Asian dust storms result in a higher risk of the silicosis hospital admissions.

Purpose: Previous studies found that silicosis was majorly associated with occupation-related risks. However, little evidence was available to clarify the relation between Asian dust storm (ADS) and silicosis hospital admissions. This present paper aims to investigate the association between ADS events and hospital admissions for silicosis.

Do Internet Users Lead a Healthier Lifestyle?

Internet use has spread rapidly worldwide in recent years, but the proportion of older people who use it remains low in Taiwan. Meanwhile, due to population aging in the country, chronic diseases have become more prevalent among older people. This study explores the link between exposure to the Internet and adoption of a healthy lifestyle among the middle-aged and elderly people.

Social capital and preventive care use among the elderly under Taiwan's National Health Insurance.

Objective: The National Health Insurance (NHI) system in Taiwan provides free annual preventive care services and other disease-specific preventive care services under low copayments to people aged 65 and older, yet their utilization rates remain low ever since implementation. This study investigates whether social capital is associated with preventive care use among people aged 65 and older.

Method: Using the 2009 National Health Interview Study, this study measures social capital by the elderly's social network and social participation, and employs the logistic regressions to estimate the association between social capital and the odds of using a variety of preventive care services.

Sanction changes and drunk-driving injuries/deaths in Taiwan.

Driving under the influence (DUI) is one of the major causes of traffic accidents in Taiwan. About 5% of injuries involve DUI, and nearly 20% of deaths are due to alcohol-related crashes. During early 2006 to the end of 2014, the authorities in Taiwan increased the severity of fine and jail penalties for DUI offenders three times.

Influence of Asian dust storms on daily acute myocardial infarction hospital admissions.

Objective: This study was the first to explore the relationship between Asian dust storm events (ADS) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospital admissions by applying time series models.

Design And Sample: Nationwide population-based hospitalization claims data in Taiwan were used. There were 143,063 AMI admissions during 2000-2009.

The effectiveness of preventive care at reducing curative care risk for the Taiwanese elderly under National Health Insurance.

Whether provision of free preventive care for the elderly under National Health Insurance has reduced the risk for curative care use raises much concern in Taiwan. This study analyzes the relationship by examining the impact of health examination utilization on the utilizations of outpatient care and inpatient care. Data come from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey and National Health Insurance Research Database.