Objective To investigate the accurateness and rapidity of information on SARS , and to provide evidence for decision-making in the construction of the public health information system of China, including information collection, identification and release. Method SARS related information was systematically collected, from ① databases including Medline, CBMdisc and Cochrane Library; ② official websites including WHO, MOH and CDC; ③ non-governmental websites including Sina, Sohu, Yahoo; ④ eleven Chinese Journals and ⑤ gray literatures, These evidence were graded based on their scientific sense, and were analyzed according to their rapidity of release. Results A total of 11 955 pieces of related information were collected. Non-governmental websites were the agents that released the largest number of information (46.7%). Regarding the scientific sense of evidence, hand searched journal was at the top of the evidence pyramid, and followed by Medline, gray literature, CBMdisc, official and non-governmental websites. Regarding the rapidity, official website achieved the most rapid information release, which was followed by nongovernmental website, journal, and database. 71.8 percent of information from official websites was in Chinese, while 65 percent was from database. Conclusions The SARS information from China has contributed enormously to the global information release. Although the amount and rapidity of the information were satisfied, management and deep processing of information should be improved.
In order to help Chinese guideline developers, clinicians, health policy makers and other relevant researchers fully understand and make appropriate use of World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Chinese GRADE Center and Guidelines Review Committee of World Health Organization (WHO-GRC) have written a series of papers about development methods, review principles and the structure and content of WHO guidelines. This is the third (also last) paper which interpreted Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection and Guidelines for the Screening, Care and Treatment of Persons with Hepatitis C Infection as examples with the process and steps of WHO guideline development.
Objective To summarize and categorize the epidemiological evaluation indicators of disease burden, and to explore and analyze the research gaps in the existing evaluation indicators of disease burden. Methods The CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases were searched by computer to obtain qualitative studies on evaluation indicators of disease burden. The search time limit was from the establishment of the database to October 2023. CASP was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies, and thematic analysis was used to summarize the evaluation indicators of disease burden by NVivo 12 software. Results A total of 19 studies were included, of which 10 studies were of high quality and 9 studies were of medium quality. The evaluation indicators of disease burden were summarized into two three-level core themes: positive indicators and negative indicators. Five second-level analytic themes were used: disease indicators, life loss indicators, life expectancy indicators, cause removal indicators and health status indicators. Twenty-nine level-1 descriptive themes. Conclusion The evaluation indicators of disease burden have their respective scopes of application and limitations. It is necessary to continue strengthening the construction of a comprehensive evaluation index system for disease burden, so that it is comparable and reliable, can adapt to local calculation weights, and covers both family burden and social burden.
Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for the treatment of many diseases including acute infections often associated with public health emergencies for thousands of years. However, clinical evidence supporting the use of these treatments is insufficient, and the mechanism for using Chinese medicine therapy in the public health setting has not been fully established. In this report, the Evidence-based Traditional and Integrative Chinese medicine Responding to Public Health Emergencies Working Group proposed five recommendations to facilitate the inclusion of Chinese medicine as part of our responses to public health emergencies. It is expected that the Working Group’s proposals may promote the investigation and practice of Chinese Medicine in public health settings.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the research issues related to evidence quality grading methods for public health decision making. MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect studies related to the application of evidence quality grading methods for public health decision making from inception to December 2022. The questions were constructed according to the SPIDER model. The quality of the included literature was evaluated by using the CASP checklist, and a three-level interpretation analysis of the questions on the application of quality rating methods for public health decision making was conducted using the thematic synthesis method to establish a pool of question entries. ResultsA total of 14 papers were included, covering seven countries. GRADE was the commonly used method for grading the quality of evidence. CASP evaluation results showed eight high quality studies, four medium quality studies and two low quality studies. The thematic synthesis method summarized 13 question entries in 7 categories. ConclusionThe existing methodology for grading the quality of evidence for public health decision making suffers from the diversity of evidence sources and the underestimation of the level of evidence from complex intervention studies.
The traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role in the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Based on the role of traditional Chinese medicine in dealing with the previous epidemics and COVID-19, this paper analyzes the problems and challenges of current situation, and focuses on improving traditional Chinese medicine scientific identification, strengthening the construction of traditional Chinese medicine system, and increasing the intensity of Chinese and Western medicine and so on. In order to improve the cooperation mechanism of Chinese and Western medicine for epidemic prevention and control, and give full play to the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the construction of national public health emergency system, this paper also gives ten corresponding suggestions.
Objective To evaluate the current status of human resources in healthcare-associated infection prevention and control (infection control) in Jiangxi Province, and explore the impact of emergency public health events on the human resources of infection control professionals in various levels and types of medical institutions. Methods From October 1st to 31st, 2023, questionnaire and on-site interviews were conducted to investigate the human resources situation of infection control professionals in various levels and types of medical institutions in Jiangxi Province. Three stages were selected for the investigation: before the outbreak of COVID-19 (before the event, December 2019), during the event (June 2022), and after the transition of COVID-19 (after the event, June 2023), focusing on the characteristics of human resources between before the event and after the event by the comparative analysis. Results Finally, 289 medical institutions were included. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of infection control professionals in medical institutions among 2019, 2022, and 2023 (χ2=189.677, P<0.001). The number of infection control professionals in 2019 was lower than that in 2022 (P<0.001) and 2023 (P<0.001), but there was no statistically significant difference between 2022 and 2023 (P=0.242). The number of infection control professionals per thousand beds in 2019, 2022, and 2023 was 4.40, 6.16, and 5.76, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between 2019 and 2023 in terms of professional titles, gender, educational level, or professional background (P>0.05). Conclusion Emergency public health events have promoted the increase in the number of infection control professionals, but there is no statistical significance in the professional titles, educational level, or professional background of infection control professionals.
In order to help Chinese guideline developers, clinicians, health policy makers and other relevant researchers fully understand and make appropriate use of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, Chinese GRADE Center and Guidelines Review Committee of WHO (WHO-GRC) have written a series of papers about development methods, review principles and the structure and content of WHO guidelines. This is the first paper of this series introducing the basic principles and methods of development based on the WHO Handbook of Guideline Development and WHO Handbook of Guideline Development 2nd edition. We aim to provide guidance for Chinese guideline developers, and promote the development of high-quality guideline.