The Paris Principles and Human Rights Institutions: Is Hong Kong Slipping Further Away From the Mark?

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Equality for all: how will Hong Kong's new anti-discrimination legistlation affect the employment market?

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National Security Offences and Civil Liberties in Hong Kong: A Critique of the Government's 'Consutltation' on Article 23 of the Basic Law

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Backdating of events in electronic primary health care data: should one censor at the date of last data collection

PURPOSE: Studies using primary care databases often censor follow-up at the date data are last collected from clinical computer systems (last collection date (LCD)). We explored whether this results in the selective exclusion of events entered in the electronic health records after their date of occurrence, that is, backdated events. METHODS: We used data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN). Using two versions of the database, we identified events that were entered into a later (THIN14) but not an earlier version of the database (THIN13) and investigated how the number of entries changed as a function of time since LCD. Times between events and the dates they were recorded were plotted as a function of time since the LCD in an effort to determine appropriate points at which to censor follow-up. RESULTS: There were 356 million eligible events in THIN14 and 355 million eligible events in THIN13. When comparing the two data sets, the proportion of missing events in THIN13 was highest in the month prior to the LCD (9.6%), decreasing to 5.2% at 6 months and 3.4% at 12 months. The proportion of missing events was largest for events typically diagnosed in secondary care such as neoplasms (28% in the month prior to LCD) and negligible for events typically diagnosed in primary care such as respiratory events (2% in the month prior to LCD). CONCLUSIONS: Studies using primary care databases, particularly those investigating events typically diagnosed outside primary care, should censor follow-up prior to the LCD to avoid underestimation of event rates

Recording and treatment of premenstrual syndrome in UK general practice: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the rate of recording of premenstrual syndrome diagnoses in UK primary care and describe pharmacological treatments initiated following a premenstrual syndrome (PMS) diagnosis. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: UK primary care. PARTICIPANTS: Women registered with a practice contributing to The Health Improvement Network primary care database between 1995 and 2013. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the rate of first premenstrual syndrome records per 1000 person years, stratified by calendar year and age. The secondary outcome was the proportions of women with a premenstrual syndrome record prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, progestogen, oestrogen, combined oral contraceptive, progestin only contraceptive, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, danazol and vitamin B6. RESULTS: The rate of recording of premenstrual syndrome diagnoses decreased over calendar time from 8.43 in 1995 to 1.72 in 2013. Of the 38 614 women without treatment in the 6 months prior to diagnosis, 54% received a potentially premenstrual syndrome-related prescription on the day of their first PMS record while 77% received a prescription in the 24 months after. Between 1995 and 1999, the majority of women were prescribed progestogens (23%) or vitamin B6 (20%) on the day of their first PMS record; after 1999, these figures fell to 3% for progestogen and vitamin B6 with the majority of women instead being prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (28%) or combined oral contraceptive (17%). CONCLUSIONS: Recording of premenstrual syndrome diagnoses in UK primary care has declined substantially over time and preferred prescription treatment has changed from progestogen to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and combined oral contraceptives

Preserving Academic Freedom: Lessons from the 'Robert Chung Affair'

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Hong Kong's First Anti-Discrimination Laws and Their Potential Impact on the Employment Market

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The green paper on equal opportunities for women and men: an exercise in consultation or evasion?

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Are Preseason Functional and Biomechanical Measures Associated with Lower Quadrant Injury Risk in Division III Athletes?

A recent trend in sports medicine research is to determine risk of injury during sport based on preseason functional performance test (FPT) measures. Equivocal findings associated with prior studies may leave PTs with uncertainty as to which FPT, or combination of FPTs, can best identify athletes who have a greater risk for injury. Previous studies have utilized low-tech FPT measures: standing long jump (SLJ), single-leg hop (SLH), lower extremity functional test (LEFT), and the Y-balance test (YBT) (1,3,4). These low-tech options may not be able to identify potential deficits that could be collected with high-tech measures (e.g., DVJ measures collected in a motion capture lab) (2). The purpose of this study was to determine if “high-tech” and/or “low-tech” preseason functional performance test measures were associated with non-contact time loss lower quadrant (LQ = low back and/or lower extremity) injuries

Foot orthoses for people with rheumatoid arthritis, involving quantitative and qualitative outcomes : protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involves changes to foot structure and function, and there is an association between RA and foot pain. This pain affects those patient’s physical activity and experience of daily living. While there is clinical evidence for the value of foot orthoses (FO) on foot pain, there is a wide range of FO available and there is little evidence on the relative benefits of one orthoses type over another, especially in terms of their impact on physical activity and associated well-being. The aim of this study is to compare physical activity, general and foot health and foot health experiences in people with RA when wearing three different types of FO. Methods and analysis: A randomised controlled trial with three arms will compare the effects of (1) custom FO made using a direct adaptation technique, (2) custom FO made through a digital design and production process and (3) prefabricated orthoses. The primary outcome is physical activity measured using a GENEActiv bracelet. Secondary outcomes will be pain, function and disability and associated foot and general health evaluated using existing questionnaires. Semistructured interviews will identify patients’ experiences of the orthoses and living with RA. Ethics and dissemination: The study has been approved by the Portal de Ética de la Investigación Biomédica de Andalucía ethical committee (SPAR-001). The results will be disseminated regardless of the magnitude or direction of effect. Trial registration number: NCT03170947; Pre-results