• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권7호
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• pp.3129-3132
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• 2014

Aims: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several risk variants for prostate cancer (pCa) mainly in Europeans, which need to be further verified in other racial groups. We selected six previously identified variants as candidates and to define the association with PCa in Northern Han Chinese. Methods: 749 subjects from Beijing and Tianjin in Northern China were included. Six variants (rs10505474, rs7837328, rs4242384, rs7813, rs486907 and rs1058205) were genotyped by high resolution melting (HRM) assays. The individual and cumulative contribution for of the risk of PCa and clinical covariates were analyzed. Results: Among the six candidate variants, onlyrs10505474, and rs7837328, both locating at 8q24 region, were associated with PCa in our population.rs10505474 (A) was associated with PCa ($OR_{recessive}=1.56$, p=0.006); and rs7837328 (A) was associated with PCa ($OR_{dominant}=1.38$, p=0.042/$OR_{recessive}=1.99$, p=0.003). Moreover, we observed a cumulative effects between them ($p_{trend}=2.58{\times}10^{-5}$). The joint population attributable risk showed the two variants might account for 71.85% of PCa risk. In addition, we found the homozygotes of rs10505474 (A) and rs7837328 (A) were associated with PCa clinical covariants (age at onset, tumor stage, respectively) ($p_{age}=0.046$, $P_{tumorstage}=0.048$). Conclusion: rs10505474 (A) and rs7387328 (A) at 8q24 are associated with PCa and cumulatively confer risk, suggesting the two variations could determine susceptibility to PCa in the Northern Chinese Han population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권8호
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• pp.3477-3482
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• 2014

Objective: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of extra-intestinal cancer, whereas its impact on cholangiocarcinoma (CC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to obtain a reliable estimate of the risk of CC in IBD patients through a meta-analysis of clinical observational studies. Methods: Relevant studies were retrieved by searching PUBMED, EMBASE and Web of Science Databases up to Dec 2013. Four population-based case-control and two cohort studies with IBD were identified. Summary relative risk (RR) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model. Potential sources of heterogeneity were detected using subgroup analyses. Results: The pooled risk estimate indicated IBD patients were at increased risk of CC (RR = 2.63, 95%CI = 1.47-4.72). Moreover, the increased risk of CC was also associated with Crohn's disease (RR = 2.69, 95%CI = 1.59-4.55) and ulcerative colitis (RR = 3.40, 95%CI = 2.50-4.62). In addition, site-specific analyses revealed that IBD patients had an increased risk of intrahepatic CC (ICC) (RR = 2.61, 95%CI = 1.72-3.95) and extrahepatic CC (ECC) (RR = 1.47, 95%CI = 1.10-1.97). Conclusions: This study suggests the risk of CC is significantly increased among IBD patients, especially in ICC cases. Further studies are warranted to enable definite conclusions to be drawn.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.89-93
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• 2017

Background: Rates of overweight and obese Australians are high and continue to rise, putting a large proportion of the population at risk of chronic illness. Examining characteristics associated with preference for a work-based weight-loss program will enable employers to better target programs to increase enrolment and benefit employees' health and fitness for work. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at two Australian mining sites. The survey collected information on employee demographics, health characteristics, work characteristics, stages of behavior change, and preference for workplace assistance with reaching a healthy weight. Results: A total of 897 employees participated; 73.7% were male, and 68% had a body mass index in the overweight or obese range. Employees at risk of developing obesity-related chronic illnesses (based on high body mass index) were more likely to report preference for weight management assistance than lower risk employees. This indicates that, even in the absence of workplace promotion for weight management, some at risk employees want workplace assistance. Employees who were not aware of a need to change their current nutrition or physical activity behaviors were less likely to seek assistance. This indicates that practitioners need to communicate the negative effects of excess weight and promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to increase the likelihood of weight management. Conclusion: Weight management programs should provide information, motivation. and trouble-shooting assistance to meet the needs of at-risk mining employees, including those who are attempting to change and maintain behaviors to achieve a healthy weight and be suitably fit for work.

• 대한조현병학회지
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.65-70
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• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to explore whether common genetic variants that confer the risk of schizophrenia have similar effects between Korean and European ancestries using the polygenic risk score (PRS) analysis. Methods: Study subjects included 713 Korean patients with schizophrenia and 497 healthy controls. The Korea Biobank array was used for genotyping. Summary statistics of the most recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) of the European population were used as baseline data to calculate PRS. Logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between calculated PRS of European patients with schizophrenia and clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia in the Korean population. Results: Schizophrenia PRS was significantly higher in patients with schizophrenia than in healthy controls. The PRS at the p-value threshold of 0.5 best explained the variance of schizophrenia (R²=0.028, p=4.4×10^-6). The association was significant after adjusting for age and sex (odds ratio=1.34, 95% confidence interval=1.19-1.51, p=1.1×10^-6). The pattern of the association remained similar across different p-value thresholds (0.01-1). Conclusion: Schizophrenia PRS calculated using the European GWAS data showed a significant association with the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia in the Korean population. Results suggest overlapping genetic risk variants between the two populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권6호
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• pp.2991-2995
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• 2012

Background: India shows some of the highest rates of cervical cancer worldwide, and more than 70% of the population is living in rural villages. Prospective cohort studies to determine the risk factors for cervical cancer are very rare from low and medium resource countries. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of risk factors related to cervical cancer in a rural setting in South India. Material and methods: Sociodemographic and reproductive potential risk factors for cervical cancer were studied using the data from a cohort of 30,958 women who constituted the unscreened control group in a randomised screening trial in Dindigul district, Tamilnadu, India. The analysis was accomplished with the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: Women of increasing age (HR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.8 in 50-59 vs 30-39), having many pregnancies (HR=7.1; 1.0, 52 in 4+ vs 0) and no education (HR=0.6; 0.2, 0.7 in high vs none) were found to be at significantly increased risk of cervical cancer. Conclusion: This cohort study gives very strong evidence to say that education is the fundamental factor among the sociodemographic and reproductive determinants of cervical cancer in low resource settings. Public awareness through education and improvements in living standards can play an important role in reducing the high incidence of cervical cancer in India. These findings further stress the importance of formulating public health policies aimed at increasing awareness and implementation of cervical cancer screening programmes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권9호
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• pp.4301-4306
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• 2016

Background: Cancer is a burden on humanity and ranks as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in China. Shanxi province has its unique cancer patterns and the burden is increasing. In this study, we aimed to assess the pattern of dietary habits and life-style in Shanxi, a high-risk area for upper gastrointestinal cancers in China and further evaluate the trends in cancer incidence and mortality based on registered data. Materials and Methods: Data on lifestyle, diet, physical activity were obtained from the household health survey at Zhongyang from 2013 to 2015. Cancer diagnoses were reported to Shanxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention (SCDCP). Population-based cancer incidence data and mortality data of 2012 were collected from the SCDCP. All incidence and death rates were expressed per 100,000 populations. Univariate analysis was performed using the Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. Results: Overall, deficiencies in fresh fruits and vegetable food, and intake of hot food, salted food, or pickled food are serious problems in Shanxi, especially in rural areas. Upper gastrointestinal cancers were the most commonly diagnosed cancers, and the incidence in rural areas is higher than those in urban areas. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer for females. Moreover, the agespecific incidence exhibited an increased trend before 40 years old. Consistent with the previous literature, our epidemiological investigation results suggest that lifestyle, nutrition deficient, and infections were major risk factors for upper gastrointestinal cancers or cervical cancer in Shanxi. Facing a serious situation, we further explored defensible recommendations for the general public in order to promote changes in environments that support healthful eating and physical activity habits, to reduce cancer risk. Conclusions: Our results present the current cancer trends in Shanxi and its related etiologic risk factors and provide a theoretical basis to guide public health efforts to prevent and control cancers in the province.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.723-726
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• 2013

Background: Breast cancer is worldwide the most common cancer in women and is a major public health problem. Genes with high or low penetrance are now clearly implicated in the onset of breast cancer, mostly the BRCA genes. All women in families at high risk of breast cancer do not develop tumours, even when they carry the familial mutation, suggesting the existence of genetic and environmental protective factors. Several studies have shown that consanguinity is linked to a decreased or an increased risk of breast cancer, but to the best of our knowledge, there is no study concerning the association between consanguinity and the occurrence of tumours in women with high risk of breast cancer. The objective of this study was to examine whether parental consanguinity in families with genetic predisposition to breast cancer affect the risk of siblings for having this cancer. Materials and Methods: Over a six-year period, 72 different patients with a histological diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer from 42 families were recruited for genetic counselling to the Department of Medical Genetics, Rabat. Consanguinity rate was determined in cases and compared to the consanguinity rate in the Moroccan general population. Results: Consanguinity rates were 9.72% in patients and 15.3% in controls, but the difference was statistically not significant (p>0.001) and the mean coefficient of consanguinity was lower in breast cancer patients (0.0034) than in controls (0.0065). Conclusions: Despite the relatively small sample size of the current study, our results suggest that parental consanguinity in Moroccan women might not be associated with an altered risk of breast cancer. Large scale studies should be carried out to confirm our results and to develop public health programs.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.551-564
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• 2021

The use of clean energy based on the hydrogen economy is increasing rapidly due to the greenhouse gas reduction policies and the increase in the need for hydrogen. Currently, South Korea government have been considering a plan to construct hydrogen refueling stations at expressway service area for the purpose of supplying hydrogen vehicles. In the case of a hydrogen refueling stations, a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) must be performed because it includs and uses a high pressurized hydrogen storage tank. In this study, QRA was conducted using societal risk and F-N curve by the consequence assessment (CA) of jet fire and explosion according to the population density, capacity of the high pressurized hydrogen storage tank and frequency assessment (FA) data to the general hydrogen refueling stations systems in expressway service area. In the cases of jet with a leak diameter of 7.16 mm, regardless of expressway service area location, the societal risk was over 1E-04 that was acceptable for as Low As reasonably practicable (ALARP) region (workforce), but unacceptable for ALARP region (public). In the cases of gas explosion, all expressway service area satisfy ALARP region. In the case of the population density is over 0.0727, QRA for constructing the hydrogen refueling stations, must be conducted.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.272-278
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• 2023

Background: Some working conditions may pose a higher physical or psychological demand to pregnant women leading to increased risks of pregnancy complications. Objectives: We assessed the association of woman's employment status and the industrial classification with obstetric complications. Methods: We conducted a national population study using the National Health Information Service database of Republic of Korea. Our analysis encompassed 1,316,310 women who experienced first-order live births in 2010-2019. We collected data on the employment status and the industrial classification of women, as well as their diagnoses of preeclampsia (PE) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) classified as A1 (well controlled by diet) or A2 (requiring medication). We calculated odds ratios (aORs) of complications per employment, and each industrial classification was adjusted for individual risk factors. Results: Most (64.7%) were in employment during pregnancy. Manufacturing (16.4%) and the health and social (16.2%) work represented the most prevalent industries. The health and social work exhibited a higher risk of PE (aOR = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-1.21), while the manufacturing industry demonstrated a higher risk of class A2 GDM (1.20, 95% CI: 1.03-1.41) than financial intermediation. When analyzing both classes of GDM, women who worked in public administration and defense/social security showed higher risk of class A1 GDM (1.04, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.07). When comparing high-risk industries with nonemployment, the health and social work showed a comparable risk of PE (1.02, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.07). Conclusion: Employment was associated with overall lower risks of obstetric complications. Health and social service work can counteract the healthy worker effect in relation to PE. This highlights the importance of further elucidating specific occupational risk factors within the high-risk industries.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.380-388
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• 2022

Background: Emerging infectious diseases, such as Middle East respiratory syndrome or coronavirus disease 2019, pose a continuous threat to public health, making a risk assessment necessary for infectious disease control and prevention. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the risk assessment methods for infectious diseases used by major foreign countries and organizations. Methods: We conducted an investigation and comparative analysis of risk assessment and risk determination methods for infectious diseases. The risk assessment tools included the strategic toolkit for assessing risks, influenza risk assessment tool, pandemic severity assessment framework, and rapid risk assessment methodology. Results: The most frequently reported risk elements were disease severity, antiviral treatment, attack rate, population immunity, and basic productive ratio. The risk evaluation method was evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively by the stakeholders at each institution. Additionally, the final risk level was visualized in a matrix, framework, and x and y-axis. Conclusion: Considering the risk assessment tools, the risk element was classified based on the duplicate of each indicator, and risk evaluation and level of risk assessment were analyzed.