• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.243-248
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• 2013

Background: Associations between elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and cancer risk have been reported for many years, but the results from prospective cohort studies remains controversial. A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies was therefore conducted to address this issue. Methods: Eligible studies were identified by searching the PubMed and EMBASE up to October 2012. Pooled hazard ratios (HR) was calculated by using random effects model. Results: Eleven prospective cohort studies involving a total of 194,796 participants and 11,459 cancer cases were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled HR per natural log unit change in CRP was 1.105 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.033-1.178) for all-cancer, 1.308 (95% CI: 1.097-1.519) for lung cancer, 1.040 (95% CI: 0.910-1.170) for breast cancer, 1.063 (95% CI: 0.965-1.161) for prostate cancer, and 1.055 (95% CI: 0.925-1.184) for colorectal cancer. Dose-response analysis showed that the exponentiated linear trend for a change of one natural log unit in CRP was 1.012 (95% CI: 1.006-1.018) for all-cancer. No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis showed that the elevated levels of CRP are associated with an increased risk of all-cancer, lung cancer, and possibly breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. The result supports a role of chronic inflammation in carcinogenesis. Further research effort should be performed to identify whether CRP, as a marker of inflammation, has a direct role in carcinogenesis.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.356-359
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• 2009

In the more than 100 genome wide association studies (GWAS) conducted in the past 5 years, more than 250 genetic loci contributing to more than 40 common diseases and traits have been identified. Whilst many genes have been linked to a trait, both their individual and combined effects are small and unable to explain earlier estimates of heritability. Given the rapid changes in disease incidence that cannot be accounted for by changes in diagnostic practises, there is need to have well characterized exposure information in addition to genomic data for the study of gene-environment interactions. The case-control and cohort study designs are most suited for studying associations between risk factors and occurrence of an outcome. However, the case control study design is subject to several biases and hence the preferred choice of the prospective cohort study design in investigating geneenvironment interactions. A major limitation of utilising the prospective cohort study design is the long duration of follow-up of participants to accumulate adequate outcome data. The GWAS paradigm is a timely reminder for traditional epidemiologists who often perform one- or few-at-a-time hypothesis-testing studies with the main hallmarks of GWAS being the agnostic approach and the massive dataset derived through large-scale international collaborations.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.397-420
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• 2021

The paper tried to determine relationships between volunteering and hypertension risks, symptom betterment, activity difficulty occurrences, and medicine treatment among middle-aged and older adults, with a prospective cohort study. Multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear models were used for the analysis of longitudinal panel data collected over 10 years from 2008 to 2018, using 5,867 cohort samples. The results showed that those who volunteered at least 200 hours per year were 3.4 times more lower than not-volunteering in risks of hypertension, those who volunteered yearly 50~99 hours were a lot more improved than not-volunteering in the symptom betterment, those who volunteered yearly at least 200 hours were 7.7 times lower than not-volunteering in activity difficulty occurrences, and those who volunteered yearly 50~99 hours were 2.5 times lower than not-volunteering in the occurrences of medicine treatment. These indicate that volunteering among middle-aged and older adults may have health benefits against incident hypertension. Finally the thesis discusses the study limitations, future directions of studies, and the practices implications.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.142-145
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• 2001

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.109-110
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• 2006

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2991-2995
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• 2012

Background: India shows some of the highest rates of cervical cancer worldwide, and more than 70% of the population is living in rural villages. Prospective cohort studies to determine the risk factors for cervical cancer are very rare from low and medium resource countries. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of risk factors related to cervical cancer in a rural setting in South India. Material and methods: Sociodemographic and reproductive potential risk factors for cervical cancer were studied using the data from a cohort of 30,958 women who constituted the unscreened control group in a randomised screening trial in Dindigul district, Tamilnadu, India. The analysis was accomplished with the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: Women of increasing age (HR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.8 in 50-59 vs 30-39), having many pregnancies (HR=7.1; 1.0, 52 in 4+ vs 0) and no education (HR=0.6; 0.2, 0.7 in high vs none) were found to be at significantly increased risk of cervical cancer. Conclusion: This cohort study gives very strong evidence to say that education is the fundamental factor among the sociodemographic and reproductive determinants of cervical cancer in low resource settings. Public awareness through education and improvements in living standards can play an important role in reducing the high incidence of cervical cancer in India. These findings further stress the importance of formulating public health policies aimed at increasing awareness and implementation of cervical cancer screening programmes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4677-4681
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• 2012

Objective: Egg consumption has been suggested to increase the risk of colorectal and some other cancers. The present study summarized and quantified the current evidence relating dietary intake of eggs and prostate cancer. Materials and methods: Literature searches were conducted to identify peer-reviewed manuscripts published up to July 2012. Twenty manuscripts from nine cohort studies and 11 case-control studies were identified. Summary risk estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for case-control and cohort studies separately. Results: Neither the case-control not the cohort studies showed any association of prostate cancer incidence with egg consumption (case-control studies: odds ratio 1.09, 95% CI 0.86-1.31; cohort studies: relative risk 0.97, 95% CI 0.97-1.07). The results were consistent in subgroup analysis. Furthermore, no association was observed between egg consumption and prostate cancer-specific mortality. Conclusions: Our analyses provided no evidence of a significant influence of egg consumption on prostate cancer incidence and mortality. However, more studies, particularly large prospective studies, are needed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.225-235
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• 2013

Purpose: This prospective cohort study was done to investigate recall bias to antepartum variables measured at postpartum periods and predictors of postpartum depression. Methods: Participants were 215 women who answered a self-administered questionnaire which included demographics, Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory-Revised and Korean version of Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale at antepartum 36-40 weeks and postpartum 2 weeks and 6 weeks. Data were analyzed using kappa, and hierarchical multiple logistic regression. Results: Agreement between antepartum variables at both antepartum and two postpartum periods was relatively high (${\kappa}$=.55- .95). Postpartum depression rates were 36.3% and 36.7% at two follow-up points. In hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis, prenatal depression (OR=4.32, 95% CI: 1.41-13.19; OR=5.19, 95% CI: 1.41-19.08), social support (OR=1.40, 95% CI: 1.18-1.66; OR=1.27, 95% CI: 1.06-1.53) and maternity blues (OR=4.75, 95% CI: 1.89-11.98; OR=4.22, 95% CI: 1.60-11.12) were commonly associated with postpartum depression at two follow-up points. Child care stress (OR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.01-3.37) was only associated with postpartum depression at 2 weeks postpartum and pregnancy intendedness (OR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.09-2.27) was only associated with postpartum depression at 6 weeks postpartum. Conclusions: The results indicate a need to apply nursing interventions such as prenatal education and counseling with families from antenatal period.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.271-281
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• 2013

Objectives: Emerging evidence indicates that sleep duration is associated with health outcomes. However, the relationship of sleep duration with long-term health is unclear. This study was designed to determine the relationship of sleep duration with mortality as a parameter for long-term health in a large prospective cohort study in Korea. Methods: The study population included 13 164 participants aged over 20 years from the Korean Multi-center Cancer Cohort study. Information on sleep duration was obtained through a structured questionnaire interview. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mortality were estimated using a Cox regression model. The non-linear relationship between sleep duration and mortality was examined non-parametrically using restricted cubic splines. Results: The HRs for all-cause mortality showed a U-shape, with the lowest point at sleep duration of 7 to 8 hours. There was an increased risk of death among persons with sleep duration of ${\leq}5$ hours (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.41) and of ${\geq}10$ hours (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.72). In stratified analysis, this relationship of HR was seen in women and in participants aged ${\geq}60$ years. Risk of cardiovascular disease-specific mortality was associated with a sleep duration of ${\leq}5$ hours (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.93). Risk of death from respiratory disease was associated with sleep duration at both extremes (${\leq}5$ and ${\geq}10$ hours). Conclusions: Sleep durations of 7 to 8 hours may be recommended to the public for a general healthy lifestyle in Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6175-6179
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• 2012

Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are still important to the health of Thai rural residents. IPIs are the cause of many chronic diseases with, for example, opisthorchiasis resulting in progression to cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). This cross-sectional study in a prospective cohort study aimed to examine the prevalence and co-infection of intestinal parasites among Northeastern Thai rural residents, recruited into the Khon Kaen Cohort Study (KKCS), and who were residing in areas of high-risk for developing CCA. On recruitment, subjects had completed questionnaires and provided fecal samples for IPI testing using the formalin ethyl acetate concentration technique. Data on selected general characteristics and the results of the fecal tests were analysed. IPI test results were available for 18,900 of cohort subjects, and 38.50% were found to be positive for one or more types of intestinal parasite. The prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini (O. viverrini) infection was the highest (45.7%), followed by intestinal flukes (31.9%), intestinal nematodes (17.7%), intestinal protozoa (3.02%), and intestinal cestodes (1.69%). The pattern of different infections was similar in all age groups. According to a mapping analysis, a higher CCA burden was correlated with a higher prevalence of O. viverrini and intestinal flukes and a greater intensity of O. viverrini. Both prevention and control programs against liver fluke and other intestinal parasites are needed and should be delivered simultaneously. We can anticipate that the design of future control and prevention programmes will accommodate a more community-orientated and participatory approach.