METHODS: In the multi-centre controlled attenuation parameter (CAP)-Asia study, we collected clinical data and lifestyle habit data of NAFLD patients from Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire.

RESULTS: A total of 555 patients were included in the final analysis (mean age 54.5 ± 11.2 years, 54.1% men and median liver stiffness 6.7 kPa). More patients from mainland China (27.4%) and Taipei (25.0%) were smokers. Modest drinking was more common in Taiwan (25.0%) and Hong Kong (18.2%); only 1.3% had binge drinking. Majority of patients drank coffee (64.0%) and tea (80.2%), with varying amounts and durations in different regions. Soft drinks consumption was most common in Singapore (62.2%) and Malaysia (57.7%). Only 29.7% of patients met the Physical Activity Guidelines Recommendations, with no major differences across regions. Patients with liver stiffness <10 kPa were more likely to report any vigorous activity, and sitting time was an independent factor associated with high CAP. Tea and coffee consumption were independently associated with high CAP and liver stiffness, respectively.

METHODS: A total of 2,431 participants aged 50-96 in 1996 from the Taiwan longitudinal study on aging (TLSA) who died from 1996 to 2016 were analyzed. Integration of Cause of Death Data and TLSA helped sort out participants who had died from the ten leading causes of death. The level of physical disability was evaluated with the Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADLs), ranging from 0 to 6 points, in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. A multilevel model was used to investigate the levels and rates of change in disability development before death.

RESULTS: The outcome of the research showed that the earliest group to experience physical limitation was individuals living with diabetes. The groups with the highest ADL scores were participants with diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, and hypertension-related diseases. Most groups reach ADL scores ≥ 1 (mild-level) during 4-6 years before death except chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis and injury.

METHODS: The APAC MRDR was established in 2018 as a multicentre collaboration across the Asia-Pacific, collecting prospective data on patients newly diagnosed with MM, MGUS, PCL and plasmacytoma in Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, with China recently joining. Development of the registry required a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, researchers, legal and information technology support, and financial resources, as well as local clinical context from key opinion leaders in the APAC region. Written informed consent is obtained and data are routinely collected throughout treatment by hospital staff. Data are stored securely, meeting all local privacy and ethics requirements. Data were collected from October 2018 to March 2024.

RESULTS: Over 1700 patients from 24 hospitals have been enrolled onto the APAC MRDR to date, with the majority (86%) being newly diagnosed with MM. Bortezomib with an immunomodulatory drug was most frequently used in first-line MM therapy, and lenalidomide-based therapy was most common in second-line. Establishment and implementation challenges include regulatory and a range of operational issues.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled a COPD population retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) spanning the years 2003 to 2016. Osteoporosis patients were identified using diagnosis codes. The study included newly diagnosed COPD patients from 2003 to 2016. The case group comprised patients who developed osteoporosis or osteoporotic fractures after their COPD diagnosis. We calculated the prevalence and incidence of osteoporosis in individuals with COPD and conducted trend tests.

RESULTS: A total of 1,297,579 COPD patients were identified during the period from 2003 to 2016, with 275,233 of them in the osteoporosis group. The average prevalence of osteoporosis among individuals with COPD was 21.21% from 2003 to 2016 in Taiwan. The number of osteoporosis cases increased from 6,727 in 2003 to 24,184 in 2016. The prevalence of osteoporosis among COPD patients increased from 3.62% in 2003 to 18.72% in 2016. The number of osteoporosis cases among individuals with COPD continued to rise over the years, reaching its highest point in 2016 with 24,184 new cases. The incidence of osteoporosis fluctuated during the study period but generally remained around 3,000 cases per 100,000 person-years. Notably, there was a significant upward trend in incidence from 2003 to 2006, after which the trend stabilized and remained relatively constant.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we tested the employment of a free and widely used social and communication app to help older adults with diabetes manage their distress and glycemic control. We also compared the effectiveness of the app with 2 other methods, namely telephone and conventional health education, and determined which subgroup experiences the most effects within each intervention.

METHODS: Adults aged ≥50 years with type 2 diabetes were recruited from Southern Taiwan (N=231) and were allocated to different 3-month interventions. Informed consent was obtained at the Ministry of Science and Technology and approved by the National Cheng Kung University Hospital Institutional Review Board (No. A-ER-102-425).

RESULTS: Participants in the mobile-based group had significant reductions in hemoglobin A1c compared with the telephone-based and usual care groups (mean changes of -0.4%, 0.1%, and 0.03%, respectively; P=.02). Diabetes-specific distress decreased to a greater extent in the mobile-based group compared to the other 2 groups (mean changes of -5.16, -3.49, and -2.44, respectively, P=.02). Subgroup analyses further revealed that the effects on reducing blood glucose levels in the social and communication app groups were especially evident in patients with lower distress scores, and diabetes-related distress was especially evident in participants who were younger than 60 years or had higher educational levels.

METHODS: We searched the official Web sites and homepages of the responsible leading patient safety agencies of the three countries. We reviewed all publicly available guidelines, regulatory documents, government reports that included policies, guidelines, strategy papers, reports, evaluation programs, as well as scientific articles and gray literature related to the incident reporting system. We used the World Health Organization components of patient safety reporting system as the guidelines for comparison and analyzed the documents using descriptive comparative analysis.

RESULTS: Taiwan had the most incidents reported, followed by Malaysia and Indonesia. Taiwan Patient Safety Reporting (TPR) and the Malaysian Reporting and Learning System had similar attributes and followed the World Health Organization components for incident reporting. We found differences between the Indonesian system and both of TPR and the Malaysian system. Indonesia did not have an external reporting deadline, analysis and learning were conducted at the national level, and there was a lack of transparency and public access to data and reports. All systems need to establish a clear and structured incident reporting evaluation framework if they are to be successful.

METHODS: LDA was applied to 6,328 Taiwanese clinical patients for classification purposes. Clustering method was used to identify the associated influential symptoms for each severity level.

RESULT: LDA shows only 36 HAICDDS questions are significant to distinguish the 5 severity levels with 80% overall accuracy and it increased to 85.83% when combining normal and MCI groups. Severe dementia patients have the most serious declination in most cognitive and functionality domains, follows by moderate dementia, mild dementia, MCI and normal patients.