Prevalence of Kaschin-Beck disease among Tibetan children in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture: a 3-year epidemiological survey.

Background: Kaschin-Beck disease (KBD), a special type of osteoarthritis, is a disabling degenerative disease and it can cause severe dysarthrosis of joints. This study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of KBD among Tibetan children in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province and to provide evidence for KBD control in the western regions of China.

Methods: Eleven counties were selected as the monitoring regions and all Tibetan children aged 6-13 years were selected as the study subjects.

[Surveillance on Keshan disease from 1990 to 2008 in Sichuan province].

Objective: To study the epidemiological characteristics of Keshan disease (KD) and its trend so as to provide evidences for further research, prevention and treatment of the disease in Sichuan province.

Methods: Based on KD related data from 1990 to 2008, descriptive method was used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of KD.

Results: 87 KD cases were identified during the 19 years.