Choice of Glucose-Lowering Drugs as Initial Monotherapy for Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Contraindications or Intolerance to Metformin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: There are multiple glucose-lowering drugs available as alternative initial monotherapy for type 2 diabetes patients with contraindications or intolerance to metformin. However, little comparative and systematic data are available for them as initial monotherapy. This study estimated and compared the treatment effects of glucose-lowering drugs as initial monotherapy for type 2 diabetes.

Comparison of Glucose-Lowering Drugs as Second-Line Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Multiple glucose-lowering drugs are available as add-ons to metformin for a second-line treatment for type 2 diabetes. However, no systematic and comparative data are available for them in China. We aimed to compare the effects of glucose-lowering drugs added to metformin in China.

Chinese Minority Perceives the Doctor-Patient Relationship Differently: A Cultural and Economic Interpretation.

In China, doctor-patient relationships (D-P relationships) are cited frequently and attracted international attention. This study assesses whether the D-P relationship experienced by the Chinese is associated with ethnicity, hospital hierarchies, and socioeconomic factors. In a national cross-sectional survey, multi-stage random sampling was adopted to assess regional and socio-economic differences between year 2016 and year 2017.

Older adults' choices of first-contact care and related factors in Zhejiang and Qinghai Province, China.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate older adults' choices of first-contact care when they felt ill in Zhejiang and Qinghai province, and the related potential pathways.

Methods: Data were from a cross-sectional survey in Zhejiang and Qinghai. We firstly compared older adults' choices of first-contact care in two provinces.

Outpatient health-seeking behavior of residents in Zhejiang and Qinghai Province, China.

Background: The eastern and western regions of China are different in many ways such as socioeconomic characteristics and health resource distribution. This study aimed to explore the outpatient health-seeking behavior and compare the influencing factors of residents in Zhejiang and Qinghai Province, which represent the situation in eastern and western China. Thus, this research will provide evidence for health resource allocation and health reform.

Social Determinants of Health-Related Quality of Life among Residents in Zhejiang and Qinghai, China.

Social determinants are closely related to health and play a significant role in shaping the quality of life of a population. This study aimed to explore the differences in HRQoL (health-related quality of life) scores of residents in the eastern province of Zhejiang and the western province of Qinghai and probe factors affecting the HRQoL among the two populations. A sample of 4210 residents from a cross-sectional survey was included in the analysis.

Cognitive ageing trajectories and mortality of Chinese oldest-old.

Objective: This study aims to identify distinctive cognitive trajectories jointly with mortality probabilities and to explore factors related to the particular trajectories of cognitive ageing in China.

Method: 6842 individuals aged 80 years and above from 7 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey were assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination for up to 16 years. A group-based trajectory model was used to jointly estimate cognitive ageing and mortality trajectories; and to explore the factors related to membership of the trajectory groups.

Potential gains in health-adjusted life expectancy from reducing four main non-communicable diseases among Chinese elderly.

Background: To estimate the potential gains in health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) after hypothetical elimination of four non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among Chinese elderly from 1990 to 2016, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) and diabetes mellitus (DM).

Methods: Based on data from Global Burden of Disease 2016, we generated life table by gender using Sullivan method to calculate HALE. Disease-deleted method was used to calculate cause-elimination HALE, after hypothetical elimination of specific diseases.

A comparative study of catastrophic health expenditure in Zhejiang and Qinghai province, China.

Background: China has made great achievements in health insurance coverage and healthcare financing; however, the rate of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) was 13.0% in China in 2008, which is higher than that in some other countries. There remain some differences in life-style, national customs, medical conditions, and health consciousness in different provinces in China.

Measurement and analysis of equity in health: a case study conducted in Zhejiang Province, China.

Background: Equity is the core of primary care. The issue of equity in health has become urgent, and China has attached increasing attention to it. With rapid economic development and great changes in medical insurance policy, the pattern of equity in health has changed tremendously.