The Philippines is experiencing a low but slowly growing prevalence of HIV, with a UN estimate of 6,000–11,000 cases out of a population of 91 million, and a 150% increase in new cases in 2008 compared to previous years. Earlier education programmes employed non-formal educational training techniques in the southern Philippines to target high-risk groups such as female sex workers and their establishment managers; the effort was expanded to target males in the community. In comparison, as of 2009, Taiwan has an estimated 40,000 cases of HIV/AIDS in a population of 23 million. It experienced a major increase in HIV infection among injecting drug users, from 77 newly reported cases in 2003 to 2,381 such cases in 2007. This article compares and contrasts the response to the epidemic in each country, describing non-formal educational programmes targeted and tailored to specific high-risk populations.

Abstract Background This study investigated the incidence and patient- and treatment-related risk factors related to pneumonia acquired during radiotherapy (PNRT) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Methods Using the universal insurance claims data, 15,894 total HNC patients between 1998 and 2007 were included in this analysis. PNRT was defined as the occurrence of pneumonia within 90 days of the commencement of radiotherapy. Information also included some demographic characteristics, treatment-related factors, and comorbidities. Appropriate statistical tests were performed to assess the difference between patients with and those without PNRT. A logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of PNRT among the variables examined. Results In total, 772 patients (4.86%) were identified with PNRT as the case group, whereas 15,122 subjects of the same cancer without PNRT formed the control group. Of patients with PNRT, 632 (81.9%) were hospitalized with a mean length of stay of 25.9 days. Results from the multiple logistic regression showed that an older age and certain comorbidities were associated with an increased risk of PNRT. Patients with cancer of the tongue, buccal mucosa, oropharynx, and hypopharynx/larynx were at particularly higher risk (OR = 1.28, 1.28, 1.67, and 1.74, respectively). Compared to radiotherapy alone, concurrent chemoradiotherapy had no effect on the PNRT. Patients in the PNRT group had higher overall medical costs and length of stay. Conclusion The incidence of PNRT in HNC patients receiving radiotherapy was approximately 5%. Notably, an older age, certain comorbidities, and certain specific tumor sites were associated with an increased risk.

Objective

This study sought to assess the effectiveness of a secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) prevention program based on an expanded Health Belief Model (HBM) incorporating self-efficacy among pregnant women in a hospital setting in Taiwan.

Methodology

This study utilized a two-group longitudinal randomized controlled trial design. Participants in the intervention group (n=50) enrolled in a SHS prevention program based on the HBM, while participants in the comparison group (n=50) received standard government-mandated counseling care. Both groups were given questionnaires as a pre-test, two weeks into the intervention, and one month following the conclusion of the intervention. The questionnaire and intervention were developed based on the understanding gained through a series of in-depth interviews and a focus-group conducted among pregnant women. Exhaled carbon monoxide was also measured and used as a proxy for SHS exposure.

Results

Intervention group scores were all significantly higher than comparison group scores (p<0.001), indicating a significant increase in knowledge, HBM scores, cues to action, self-efficacy, preventative behaviors, and a significant decrease in smoking exposure. These differences remained significant at the one-month follow-up assessment (p<0.001).

Conclusions

These results should encourage health professionals to educate pregnant women regarding the harms of SHS while both empowering and equipping them with the tools to confront their family members and effectively reduce their SHS exposure while promoting smoke-free social norms.

Background/purpose

Taiwan experienced a rapid surge in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among injection drug users (IDUs) from 2003 to 2005. The male-to-female ratio of HIV cases decreased from 20:1 in 2003 to 6:1 in 2006. This change is primarily due to increasing numbers of female injection drug users in Taiwan. Our primary objective was to identify the risk factors associated with HIV infection among incarcerated female drug users.

Methods

A case-control design involved recruitment of all eligible HIV-infected female inmates from all 24 prisons in Taiwan from November to December, 2007. Eligible HIV seronegative controls were chosen within the same prison and matched to the cases by age (within 3 years) and by history of illicit drug use. A subsample of these matches was randomly selected since there were many more eligible controls than HIV-infected cases. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was completed with assistance from trained research assistants.

Results

A total of 114 cases and 149 control participants were recruited, with a response rate of 82% and 54%. Injectable heroin use was significantly greater (p = 0.02) among HIV-infected cases (93.0%) than un-infected controls (84.6%). Compared to seronegative controls, HIV-infected cases were more likely to share drug paraphernalia and have drug-using sexual partners. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the number of imprisonments (between 2-5 times; OR = 5.23), sharing mainly dilutes (OR= 63.47), and sharing dilutes concurrently with needles (OR= 127.33) significantly predicted HIV seroconversion, after controlling for age and years of education.

Conclusion

Sharing needles/dilutes and practicing unsafe intercourse with drug-using sexual partners places female drug users at considerable risk.

The indigenous Austronesian minority of Taiwan is heavily affected by health disparities which may include suffering from a greater burden of the tobacco epidemic. While a lack of representative data has historically precluded an investigation of the differences in smoking between Taiwanese ethnicities, these data have recently become available through an annual population-based telephone survey conducted by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare (previously known as the Bureau of Health Promotion (BHP), Department of Health). We used the BHP monitoring data to observe the prevalence of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke exposure among indigenous and non-indigenous Taiwanese surrounding a tobacco welfare tax increase in 2006, investigate ethnic differences in smoking prevalence and environmental tobacco smoke exposure each year between 2005 and 2008, and perform multiple logistic regression to estimate measures of association between potential risk factors and smoking status. Despite significant ethnic and gender differences in smoking prevalence, smoking status was not found to be significantly associated with ethnicity after controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors.

Background/purpose

As a result of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic, the World Health Organization placed Taiwan on the travel alert list from May 21 to July 5, 2003. The aim of this study was to explore the post-crisis psychological distress among residents in Taiwan after the SARS epidemic.

Methods

The target population consisted of a nationwide representative sample of residents aged > or = 18 years. Data were collected using computer assisted telephone interview systems by stratified random sampling according to geographic area. The survey (n = 1278) was conducted in November 2003, about 4 months after resolution of the SARS crisis in Taiwan. The maximum deviation of sampling error at the 95% confidence level was +/- 2.74%. Psychological distress was measured by a question related to subject's changes in perception of life, plus the five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the correlation of psychological distress.

Results

About 9.2% of the participants reported that their perceptions of life became more pessimistic following the SARS crisis. The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 11.7%. Major predictors of higher levels of pessimism after the SARS epidemic included demographic factors, perception of SARS and preparedness, knowing people or having personal experiences of SARS-related discrimination, and individual worries and psychiatric morbidity. The correlates of symptomatic cases, as indicated by the five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale, included age > or = 50 years, senior high school graduate, and worries about recurrence of SARS.

Conclusion

Psychological distress was significantly correlated with demographic factors and perception regarding the SARS epidemic. It is suggested that marketing of mental health education should be segmented according to age and education level, which should enhance crisis communication for newly emerging infectious diseases among community populations.

This study set out to explore the relationship between female media use behavior and agreement with agenda-specific publicly promoted health messages. A random digit dial telephone cross-sectional survey was conducted using a nationally representative sample of female residents aged 25 and over. Respondents' agreement with health messages was measured by a six-item Health Information Scale (HIS). Data were analyzed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression. This survey achieved a response rate of 86% (n = 1074). In this study the longest duration of daily television news watching (OR = 2.32), high self-efficacy (OR = 1.56), and greater attention to medical and health news (OR = 5.41) were all correlates of greater agreement with the selected health messages. Surprisingly, Internet use was not significant in the final model. Many women that public health interventions need to be targeting are not receptive to health information that can be accessed through Internet searches. However, they may be more readily targeted by television campaigns. Agenda-specific public health campaigns aiming to empower women to serve as nodes of information transmission and achieve efficient trickle down through the family unit might do better to invest more heavily in television promotion.