During the course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion to its antibody (anti-HBe) often coincides with normalization of liver biochemical test and clinical remission, but data regarding long-term outcome after spontaneous seroconversion are still scarce. Excluding patients with other virus(es) concurrent infection, 283 patients with chronic HBV infection were followed up for at least 1 year after spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion to anti-HBe. Follow-up studies included clinical, biochemical, and virologic evaluation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening with ultrasonography and ␣-fetoprotein assay. During a median follow-up period of 8.6 years (range, 1 to 18.4 years) after HBeAg seroconversion in 283 patients, 189 (66.8%) showed sustained remission, whereas the remaining 94 (33.2%) experienced alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation over twice the upper limit of normal: 12 (4.2%) associated with HBeAg reversion, 68 (24%) with detectable serum HBV DNA but HBeAg negative, and 14 (4.9%) of undetermined causes. Of the 269 patients without evidence of cirrhosis at the time of HBeAg seroconversion, 21 (7.8%) developed cirrhosis with a cumulative incidence and relative risk significantly higher in patients developing active hepatitis than in patients with sustained remission (P < .05). HCC developed in 6 (2.2%) of the 283 patients, also with a significantly higher cumulative incidence in patients developing active hepatitis after HBeAg seroconversion (P < .005). In conclusion, the results suggest that spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion confers favorable long-term outcomes. However, active hepatitis still may develop and lead to cirrhosis and HCC. ( D uring the course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, presence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) often is associated with active and usually continuing liver disease, whereas HBeAg seroconversion to its antibody (anti-HBe) often coincides with loss of serum HBV DNA, normalization of liver biochemical test, clinical remission and subsidence of hepatic inflammatory activity, 1-4 and may even be followed by spontaneous HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. 5 Several studies have shown that the long-term outcome of the patients after interferon-related HBeAg seroconversion is favorable. 6-10 However, few studies have addressed the issue of long-term outcome after spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion. 11 Given the fact that most patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are seropositive for anti-HBe, it has even been suggested that the risk of HCC might increase when HBV infection became quiescent. 12 Therefore, we conducted this study to elucidate the long-term outcome after spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion in a large series of patients. Patients and MethodsPatients. The long-term follow-up study of our patients with chronic hepatitis B, as described previously, 5,10,13 has continued. By the end of 1998, a total of 1,345 HBeAg seropositive patients were confirmed to have chronic hepatit...

the Taiwan Stroke Registry InvestigatorsBackground-Stroke is a leading cause of death around the world. Improving the quality of stroke care is a global priority, despite the diverse healthcare economies across nations. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With the Guidelines-Stroke program (GWTG-Stroke) has improved the quality of stroke care in 790 US academic and community hospitals, with broad implications for the rest of the country. The generalizability of GWTG-Stroke across national and economic boundaries remains to be tested. 2,3 This was followed by the implementation of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With the Guidelines-Stroke program (GWTG-Stroke). 4 GWTG-Stroke was the first large-scale nationwide assessment of the quality of stroke care based on a set of predefined performance measures. The 790 participating hospitals showed substantial and sustained improve- Clinical Perspective on p 1123Stroke is the second leading cause of death globally, 5 with nations with diverse health care systems facing a similar medical and economic burden. 6 Whether the successful GWTG-Stroke is applicable beyond the United States remains to be tested. A key determinant that may hamper broad application of GWTG-Stroke around the world is the diversity of healthcare economies. It could be difficult for nations spending substantially less in healthcare dollars to apply GWTG-Stroke standards. To examine whether GWTGStroke is workable across nations with substantial disparities in health expenditures, we applied GWTG-Stroke to assess the quality of stroke care in Taiwan. Like the United States, stroke is the third leading cause of death in Taiwan. In 2008, the total cost of stroke in the United States, with 780 000 new or recurrent stroke cases, was estimated to be $65.5 billion, with direct (medical) costs constituting two thirds or $43.6 billion. 5 Taiwan, with a population of 23 million (1/13 of that of the United States), with Ϸ80 000 new or recurrent strokes a year, spent a total of US $375 million in medical costs for stroke in 2007. 7 The total medical costs per new or recurrent stroke patient were Ϸ1/10 of those spent in the United States. 5 The Taiwan Stroke Registry (TSR) is an appropriate program to assess the generalizability of GWTG-Stroke across national as well as economic boundaries. TSR, sponsored by the Department of Health (DOH), was launched in 2006. With the exception of anticoagulation for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and measures for smoking cessation, all the parameters adapted by GWTG-Stroke for assessing quality of stroke care have been included in TSR. Methods TSR Design and the Criteria for Hospital SelectionTSR is the first nationwide effort in Taiwan to establish a reliable national stroke database for assessing the quality of stroke care and identifying areas that require improvement. TSR was designed and a TSR operation manual developed after a series of consensus conferences attended by an expert panel (16 stroke neurologists and 2 epi...

Objectives: To examine the effects of reminiscence therapy on psychological well-being, depression, and loneliness among institutionalized elderly people. Methods: In an experimental study design, 92 institutionalized elderly people aged 65 years and over were recruited and randomly assigned to two groups. Those participants in the experimental group received reminiscence therapy eight times during 2 months to examine the effects of this therapy on their psychological well-being. Results: After providing the reminiscence therapy to the elderly in the experimental group, a significant positive short-term effect (3 months follow-up) on depression, psychological well-being, and loneliness, as compared to those in the comparison group was found. Conclusions: Reminiscence therapy in this study sample improved socialization, induced feelings of accomplishment in participants, and assisted to ameliorate depression.

The cardiovascular effects of inorganic arsenic have been documented, but the dose-response relationship between ischemic heart disease (ISHD) and long-term arsenic exposure remains to be elucidated. Mortality rates from ISHD among residents in 60 villages of the area in Taiwan with endemic arseniasis from 1973 through 1986 were analyzed to examine their association with arsenic concentration in drinking water. Based on 1 355 915 person-years and 217 ISHD deaths, the cumulative ISHD mortalities from birth to age 79 years were 3.4%, 3.5%, 4.7%, and 6.6%, respectively, for residents who lived in villages in which the median arsenic concentrations in drinking water were <0.1, 0.1 to 0.34, 0.35 to 0.59, and > or = 0.6 mg/L. A cohort of 263 patients affected with blackfoot disease (BFD), a unique arsenic-related peripheral vascular disease, and 2293 non-BFD residents in the endemic area of arseniasis were recruited and followed up for an average period of 5.0 years. There was a monotonous biological gradient relationship between cumulative arsenic exposure through drinking artesian well water and ISHD mortality. The relative risks were 2.5, 4.0 and 6.5, respectively, for those who had a cumulative arsenic exposure of 0.1 to 9.9, 10.0 to 19.9, and > or = 20.0 mg/L-years compared with those without the arsenic exposure after adjustment for age, sex, cigarette smoking, body mass index, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and disease status for hypertension and diabetes through proportional-hazards regression analysis. BFD patients were found to have a significantly higher ISHD mortality that non-BFD residents, showing a multivariate-adjusted relative risk of 2.5 (95% CI, 1.1 to 5.4).

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Objectives: Our objective was to estimate the incidence of recent burnout in a large sample of Taiwanese physicians and analyze associations with job related satisfaction and medical malpractice experience.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey. Physicians were asked to fill out a questionnaire that included demographic information, practice characteristics, burnout, medical malpractice experience, job satisfaction, and medical error experience. There are about 2% of total physicians. Physicians who were members of the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine, Taiwan Surgical Association, Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Taiwan Pediatric Association, and Taiwan Stroke Association, and physicians of two medical centers, three metropolitan hospitals, and two local community hospitals were recruited.Results: There is high incidence of burnout among Taiwan physicians. In our research, Visiting staff (VS) and residents were more likely to have higher level of burnout of the emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). There was no difference in burnout types in gender. Married had higher-level burnout in EE. Physicians who were 20~30 years old had higher burnout levels in EE, those 31~40 years old had higher burnout levels in DP, and PA. Physicians who worked in medical centers had a higher rate in EE, DP, and who worked in metropolitan had higher burnout in PA. With specialty-in-training, physicians had higher-level burnout in EE and DP, but lower burnout in PA. Physicians who worked 13-17hr continuously had higher-level burnout in EE. Those with ≥41 times/week of being on call had higher-level burnout in EE and DP. Physicians who had medical malpractice experience had higher-level burnout in EE, DP, and PA. Physicians who were not satisfied with physician-patient relationships had higher-level burnout than those who were satisfied.Conclusion: Physicians in Taiwan face both burnout and a high risk in medical malpractice. There is high incidence of burnout among Taiwan physicians. This can cause shortages in medical care human resources and affect patient safety. We believe that high burnout in physicians was due to long working hours and several other factors, like mental depression, the evaluation assessment system, hospital culture, patient-physician relationships, and the environment. This is a very important issue on public health that Taiwanese authorities need to deal with.

Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic from well water was associated with an increased prevalence of cerebrovascular disease, especially cerebral infarction.

Background-Long-term exposure to ingested arsenic has been documented to induce peripheral vascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and cerebral infarction in a dose-response relationship. This study further examined the biological gradient between ingested inorganic arsenic and carotid atherosclerosis. Methods and Results-We studied 199 male and 264 female adult residents from the southwestern area of endemic arseniasis in Taiwan. The extent of carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by duplex ultrasonography. Diabetes mellitus was determined by oral glucose tolerance test, hypertension by mercury sphygmomanometers, and serum lipid profiles by autoanalyzers. Information regarding the consumption of high-arsenic artesian well water, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption was obtained through standardized questionnaire interviews. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio and its 95% CI of carotid atherosclerosis for various risk factors. Three indices of long-term exposure to ingested arsenic, including the duration of consuming artesian well water, the average arsenic concentration in consumed artesian well water, and cumulative arsenic exposure, were all significantly associated with prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis in a dose-response relationship. The biological gradient remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, waist-to-hip ratio, and serum levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratio was 3.1 (95% CI 1.3 to 7.4) for those who had a cumulative arsenic exposure of Ն20 mg/L-years compared with those without exposure to arsenic from drinking artesian well water. Conclusions-Carotid atherosclerosis is associated with ingested inorganic arsenic, showing a significant biological