Principal applicant and corresponding author: Dr LW Chu Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China Tel: ( 52) 2 55 3315 Fax: ( 52) 2 16 21 7 E-mail: [email protected] Falls and fall-related injuries in community-dwelling elderly persons in Hong Kong: a study on risk factors, functional decline, and health services utilisa...

Poor sitting posture is a common problem among the elderly, especially in nursing homes residents.1 Contributory factors include kyphotic changes in the spine resulting in limited flexibility; decline in muscle strength and trunk control and general loss of condition, all of which impair the ability to maintain normal posture in the sitting position.2 Moreover, prolonged sitting with poor postu...

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY Despite various efforts to estimate cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, only scarce information on the cost burden of paediatric community acquired pneumonia (CAP) exists. The objective of this study was to prospectively calculate direct and indirect costs associated with treatment of CAP from a society perspective in children between 2 months and 16 yea...

This study investigates whether the relationship between objective health parameters and general health perceptions was mediated by symptoms of dyspnoea and physical functioning in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The different health parameters were organised according to Wilson and Cleary's conceptual model of patient ou...

1. Screening programmes for postnatal depression and depression are useful for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of the condition. 2. The majority of the women studied perceived marital problems as their major source of unhappiness. They did not take initiatives to seek help for their condition and many were unwilling to receive psychiatric treatment. 3. Screening for both postnatal dep...

1. The Chinese Work Personality Profile is a reliable and valid instrument in measurement of job maintenance skills and employment potential of people with psychiatric illness. 2. There are significant differences in the job maintenance skill profiles of people undergoing rehabilitation in day hospitals, day training centres, and sheltered employment. 3. Situational assessment could be useful t...

1. Multisensory therapy (MST) was not superior to activity sessions in reducing problem behaviours; MST did not improve discharge rate or reduce medication use. 2. Key environmental variables in the MST that influence behaviour may be related to reliability, predictability, relaxation, freedom from demand, and the relationship with the therapist. Clients’ problem behaviour might be reduced if t...

BACKGROUND To handle the increasing complexity of congestive heart failure (CHF) care, several new models for the care of patients with CHF have been developed to replace traditional strategies. We undertook this study to evaluate the potential benefit of implementing a CHF disease management program at a tertiary care center, particularly in terms of beta-blocker use and cost to the health car...