Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China

Abstract Background Though lead (Pb)-gasoline has been banned for decades in China, Pb continues to be a vital risk factor for various diseases. Traditional studies, without large sample size, were unable to identify explicitly the associations among Pb, its disease profile, and the related medical...

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Main Authors: Han Song, Jianchao Liu, Zipeng Cao, Wenjing Luo, Jing-Yuan Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2019-08-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Pb
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7515-5
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spelling doaj-a9c800a2b76b477d84a3cb6ea389824b2020-11-25T03:51:05ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582019-08-0119111110.1186/s12889-019-7515-5Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in ChinaHan Song0Jianchao Liu1Zipeng Cao2Wenjing Luo3Jing-Yuan Chen4Department of Health Service, PLA General HospitalDepartment of Health Service, PLA General HospitalDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Health, and the Ministry-of-Education’s Key Laboratory of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environment, School of Public Health, Air Force Medical UniversityDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Health, and the Ministry-of-Education’s Key Laboratory of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environment, School of Public Health, Air Force Medical UniversityDepartment of Health Service, PLA General HospitalAbstract Background Though lead (Pb)-gasoline has been banned for decades in China, Pb continues to be a vital risk factor for various diseases. Traditional studies, without large sample size, were unable to identify explicitly the associations among Pb, its disease profile, and the related medical burden. This study was designed to investigate: 1) current status of blood Pb levels; 2) Pb-associated disease profile, medical burden, as well as impact factors. Methods Research subjects were patients who visited military hospitals and were required to test their blood Pb levels by doctors between 2013 and 2017. The large sample size and area coverage may, to a large extent, reveal the characteristics of Pb exposure in the whole Chinese population. Information of patients’ electronic medical records was extracted using Structured Query Language (SQL) in Oracle database. The spatial, temporal, and population distribution of their blood Pb levels were tested, to illustrate the association of Pb exposure with diseases’ profile, and medical burden. Non-parametric tests were applied to compare the differences of Pb levels among various groups. Results The blood Pb concentration showed a positively skewed distribution by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (D = 0.147, p < 0.01). The blood Pb concentration of Chinese patients was 28.36 μg/L, with the lowest blood Pb levels, 4.71 μg/L, found in patients from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the highest, 50 μg/L, in Yunnan province. Han Chinese patients’ Pb levels were significantly lower than other minorities groups (z-score = − 38.54, p < 0.01). Average medical cost for Pb poisoning was about 6888 CNY for Chinese patients. Pb levels of patients with malignant neoplasm of lung, 45.34 μg/L, were far higher than malignant neoplasm of other respiratory, and intrathoracic organs, 24.00 μg/L (z-score = − 2.79, p < 0.01). Conclusions This study reported current status of blood Pb levels for patients who once visited military hospitals, partially representing the whole Chinese population. The result shows that Pb poisoning is still imposing marked economic burdens on patients under Pb exposure. Association of Pb with lung cancer may open up new areas for Pb-induced toxicology. The research strategy may advance toxicological studies in the aspect of medical data mining.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7515-5PbDisease profileMedical burdenMedical big data
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Han Song
Jianchao Liu
Zipeng Cao
Wenjing Luo
Jing-Yuan Chen
spellingShingle Han Song
Jianchao Liu
Zipeng Cao
Wenjing Luo
Jing-Yuan Chen
Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China
BMC Public Health
Pb
Disease profile
Medical burden
Medical big data
author_facet Han Song
Jianchao Liu
Zipeng Cao
Wenjing Luo
Jing-Yuan Chen
author_sort Han Song
title Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China
title_short Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China
title_full Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China
title_fullStr Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in China
title_sort analysis of disease profile, and medical burden by lead exposure from hospital information systems in china
publisher BMC
series BMC Public Health
issn 1471-2458
publishDate 2019-08-01
description Abstract Background Though lead (Pb)-gasoline has been banned for decades in China, Pb continues to be a vital risk factor for various diseases. Traditional studies, without large sample size, were unable to identify explicitly the associations among Pb, its disease profile, and the related medical burden. This study was designed to investigate: 1) current status of blood Pb levels; 2) Pb-associated disease profile, medical burden, as well as impact factors. Methods Research subjects were patients who visited military hospitals and were required to test their blood Pb levels by doctors between 2013 and 2017. The large sample size and area coverage may, to a large extent, reveal the characteristics of Pb exposure in the whole Chinese population. Information of patients’ electronic medical records was extracted using Structured Query Language (SQL) in Oracle database. The spatial, temporal, and population distribution of their blood Pb levels were tested, to illustrate the association of Pb exposure with diseases’ profile, and medical burden. Non-parametric tests were applied to compare the differences of Pb levels among various groups. Results The blood Pb concentration showed a positively skewed distribution by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (D = 0.147, p < 0.01). The blood Pb concentration of Chinese patients was 28.36 μg/L, with the lowest blood Pb levels, 4.71 μg/L, found in patients from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the highest, 50 μg/L, in Yunnan province. Han Chinese patients’ Pb levels were significantly lower than other minorities groups (z-score = − 38.54, p < 0.01). Average medical cost for Pb poisoning was about 6888 CNY for Chinese patients. Pb levels of patients with malignant neoplasm of lung, 45.34 μg/L, were far higher than malignant neoplasm of other respiratory, and intrathoracic organs, 24.00 μg/L (z-score = − 2.79, p < 0.01). Conclusions This study reported current status of blood Pb levels for patients who once visited military hospitals, partially representing the whole Chinese population. The result shows that Pb poisoning is still imposing marked economic burdens on patients under Pb exposure. Association of Pb with lung cancer may open up new areas for Pb-induced toxicology. The research strategy may advance toxicological studies in the aspect of medical data mining.
topic Pb
Disease profile
Medical burden
Medical big data
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7515-5
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