Women in Nepal

IDRC personnel. Address on the social status and legal status of women in Nepal - discusses the role of religion in defining the status of Nepalese women, political participation of women, and the status of women in marriage and the family

Need for national urban strategy in the Philippines

Meeting: SEADAG Urban Development Panel Seminar on Planning for Urbanization Within National Development Planning in Southeast Asia, 4-7 Jan. 1972, Manila, P

The development of \u27Hong Kong quality of life for the visually impaired elderly scale\u27 (HKQoLVIES) : research report

The project is a pioneer study that focuses on the development of a set of indicators for measuring the quality of life of the visually impaired elders in Hong Kong with the cooperation of Hong Kong Society for the Blind (HKSB). The study simulated the procedures for the development of WHOQoL and have developed and validated the new scale that contains a total of 43 items which grouped into 6 domains, namely, Health, Subjective Well-being, Family and Community Support, Living Condition, Finance and Interpersonal Relationship. The study also marked the first taking of HKQoLVIES, which will serve as the benchmark for comparison of future takings that allows policy makers, service chiefs and frontline workers serving the visually impaired elders in general to closely monitor the subjective ratings of different aspects of life of visually impaired elders as a result of government and service units\u27 provisions and services. It is hoped that the study and the adoption of the captioned scale will help to create a sensitivity that links QoL with social services and government\u27s provision that targets people with special needs, to serve as an outcome indicator of services for improvement and to establish territory-wide visually impaired elders\u27 quality of life index for a better society of aged people

Socioeconomic Costs of Overweight and Obesity in Korean Adults

This study was conducted to estimate the socioeconomic costs of overweight and obesity in a sample of Korean adults aged 20 yr and older in 2005. The socioeconomic costs of overweight and obesity include direct costs (inpatient care, outpatient care and medication) and indirect costs (loss of productivity due to premature deaths and inpatient care, time costs, traffic costs and nursing fees). Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, ischemic heart disease, stroke, colon cancer and osteoarthritis were selected as obesity-related diseases. The population attributable fraction (PAF) of obesity was calculated from national representative data of Korea such as the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) cohort data and the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data. Direct costs of overweight and obesity were estimated at approximately U$1,081 million equivalent (men: U$497 million, women: U$584 million) and indirect costs were estimated at approximately U$706 million (men: U$527 million, women: U$178 million). The estimated total socioeconomic costs of overweight and obesity were approximately U$1,787 million (men: U$1,081 million, women: U$706 million). These total costs represented about 0.22% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 3.7% of the national health care expenditures in 2005. We found the socioeconomic costs of overweight and obesity in Korean adults aged 20 yr and older are substantial. In order to control the socioeconomic burden attributable to overweight and obesity, effective national strategies for prevention and management of obesity should be established and implemented

香港視障長者生活質素調査 : 應用手冊

隨著社會的發展，社會大眾對生活的要求亦日益提高。人們並不滿足於基本的生活程度，而是追求舒適的生活環境，高質素的服務，對身體狀況亦更加關注。 在90年代中期開始，香港的學者開始研究「生活質素」這個課題，並發展出一些適合香港使用的「生活質素」量度工具。社會上不同群體對生活質素的界定及期望，可能和一般市民有所不同，要量度以致改善他們的生活質素，便需要特定的量度工具。 香港盲人輔導會於2008年委託嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心設計了一份有關視障長者生活質素的問卷，並成功訪問了580位55歲以上分別居住在社區及院舍的長者，以便了解他們的生活質素。 是次研究的目標為： 1. 從香港視障長者的角度出發，發展一套量化及可量度視障長者生活質素的工具； 2. 為香港視障長者的生活質素提供一個研究上的參考基數； 3. 以視障長者生活質素量度工具作日後服務管理，為服務提供方向性的指引，並成為本地視障長者服務發展的參考。 本應用手冊將會以深入淺出的方法，向大家闡述如何利用這份「視障長者生活質素調查問卷」評估服務成效及作服務管理。https://commons.ln.edu.hk/apias_guide/1001/thumbnail.jp

Sex-related differences in presentation, treatment, and outcomes of Asian patients with atrial fibrillation: a report from the prospective APHRS-AF Registry.

We aimed to investigate the sex-related differences in the clinical course of patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) enrolled in the Asia-Pacific-Heart-Rhythm-Society Registry. Logistic regression was utilized to investigate the relationship between sex and oral anticoagulant, rhythm control strategies and the 1-year chance to maintain sinus rhythm. Cox-regression was utilized to assess the 1-year risk of all-cause, and cardiovascular death, thromboembolic events, acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, and major bleeding. In the whole cohort (4121 patients, 69 ± 12 years,34.3% female), females had different cardiovascular risk factors, clinical manifestations, and disease perceptions than men, with more advanced age (72 ± 11 vs 67 ± 12 years, p < 0.001) and dyslipidemia (36.7% vs 41.7%, p = 0.002). Coronary artery disease was more prevalent in males (21.1% vs 16.1%, p < 0.001) as well as the use of antiplatelet drugs. Females had a higher use of oral anticoagulant (84.9% vs 81.3%, p = 0.004) but this difference was non-significant after adjustment for confounders. On multivariable analyses, females were less often treated with rhythm control strategies (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.44,95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.38-0.51) and were less likely to maintain sinus rhythm (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.22-0.34) compared to males. Cox-regressions analysis showed no sex-related differences for the risk of death, cardiovascular, and bleeding. The clinical management of Asian AF patients should consider several sex-related differences

Public health in Thailand: Emerging focus on non‐communicable diseases

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86815/1/hpm1078.pd

Bear bile: dilemma of traditional medicinal use and animal protection

Bear bile has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. Modern investigations showed that it has a wide range of pharmacological actions with little toxicological side effect and the pure compounds have been used for curing hepatic and biliary disorders for decades. However, extensive consumption of bear bile made bears endangered species. In the 1980's, bear farming was established in China to extract bear bile from living bears with "Free-dripping Fistula Technique". Bear farming is extremely inhumane and many bears died of illness such as chronic infections and liver cancer. Efforts are now given by non-governmental organizations, mass media and Chinese government to end bear farming ultimately. At the same time, systematic research has to be done to find an alternative for bear bile. In this review, we focused on the literature, laboratory and clinical results related to bear bile and its substitutes or alternative in English and Chinese databases. We examined the substitutes or alternative of bear bile from three aspects: pure compounds derived from bear bile, biles from other animals and herbs from TCM. We then discussed the strategy for stopping the trading of bear bile and issues of bear bile related to potential alternative candidates, existing problems in alternative research and work to be done in the future

Second-hand smoke and chronic bronchitis in Taiwanese women: a health-care based study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cigarette smoking cannot fully explain the epidemiologic characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in women, particularly for those who rarely smoke, but COPD risk is not less than men. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure and chronic bronchitis in Taiwanese women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used Taiwan's National Health Insurance Bureau claims data in 1999, and cross-checked using criteria set by the American Thoracic Society; there were 33 women with chronic bronchitis, 182 with probable chronic bronchitis, and 205 with no chronic bronchitis during our interview time between 2000 and 2005. We measured second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure by self-reported measures (household users and duration of exposure), and validated this by measuring urinary cotinine levels of a subset subjects. Classification of chronic bronchitis was also based on spirometry defined according to the GOLD guidelines to get the severity of COPD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women who smoked and women who had been exposed to a lifetime of SHS were 24.81-fold (95% CI: 5.78-106.38) and 3.65-fold (95% CI: 1.19-11.26) more likely to have chronic bronchitis, respectively, than those who had not been exposed to SHS. In addition, there was a significant increasing trend between the severity of COPD and exposure years of SHS (<it>p </it>< 0.01). The population attributable risk percentages of chronic bronchitis for smokers and those exposed to SHS were 23.2 and 47.3% respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings indicate that, besides cigarette smoking, exposure to SHS is a major risk factor for chronic bronchitis in Taiwanese women.</p