METHODS: Articles were found in the Medline database using the key words "paediatrics", "urine screening", "proteinuria", "haematuria" and "population". The Asian countries which had carried out population-based urinary screening of the paediatric population included Taiwan, Japan and Korea. One study was found on urinary screening in a select population in Malaysia. Preliminary results of the urinary screening of school children in Singapore are presented and compared with the results found in the above-mentioned countries.
RESULTS: Overall, the proportion of children found to have urinary abnormalities ranged from less than 0.1% of the population screened to almost 50% of a select cohort referred from the screening programmes for the evaluation of urinary abnormalities. In the pilot Singapore school screening programme, the prevalence of clinically significant proteinuria was 1.25 per 1000 children screened. Multivariate analysis showed that low body weight was associated with a 1.8-fold greater risk for proteinuria. The major cause of haematuria and proteinuria in those studies where renal biopsies were performed was glomerulonephritis. The Taiwanese experience also showed a reduction in the incidence of end-stage renal failure diagnosed in children after the onset of urine screening.
CONCLUSION: These studies showed that urinary screening programmes in school children allow the early detection of disease. The cost-benefit ratio for specific populations should be determined before the implementation of such programmes.
METHODS: During 2012 to 2017, suspected thalassemia people were detected for common α- and β-thalassemia mutations by gap-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and reverse dot blot (RDB) analysis in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. One thousand and fifty-nine people with thalassemia mutations were analyzed retrospectively. We picked mutated individuals who originally came from northern areas, and conducted telephone follow-up survey in order to collect their ancestral information. Besides, we used "thalassemia", "mutation", and "Southeast Asian countries" as keywords to search the relevant studies in PubMed and Embase databases.
RESULTS: All carriers included in our study were resided in northern China. Among them, 17.3% were native northerners and 82.7% were immigrants from southern China. Although substantial difference was found in α- and β-thalassemia ratio and detailed spectrum of α- and β-globin mutation spectrum between our data and data obtained from a previous meta-analysis literature focused on southern China, the most common gene mutations were the same. Similar β-thalassemia mutation spectrum was found among Thai, Malaysian Chinese, and Guangdong people, however, no other similarities in gene profile were found between Chinese and other ethnic groups in Southeast Asia.
CONCLUSION: Chinese people in different areas had similar gene mutation, whereas they had significantly different mutation spectrums from other ethnic groups in Southeast Asia.
OBJECTIVES: The review objectives were to summarize the evidence on prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity within developing countries in Asia and to synthesise the best epidemiological association between the dietary patterns of children in the developing countries in Asia and their weight status in terms of obesity.
INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review considered any studies that included children under 18 years of age who live in developing countries in Asia.This review of epidemiological association considered any analytical observational studies (case-control studies, cohort studies and analytical cross-sectional studies).The focus was to summarise the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity within developing countries in Asia and synthesise the best available evidence on the relationship between dietary patterns as the exposure variable and childhood overweight and obesity as the outcome.
SEARCH STRATEGY: A three-step search strategy was utilised, with an initial limited search of MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE to identify search terms. A second search using all identified keywords and index terms was undertaken across all included databases. Thirdly, the reference list of all identified reports and articles were searched for additional studies. Additional electronic databases searched included: ProQuest, Web of Science, and Scopus. Each database was searched from inception to September 2011, with an English language restriction.
METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: All papers selected for retrieval were assessed independently by two reviewers using standardised critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute.
DATA COLLECTION: Data was extracted from included studies by two reviewers independently using an adapted version of the standardised data extraction form from the Joanna Briggs Institute.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Meta-analysis was not possible because of the heterogeneity of studies in terms of methodology, statistical analyses and outcomes. A narrative summary of results is provided.
RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the review. The prevalence rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Asian developing countries ranged from 5.1% to 19.9% with no specific trend in age or gender. Several significant but inconsistent statistical associations between dietary patterns and overweight/obesity in children and adolescents were found [high energy diet (OR: 1.80 95%CI 1.10 to 2.90, p<0.05 vs 0.80 95%CI 0.60 to 1.10, p>0.05), low intake of fruit and vegetables (OR: 2.34 95%CI 1.04 to 5.24, p<0.001; 2.00 95%CI 1.10 to 3.40, p<0.05 vs 1.33 95%CI 0.44 to 4.05, p>0.05; 0.70 95%CI 0.50 to 1.00, p>0.05), high meat consumption (RR: 2.40 95%CI 1.00 to 5.60, p<0.05 vs 1.70 95%CI 1.00 to 2.70, p>0.05), eating out (OR: 12.0 95%CI 7.7 to 18.7, p<0.001; 1.70 95%CI 1.04 to 2.90, p<0.05 vs 1.20 95%CI 0.60 to 2.40, p>0.05), fast food intake (OR: 1.50 95%CI 1.12 to 2.02, p<0.05), presence of snacking (OR: 2.34 95%CI 1.01 to 5.54, p=0.05; 1.26 95%CI 1.13 to 1.40, p<0.05 vs 0.80 95%CI 0.48 to 1.32,p=0.377; 0.60 95%CI 0.30 to 0.99, p<0.05; 0.60 95%CI 0.40 to 0.90, p<0.05) and drinking sugar sweetened beverages (OR: 1.60 95%CI 1.02 to 2.50, p<0.05; 1.70 95%CI 1.10 to 2.70, p<0.05 vs 0.93 95%CI 0.82 to 1.05, p>0.05)]. The key limitation was the heterogeneity of studies in terms of measures of dietary patterns and obesity standards.
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Asian developing countries ranged from 5.1% to 19.9% with no specific trend in age or gender. From the practice perspective, several significant yet inconsistent statistical associations between dietary patterns and childhood overweight/obesity in children and adolescents were found.This review highlights the need for clinicians to monitor the effects of dietary change on the weight and health status of children in Asian countries.There is a need for valid measures of dietary intake and use of standardised international cut-offs for overweight and obesity, and for future researchers to conduct prospective studies to determine the causal relationship between Asian children's dietary pattern and their weight status.
METHODS: We surveyed participants at the 2009 and 2013 Congresses of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Federation of Endocrine Societies by distributing questionnaires to attendees at registration.
RESULTS: Responses were obtained from 268 respondents in 2009 and 163 respondents in 2013. Similar to the high prevalence of low-risk thyroid cancer observed in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, across the Asia-Pacific countries surveyed in 2009 and 2013, 50 to 100% of the respondents from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, and Sri Lanka reported that more than 50% of the patients had low-risk thyroid cancer on follow-up. Importantly, there was much variation with regards to the perceived availability of investigation and treatment modalities.
CONCLUSION: We found a wide variation in clinicians' perception of availability of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in the face of a rise in thyroid cancer incidence and thyroid cancer management guidelines that emphasized their importance. The lack of availability of management tools and treatments will prove to be a major barrier to the implementation of thyroid cancer management guidelines in Southeast Asia, and likely in other parts of the world as well.
OBJECTIVES: This survey aimed to clarify the current status of palliative care in the Asia-Pacific region.
METHODS: Questionnaires were sent to a representative physician of each member country/region of the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN). The questionnaire examined palliative care service provision, information regarding physician certification in palliative care, the availability of essential drugs for palliative care listed by the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) and the regulation of opioid-prescribing practice.
RESULTS: Of the 14 member countries/regions of the APHN, 12 (86%) responded. Some form of specialist palliative care services had developed in all the responding countries/regions. Eight member countries/regions had physician certifications for palliative care. Most essential drugs for palliative care listed by the IAHPC were available, whereas hydromorphone, oxycodone and transmucosal fentanyl were unavailable in most countries/regions. Six member countries/regions required permission to prescribe and receive opioids.
CONCLUSIONS: The development of palliative care is in different stages across the surveyed countries/regions in the Asia-Pacific region. Data from this survey can be used as baseline data for monitoring the development of palliative care in this region.
METHODS: From December 1 to 31, 2022, an online survey was completed by 1990 healthcare professionals in Asia. The survey comprises demographics and institutional characteristics, basic sarcopenia-related details, and sarcopenia-related assessment and treatment details.
RESULTS: The mean respondent age was 44.2 ± 10.7 years, 36.4% of the respondents were women, and the mean years of experience in clinical practice were 19.0 ± 10.6 years. The percentages of respondents who were aware of the term "sarcopenia", its definition and the importance of its management were high, at 99.3%, 91.9%, and 97.2%, respectively. The percentages of respondents who had screened patients for, diagnosed patients with, and treated patients for sarcopenia were 42.4%, 42.9%, and 58.8%, respectively. Medical doctors had higher performance rates compared to allied health professionals (45.5% vs. 40.5% for screening, 56.8% vs. 34.5% for diagnosis, and 65.0% vs. 55.0% for treatment) (P
MATERIALS AND METHODS: SEA country-specific cancer incidence by tumor site for 2015, 2025 and 2035 was extracted from the GLOBOCAN database. We utilized the optimal radiotherapy utilization rate model by Wong et al. (2016) to calculate the optimal number of fractions for all tumor sites in each SEA country. The available machines (LINAC & Co-60) were extracted from the IAEA's Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC) from which the number of available fractions was calculated.
RESULTS: The incidence of cancers in SEA countries are expected to be 1.1 mil cases (2025) and 1.4 mil (2035) compared to 0.9 mil (2015). The number of radiotherapy fractions needed in 2025 and 2035 are 11.1 and 14.1 mil, respectively, compared to 7.6 mil in 2015. In 2015, the radiotherapy fulfillment rate (RFR; required fractions/available fractions) varied between countries with Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia are highest (RFR > 1.0 - available fractions > required fractions), whereas Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam have RFR