Health status of the population in Naqu, Tibet and its latent class analysis: a cross-sectional survey

Background As COVID-19 has been declared as a pandemic disease by the WHO on March 11th, 2020, the global incidence of COVID-19 disease increased dramatically. In response to the COVID-19 situation, Jordan announced the emergency state on the 19th of March, followed by the curfew on 21 March. All educational institutions have been closed as well as educational activities including clinical medical education have been suspended on the 15th of March. As a result, Distance E-learning emerged as a new method of teaching to maintain the continuity of medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic related closure of educational institutions. Distance E-Learning is defined as using computer technology to deliver training, including technology-supported learning either online, offline, or both. Before this period, distance learning was not considered in Jordanian universities as a modality for education. This study aims to explore the situation of distance E-learning among medical students during their clinical years and to identify possible challenges, limitations, satisfaction as well as perspectives for this approach to learning. Methods This cross-sectional study is based on a questionnaire that was designed and delivered to medical students in their clinical years. For this study, the estimated sample size (n = 588) is derived from the online Raosoft sample size calculator. Results A total of 652 students have completed the questionnaire, among them, 538 students (82.5%) have participated in distance learning in their medical schools amid COVID-19 pandemic. The overall satisfaction rate in medical distance learning was 26.8%, and it was significantly higher in students with previous experience in distance learning in their medical schools as well as when instructors were actively participating in learning sessions, using multimedia and devoting adequate time for their sessions. The delivery of educational material using synchronous live streaming sessions represented the major modality of teaching and Internet streaming quality and coverage was the main challenge that was reported by 69.1% of students. Conclusion With advances in technologies and social media, distance learning is a new and rapidly growing approach for undergraduate, postgraduate, and health care providers. It may represent an optimal solution to maintain learning processes in exceptional and emergency situations such as COVID-19 pandemic. Technical and infrastructural resources reported as a major challenge for implementing distance learning, so understanding technological, financial, institutional, educators, and student barriers are essential for the successful implementation of distance learning in medical education.

Consistent epidemiological and clinical evidence strongly indicates that chronic non-communicable diseases are largely associated with four lifestyle risk factors: inadequate diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol use. Notably, obesity, a worldwide-growing pathological condition determined by the combination between inadequate diet and insufficient physical activity, is now considered a main risk factor for most chronic diseases. Dietary habits and physical activity are strongly influenced by gender attitudes and behaviors that promote different patterns of healthy or unhealthy lifestyles among women and men. Furthermore, different roles and unequal relations between genders strongly interact with differences in social and economic aspects as well as cultural and societal environment. Because of the complex network of factors involved in determining the risk for chronic diseases, it has been promoting a systemic approach that, by integrating sex and gender analysis, explores how sex-specific biological factors and gender-related social factors can interact to influence the health status.

Objectives The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors has increased worldwide. However, the prevalence and clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors among Tibetans is currently unknown. We aimed to explore the prevalence and clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors among Tibetan adults in China. Methods In 2011, 1659 Tibetan adults (aged ≥18 years) from Changdu, China were recruited to this cross-section study. The questionnaire, physical examinations and laboratory testing were completed and the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors, including hypertension, diabetes, overweight/obesity, dyslipidemia, and current smoking, were counted. The association between the clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors and demographic characteristics, and geographic altitude were assessed. Results The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, overweight or obesity, dyslipidemia, and current smoking were 62.4%, 6.4%, 34.3%, 42.7%, and 6.1%, respectively, and these risk factors were associated with age, gender, education level, yearly family income, altitude, occupation, and butter tea consumption (P < 0.05). Overall, the age-adjusted prevalence of clustering of ≥1, ≥2, and ≥3 cardiovascular disease risk factors were 79.4%, 47.1%, and 20.9%, respectively. There appeared higher clustering of ≥2 and ≥3 cardiovascular disease risk factors among Tibetans with higher education level and family income yearly, and those living at an altitude < 3500 m and in a township. Conclusions The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors, especially hypertension, was high in Tibetans. Moreover, there was an increased clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors among those with higher socioeconomic status, lamas and those living at an altitude < 3500 m. These findings suggest that without the immediate implementation of an efficient policy to control these risk factors, cardiovascular disease will eventually become a major disease burden among Tibetans.