Weiwei Gong

Background: The association between air pollutants and mortality from chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains to be further investigated. This study aims to examine the impact of air pollutant exposure on CKD mortality in individuals. Methods: This study utilized an individual-level, time-stratified case-crossover design to evaluate the association between short-term exposure to air pollutants (PM _2.5 , SO ₂ , O ₃ , and NO ₂ ) and mortality from CKD. The deceased population was identified from the mortality surveillance data of the Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. For each decedent, we collected air pollutant concentrations on the day of death (case day) and on matched control days within the same month. This design inherently controls confounding factors such as age, place of residence, and seasonality. Results: The study found that short-term exposure to all four air pollutants was associated with an increased risk of CKD mortality. The excess risk (ER) per interquartile range (IQR) increase in pollutant concentrations was evaluated across different lag periods. Using multi-day moving average lags (calculated as the mean exposure from the current day up to the specified preceding day), the most prominent ERs were observed for PM2.5 at lag02 (ER: 15.16%, 95% CI: 12.69–17.68), SO ₂ at lag03 (ER: 8.80%, 95% CI: 5.95–11.72), O ₃ at lag01 (ER: 5.67%, 95% CI: 2.07–9.39), and NO ₂ at lag03 (ER: 13.66%, 95% CI: 9.12–18.39). After adjusting for interactions with other pollutants, the associations for SO ₂ and PM _2.5 remained significant. Additionally, the study found that this association was influenced by factors such as marriage, and season (cold vs. warm). Conclusions: This study revealed a significant association between short-term exposure to air pollutants and CKD mortality in the population of Zhejiang Province. These findings provide novel evidence for understanding the impact of environmental factors on kidney disease and suggest a need for governmental authorities to enhance the monitoring and control of air pollution to mitigate the health burden on the elderly.

Although smoking is a well-established risk factor, lung cancer in never-smokers exhibits distinct epidemiological and biological characteristics. Globally, approximately two-thirds of lung cancer cases in never-smokers occur in females, with a higher prevalence observed in Asian populations. Understanding these epidemiological patterns and specific risk factors holds significant implications for informing effective prevention and control strategies. In addition, low-dose CT screening for never-smoking females remains controversial due to insufficient evidence to support its benefits and unresolved concerns about overdiagnosis. This review provides a comprehensive overview of lung cancer among never-smoking females, synthesizing current evidence on its epidemiology, risk factors, and screening practices, thereby elucidating the multifaceted nature of lung cancer in this population and highlighting its implications for prevention, risk stratification, and future research priorities.

Background: The number of empty nest elderly in China has gradually increased in recent years. There is growing concern about the physical and mental health of this population as empty nest elderly are commonly at the risk of compromising health, home safety and quality of life. This study reported the health and well-being of empty nest elderly with regards to their health status, depression and satisfaction, lifestyle as compared to non-empty nest elderly in China.Methods: Data was collected from the 2018 follow-up interviews of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey. We included 4,630 empty nest elderly and 6,188 non-empty nest elderly. Chi-square Test and Logistic Regression were used to compare the differences between these two groups.Results: As compared to the non-empty nest elderly, there was higher proportion of empty nest elderly who suffered from dyslipidemia, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, heart attack (27.0% vs. 25.0%; 16.6% vs. 15.1%; 19.4% vs. 16.4%; 26.3% vs. 23.4%, P < 0.05). The empty nest elderly had higher proportion of participants who drank more than once a month (25.3% vs. 23.9%, P < 0.05), who felt satisfied with their marriage (71.6% vs. 66.2%, P < 0.001), who were satisfied with their children’s relationship (85.2% vs. 83.2%, P < 0.001). However, these significances disappeared in the Logistic Regression analysis (P > 0.05).Conclusion: Our study showed that significant between-group difference was found between empty nest elderly and non-empty nest elderly in their health and wellbeing. However, disappearance of such difference in the multivariable analysis may indicate improved health and wellbeing among the empty nest elderly. Even though our study still suggested the importance of improving the health, lifestyles and family dynamics of the elderly and promoting the integration of health and social care for the elderly, especially among the empty nest elderly.

Background: Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening is effective in reducing lung cancer mortality in smokers; however, the evidence in nonsmokers is scarce. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the participant rate and effectiveness of one-off LDCT screening for lung cancer among smokers and nonsmokers. Methods: A population-based prospective cohort study was performed to enroll participants aged between 40 and 74 years from 2013 to 2019 from 4 cities in Zhejiang Province, China. Participants who were evaluated as having a high risk of lung cancer from an established risk score model were recommended to undergo LDCT screening. Follow-up outcomes were retrieved on June 30, 2020. The uptake rate of LDCT screening for evaluated high-risk participants and the detection rate of early-stage lung cancer (stage 0-I) were calculated. The lung cancer incidence, lung cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality were compared between the screened and nonscreened groups. Results: At baseline, 62.56% (18,818/30,079) of smokers and 6% (5483/91,455) of nonsmokers were identified as high risk (P<.001), of whom 41.9% (7885/18,818) and 66.31% (3636/5483) underwent LDCT screening (P<.001), respectively. After a median follow-up of 5.1 years, 1100 lung cancer cases and 456 all-cause death cases (116 lung cancer death cases) were traced. The proportion of early-stage lung cancer among smokers was 60.3% (173/287), which was lower than the proportion of 80.3% (476/593) among nonsmokers (P<.001). Among smokers, a higher proportion was found in the screened group (72/106, 67.9%) than the nonscreened group (56/114, 49.1%; P=.005), whereas no significance was found (42/44, 96% vs 10/12, 83%; P=.20) among nonsmokers. Compared with participants who were not screened, LDCT screening in smokers significantly increased lung cancer incidence (hazard ratio [HR] 1.39, 95% CI 1.09-1.76; P=.007) but reduced lung cancer mortality (HR 0.52, 95% CI 0.28-0.96; P=.04) and all-cause mortality (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.32-0.69; P<.001). Among nonsmokers, no significant results were found for lung cancer incidence (P=.06), all-cause mortality (P=.89), and lung cancer mortality (P=.17). Conclusions: LDCT screening effectively reduces lung cancer and all-cause mortality among high-risk smokers. Further efforts to define high-risk populations and explore adequate lung cancer screening modalities for nonsmokers are needed.

BACKGROUND Drowning is a serious public health problem worldwide. Previous epidemiological studies on the association between meteorological factors and drowning mainly focused on individual weather factors, and the combined effect of mixed exposure to multiple meteorological factors on drowning is unclear. OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate the combined effects of multiple meteorological factors on unintentional drowning mortality in China and to identify the important meteorological factors contributing to drowning mortality. METHODS Unintentional drowning death data (based on International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, codes W65-74) from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2018, were collected from the Disease Surveillance Points System for Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, and Jilin Provinces, China. Daily meteorological data, including daily mean temperature, relative humidity, sunlight duration, and rainfall in the same period were obtained from the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Science Data Center. We constructed a time-stratified case-crossover design and applied a generalized additive model to examine the effect of individual weather factors on drowning mortality, and then used quantile g-computation to estimate the joint effect of the mixed exposure to meteorological factors. RESULTS A total of 46,179 drowning deaths were reported in the 5 provinces in China from 2013 to 2018. In an effect analysis of individual exposure, we observed a positive effect for sunlight duration, a negative effect for relative humidity, and U-shaped associations for temperature and rainfall with drowning mortality. In a joint effect analysis of the above 4 meteorological factors, a 2.99% (95% CI 0.26%-5.80%) increase in drowning mortality was observed per quartile rise in exposure mixture. For the total population, sunlight duration was the most important weather factor for drowning mortality, with a 93.1% positive contribution to the overall effects, while rainfall was mainly a negative factor for drowning deaths (90.5%) and temperature and relative humidity contributed 6.9% and –9.5% to the overall effects, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This study found that mixed exposure to temperature, relative humidity, sunlight duration, and rainfall was positively associated with drowning mortality and that sunlight duration, rather than temperature, may be the most important meteorological factor for drowning mortality. These findings imply that it is necessary to incorporate sunshine hours and temperature into early warning systems for drowning prevention in the future.

BACKGROUND Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening is effective in reducing lung cancer mortality in smokers; however, the evidence in nonsmokers is scarce. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the participant rate and effectiveness of one-off LDCT screening for lung cancer among smokers and nonsmokers. METHODS A population-based prospective cohort study was performed to enroll participants aged between 40 and 74 years from 2013 to 2019 from 4 cities in Zhejiang Province, China. Participants who were evaluated as having a high risk of lung cancer from an established risk score model were recommended to undergo LDCT screening. Follow-up outcomes were retrieved on June 30, 2020. The uptake rate of LDCT screening for evaluated high-risk participants and the detection rate of early-stage lung cancer (stage 0-I) were calculated. The lung cancer incidence, lung cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality were compared between the screened and nonscreened groups. RESULTS At baseline, 62.56% (18,818/30,079) of smokers and 6% (5483/91,455) of nonsmokers were identified as high risk (P<.001), of whom 41.9% (7885/18,818) and 66.31% (3636/5483) underwent LDCT screening (P<.001), respectively. After a median follow-up of 5.1 years, 1100 lung cancer cases and 456 all-cause death cases (116 lung cancer death cases) were traced. The proportion of early-stage lung cancer among smokers was 60.3% (173/287), which was lower than the proportion of 80.3% (476/593) among nonsmokers (P<.001). Among smokers, a higher proportion was found in the screened group (72/106, 67.9%) than the nonscreened group (56/114, 49.1%; P=.005), whereas no significance was found (42/44, 96% vs 10/12, 83%; P=.20) among nonsmokers. Compared with participants who were not screened, LDCT screening in smokers significantly increased lung cancer incidence (hazard ratio [HR] 1.39, 95% CI 1.09-1.76; P=.007) but reduced lung cancer mortality (HR 0.52, 95% CI 0.28-0.96; P=.04) and all-cause mortality (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.32-0.69; P<.001). Among nonsmokers, no significant results were found for lung cancer incidence (P=.06), all-cause mortality (P=.89), and lung cancer mortality (P=.17). CONCLUSIONS LDCT screening effectively reduces lung cancer and all-cause mortality among high-risk smokers. Further efforts to define high-risk populations and explore adequate lung cancer screening modalities for nonsmokers are needed.

Background: The Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in China. This study aimed to estimate the mortality risk attributable to the Spring Festival.Methods: Between 2013 and 2017, daily meteorological, air pollution, and mortality data were collected from 285 locations in China. The Spring Festival was divided into three periods: pre-Spring Festival (16 days before Lunar New Year's Eve), mid-Spring Festival (16 days from Lunar New Year's Eve to Lantern Festival), and post-Spring Festival (16 days after Lantern Festival). The mortality risk attributed to the Spring Festival in each location was first evaluated using a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM), and then it was pooled using a meta-analysis model.Results: We observed a dip/rise mortality pattern during the Spring Festival. Pre-Spring Festival was significantly associated with decreased mortality risk (ER: −1.58%, 95%CI: −3.09% to −0.05%), and mid-Spring Festival was unrelated to mortality risks, while post-Spring Festival was significantly associated with increased mortality risk (ER: 3.63%, 95%CI: 2.15–5.12%). Overall, a 48-day Spring Festival period was associated with a 2.11% (95%CI: 0.91–3.33%) increased mortality. We also found that the elderly aged over 64 years old, women, people with cardiovascular disease (CVD), and people living in urban areas were more vulnerable to the Spring Festival.Conclusion: Our study found that the Spring Festival significantly increased the mortality risk in China. These findings suggest that it is necessary to develop clinical and public health policies to alleviate the mortality burden associated with the Spring Festival.