The Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery for monitoring and surveillance among children and adolescents: A modified Delphi consensus project with 169 experts from 50 countries and territories.

Background: Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence is associated with a variety of health outcomes and is a powerful marker of current and future health. However, inconsistencies in tests and protocols limit international monitoring and surveillance. The objective of the study was to seek international consensus on a proposed, evidence-informed, Youth Fitness International Test (YFIT) battery and protocols for health monitoring and surveillance in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years.

Automatic localization and deep convolutional generative adversarial network-based classification of focal liver lesions in computed tomography images: A preliminary study.

Background And Aim: Computed tomography of the abdomen exhibits subtle and complex features of liver lesions, subjectively interpreted by physicians. We developed a deep learning-based localization and classification (DLLC) system for focal liver lesions (FLLs) in computed tomography imaging that could assist physicians in more robust clinical decision-making.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study (approval no.

The Role of Digital Health Under Taiwan's National Health Insurance System: Progress and Challenges.

Digital health covers a wide spectrum of applications of digital technologies in the healthcare field. As a new set of tools to support the health system in achieving its goals-improving access to care, quality of care, and system efficiency-digital health has significantly transformed the landscape of modern medicine and health care. This paper examines the role of digital health under Taiwan National Health Insurance, considering the profound impacts of digital health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Physical Fitness and Risk of Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents.

Importance: With the rising prevalence of mental disorders among children and adolescents, identifying modifiable associations is critical.

Objective: To examine the association between physical fitness and mental disorder risks.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nationwide cohort study used data from the Taiwan National Student Fitness Tests and National Health Insurance Research Databases from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2019.

Physical Fitness and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Risk Among Children and Adolescents in Taiwan.

Importance: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in newly industrialized countries but disease etiologies remain unclear.

Objective: To investigate the association between physical fitness and subsequent IBD risk among children and adolescents in Taiwan.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nationwide cohort study was conducted between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2018.

Human mobility increased with vaccine coverage and attenuated the protection of COVID-19 vaccination: A longitudinal study of 107 countries.

Background: The World Health Organization has raised concerns that vaccinated people may reduce physical and social distancing more than necessary. With imperfect vaccine protection and the lifting of mobility restrictions, understanding how human mobility responded to vaccination and its potential consequence is critical. We estimated vaccination-induced mobility (VM) and examined whether it attenuates the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on controlling case growth.

A comparative study of positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth on the SERVQUAL scale during the COVID-19 epidemic - taking a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan as an example.

Background: In recent years, studies have shown that electronic WOM (eWOM) directly reflects consumers' post-purchase psychological perception and directly affects repurchase behavior. This information is valued by institutions in various fields. Within the scope of the evaluation of service characteristics, medical service is the least visible and most difficult service attribute to evaluate.

The choice of Taiwanese college students to vaccinate against severe special infectious pneumonia COVID-19 based on the integrated theory of planning behavior.

Taiwan's coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine procurement was delayed until October 2021. With the vaccine's introduction in Taiwan, the public will have an opportunity to choose vaccination. Choosing to vaccinate involves considerations regarding the trade-off between the protective power of the vaccine and its side effects, which is a planned behavior.

The Association Between Dissemination and Characteristics of Pro-/Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Messages on Twitter: Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

Background: Messages on one's stance toward vaccination on microblogging sites may affect the reader's decision on whether to receive a vaccine. Understanding the dissemination of provaccine and antivaccine messages relating to COVID-19 on social media is crucial; however, studies on this topic have remained limited.

Objective: This study applies the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to explore the characteristics of vaccine stance messages that may appeal to Twitter users.

Early-Life Antibiotic Exposure Associated With Varicella Occurrence and Breakthrough Infections: Evidence From Nationwide Pre-Vaccination and Post-Vaccination Cohorts.

Background: Antibiotic-driven dysbiosis may impair immune function and reduce vaccine-induced antibody titers.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the impacts of early-life antibiotic exposure on subsequent varicella and breakthrough infections.

Methods: This is a nationwide matched cohort study.

COVID-19 case doubling time associated with non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccination: A global experience.

Background: Evidence has revealed that nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were effective in attenuating the spread of COVID-19. However, policymakers have encountered difficulty in identifying the most effective policies under different circumstances. This study investigated the relative effectiveness of different NPIs and vaccination in prolonging COVID-19 case doubling time (DT).

Incentives for physician teams: Effectiveness of performance feedback and payment distribution methods.

Best practices in team-based incentive design remain underexplored. This study examines under group-based pay-for-performance, how managers incentivize physicians for teamwork through internal feedback and payment distribution methods. In collaboration with Taiwan Association of Family Medicine, authors conducted a national survey of physician groups, with a response rate of 48.

COVID-19 vaccinations are associated with reduced fatality rates: Evidence from cross-country quasi-experiments.

Background: Scientists have demonstrated the efficacy of vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in randomized controlled trials. However, the extent to which reductions in COVID-19 case fatality ratio (CFR) are attributable to mass vaccination in the real world remains unclear. This study evaluated the association of COVID-19 vaccine coverage with CFR on a global scale.

Do patients bypass primary care for common health problems under a free-access system? Experience of Taiwan.

Background: A common challenge for free-access systems is that people may bypass primary care and seek secondary care through self-referral. Taiwan's government has undertaken various initiatives to mitigate bypass; however, little is known about whether the bypass trend has decreased over time. This study examined the extent to which patients bypass primary care for treatment of common diseases and factors associated with bypass under Taiwan's free-access system.

Covid-19 mortality is negatively associated with test number and government effectiveness.

A question central to the Covid-19 pandemic is why the Covid-19 mortality rate varies so greatly across countries. This study aims to investigate factors associated with cross-country variation in Covid-19 mortality. Covid-19 mortality rate was calculated as number of deaths per 100 Covid-19 cases.

Impact of integrated healthcare: Taiwan's Family Doctor Plan.

Integration of health services has been pursued worldwide. Diversity in integration approaches and in the contexts in which integrated programmes operate, however, hinders comparative analysis of care integration in both high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study evaluates an HIC programme implemented in a delivery system resembling those of LMICs, especially its weak primary care system.

The cyclicality of government health expenditure and its effects on population health.

Scholars have raised concerns that cutbacks on government health expenditure (GHE) during recessions may jeopardise population health. The present research investigates the extent to which population health outcomes are affected by responses of GHE to business cycles, i.e.

Emergency department overcrowding: Quality improvement in a Taiwan Medical Center.

Background/purpose: Overcrowding of hospital emergency departments (ED) is a worldwide health problem. The Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation has stressed the importance of finding solutions to overcrowding, including, reducing the number of patients with >48 h stay in the ED. Moreover, the Ministry of Health and Welfare aims at transferring non-critical patients to district or regional hospitals.

Why do some countries spend more for health? An assessment of sociopolitical determinants and international aid for government health expenditures.

A consensus exists that rising income levels and technological development are among key drivers of total health spending. Determinants of public sector health expenditure, by contrast, are less well understood. This study examines a complex relationship across government health expenditure (GHE), sociopolitical risks, and international aid, while taking into account the impacts of national income, debt and tax financing and aging populations on health spending.

Do diagnosis-related group-based payments incentivise hospitals to adjust output mix?

This study investigates whether the diagnosis-related group (DRG)-based payment method motivates hospitals to adjust output mix in order to maximise profits. The hypothesis is that when there is an increase in profitability of a DRG, hospitals will increase the proportion of that DRG (own-price effects) and decrease those of other DRGs (cross-price effects), except in cases where there are scope economies in producing two different DRGs. This conjecture is tested in the context of the case payment scheme (CPS) under Taiwan's National Health Insurance programme over the period of July 1999 to December 2004.