sensitivity and specificity were 92.9% and 98.1%, respectively. The sensitivity for the military service conscripts was significantly lower than that for the basic military training conscripts (86.1% vs. 97.5%, P-value = 0.002). For the self-reported nonsmokers among the military service conscripts, SHS exposure was related to their UC concentrations. The method of self-reporting through a questionnaire survey can serve as a tool to assess conscripts’ smoking behaviour.

Background Caregiver health is a crucial public health concern due to the increasing number of elderly people with disabilities. Elderly caregivers are more likely to have poorer health and be a care recipient than younger caregivers. The Taiwan government offers home-based long-term care (LTC) services to provide formal care and decrease the burden of caregivers. This study examined the effects of home-based LTC services on caregiver health according to caregiver age. Methods This cross-sectional study included a simple random sample of care recipients and their caregivers. The care recipients had used LTC services under the Ten-Year Long-Term Care Project (TLTCP) in Taiwan. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires from September 2012 to January 2013. The following variables were assessed for caregivers: health, sex, marital status, education level, relationship with care recipient, quality of relationship with care recipient, job, household monthly income, family income spent on caring for the care recipient (%) and caregiving period. Furthermore, the following factors were assessed for care recipients: age, sex, marital status, education level, living alone, number of family members living with the care recipient, quality of relationship with family and dependency level. The health of the caregivers and care recipients was measured using a self-rated question (self-rated health [SRH] was rated as very poor, poor, fair, good and very good). Results The study revealed that home nursing care was significantly associated with the health of caregivers aged 65 years or older; however, caregivers aged less than 65 who had used home nursing care, rehabilitation or respite care had poorer health than those who had not used these services. In addition, the following variables significantly improved the health of caregivers aged 65 years or older: caregiver employment, 20% or less of family income spent on caregiving than 81%–100% and higher care recipient health. The involvement of daughters-in-law, rather than spouses, and care recipient health were positively related to the health of caregivers aged less than 65 years. Conclusions The findings suggest that home-based LTC service use benefits the health of elderly caregivers. By contrast, home-based LTC service use may be negatively correlated with the health of the caregivers aged less than 65 years. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12955-017-0786-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

ObjectivesTo use the extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict smoking cessation counsellors’ intentions to offer smoking cessation support.DesignCross-sectional studySettingTaiwanese militaryParticipantsA survey of 432 smoking cessation counsellors was conducted in 2017.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAll participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that solicited information concerning demographics, smoking behaviour, self-rated suitability for being a counsellor, the knowledge and skills learnt from training courses and the TPB construct.ResultsThe factors of perceived behavioural control (β=0.590, pConclusionsTo encourage smoking cessation counsellors to offer cessation support to smokers, policies should aim to increase their perceived behavioural control, knowledge and self-rated suitability for being a counsellor.

Guanxi refers to personal ties between individuals as well as to an individual's whole network of personal relationships. Most studies of business guanxi have focused on how guanxi may be used to achieve business goals and little attention has been paid to the process of guanxi development. We examined this process in a particular context commonly believed to be important for building business relationships in Taiwan: hostess clubs. We used an indigenous psychological framework to conduct a qualitative study in order to fully capture the participants' own perspectives of these processes. The participants were 43 Taiwanese men (mean age = 38.5) with a range of occupations. The results highlight the psychological and social processes associated with building guanxi for business in hostess clubs. The main purpose of socializing was to bond with and test other men by demonstrating a facility with the social etiquette and exchanging mianzi (face) and renqing (favours). Most participants said that the practice was helpful to their jobs or was part of their job description. The implications for women of the results are discussed.

This study explores the role of the hostess club culture in the creation and maintenance of masculinity in Taiwan. The article focuses on flower drinking (the consumption of alcohol in bars, often integrated with prostitution), which is a common practice in Taiwan. Data were obtained from 58 in-depth interviews with men from a variety of occupations and social backgrounds (mean age = 38.50, SD = 11.00) and 73 questionnaires administered to soldiers (mean age = 21.00, SD = 1.10). Findings indicated that demonstration of skill at flower drinking and facility with the related social etiquette are important channels for male bonding that were central to the mid- to upper-class participants' professional development. Flower drinking also provided a method of discriminating men from other men through their choices of why and where to go and how to behave while there. Specific ways that Taiwanese masculinity differs from Western and from Japanese masculinity, and support for the continuing relevance of the traditional Confucian ideal of masculinity, wen-wu, are discussed.

Research regarding sex or gender difference in chronic pain proliferated in this decade. This study was to analyze gender difference in Taiwan patients receiving long-term opioids for chronic noncancer pain. An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted among the registered outpatients by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire, including the Taiwanese version of Brief Pain Inventory and enquiry regarding sexual activities, depressive symptoms, and misuse behaviors. In total, 68 female and 142 male patients were analyzed. Both pain intensity and daily function interference reduced comparably (around 50%) between women and men after taking opioids in the past 1 week. The opioid-related adverse effects, including constipation, decreased sexual desire and satisfaction, and misuse behaviors were not significantly different. Women were exceedingly diagnosed with depression (67.7% vs 49.3%, P = .012) and had a higher mean depressive symptom score in the past 1 month, especially among those age

Qualitative data from in-depth interviews were collected in 1990–1991, 1992, and 2000 with 49 prostituted juveniles remanded to two rehabilitation centers in Taiwan. These data are analyzed to explore Taiwanese prostituted juveniles' feelings about themselves and their work, their motivations for remaining in prostitution, and their difficulties leaving it. Text analysis of transcriptions of the interviews suggested that juveniles have four major motivations for remaining in prostitution: financial, emotional, drug, and identity-related factors. Analysis of interviews with juveniles working in confined prostitution suggested four stages of attitude change: resistance, development of interpersonal connections, self-injury and loss of hope, and acceptance of prostitution. Discussion includes comparison of motivations to remain in prostitution with reasons for entry, relation of findings to prostituted juveniles in other countries, and directions for future research.

This article explores the relationship between class and the gendered domestic division of labor by examining how the contribution by husbands to housework in dual-career families varies across the class system. The article uses data from the United States and Sweden. The findings indicate that location in the class structure is not a powerful or systematic determinant of variations in the division of labor across households.