Parental use of the term "Hot Qi" to describe symptoms in their children in Hong Kong: a cross sectional survey "Hot Qi" in children

BACKGROUND: The Chinese term "Hot Qi" is often used by parents to describe symptoms in their children. The current study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of using the Chinese term "Hot Qi" to describe symptoms in children by their parents and the symptomatology of "Hot Qi". METHOD: A cross sectional survey by face-to-face interview with a semi-structured questionnaire was carried out in a public hospital and a private clinic in Hong Kong. The parental use of the term "Hot Qi", the symptoms of "Hot Qi" and the remedies used for "Hot Qi" were asked. RESULTS: 1060 pairs of children and parents were interviewed. 903 (85.1%) of parents claimed that they had employed the term "Hot Qi" to describe their children's symptoms. Age of children and place of birth of parents were the predictors of parents using the term "Hot Qi". Eye discharge (37.2%), sore throat (33.9%), halitosis(32.8%), constipation(31.0%), and irritable (21.2%) were the top five symptoms of "Hot Qi" in children. The top five remedies for "Hot Qi" were the increased consumption of water (86.8%), fruit (72.5%), soup (70.5%), and the use of herbal beverages "five-flower- tea" (a combination of several flowers such as Chrysanthemum morifolii, Lonicera japonica, Bombax malabaricum, Sophora japonica, and Plumeria rubra) (57.6%) or selfheal fruit spike (Prunella vulgaris) (42.4%). CONCLUSION: "Hot Qi" is often used by Chinese parents to describe symptoms in their children in Hong Kong. Place of birth of parents and age of the children are main factors for parents to apply the term "Hot Qi" to describe symptoms of their children. The common symptoms of "Hot Qi" suggest infections or allergy

Bridging dentistry and traditional Chinese medicine : a study on the current mutual understanding among the future practitioners

Objectives: This project aimed to promote the mutual understanding between dental and TCM students. The objectives were to describe the current teaching of dentistry in the TCM schools and that of TCM in the dental school, to describe the TCM students’ knowledge on dentistry and the dental students’ knowledge on TCM, and to produce promotional materials for enhancing the mutual understanding between dental and TCM students. Methods: Information on the current teaching of dentistry in the TCM schools and that of TCM in the dental school was collected through a search on the undergraduate programme syllabus and conducting interviews with the leaders of the schools. Questionnaire surveys were conducted among the final year students of the TCM and the dental schools to collect information on their knowledge of the counter profession. Two leaflets and a short video were produced with the aid of computer software and used in the promotional activities. Results: It was found that very little information on dentistry was covered in the undergraduate programmes of the three TCM schools, and vice versa in the dental school. A total of 39 TCM students and 55 dental students completed the questionnaire survey. Most of the students did not know the basic theories and practice of the counter profession. Less than half of the student knew what types of patient cases may be suitable for cross-referral to the other profession. Conclusions: The TCM and dental schools in Hong Kong do not have scheduled teaching on the counter profession. The TCM students have little knowledge on dentistry and how to collaborate with dental practitioners on patients presented with oral problems. Conversely, it is the same for the dental students. Lastly, informative printed and audio-visual promotional materials can be produced with limited resources and used to facilitate the mutual understanding between TCM and dental practitioners.published_or_final_versio

Use of Saliva for Early Dengue Diagnosis

The importance of laboratory diagnosis of dengue cannot be undermined. In recent years, many dengue diagnostic tools have become available for various stages of the disease, but the one limitation is that they require blood as a specimen for testing. In many incidences, phlebotomy in needle-phobic febrile individuals, especially children, can be challenging, and the tendency to forgo a dengue blood test is high. To circumvent this, we decided to work toward a saliva-based assay (antigen-capture anti-DENV IgA ELISA, ACA-ELISA) that has the necessary sensitivity and specificity to detect dengue early. Overall sensitivity of the ACA-ELISA, when tested on saliva collected from dengue-confirmed patients (EDEN study) at three time points, was 70% in the first 3 days after fever onset and 93% between 4 to 8 days after fever onset. In patients with secondary dengue infections, salivary IgA was detected on the first day of fever onset in all the dengue confirmed patients. This demonstrates the utility of saliva in the ACA-ELISA for early dengue diagnostics. This technique is easy to perform, cost effective, and is especially useful in dengue endemic countries

Evaluation of Chikungunya Diagnostic Assays: Differences in Sensitivity of Serology Assays in Two Independent Outbreaks

Chikungunya is a mounting public health concern in many parts of the world. Definitive diagnosis is critical in differentiating the diseases, especially in dengue endemic areas. There are some commercial chikungunya kits and published molecular protocols available, but no comprehensive comparative evaluation of them was performed. Using sera collected in outbreaks caused by two variants of Chikungunya virus (A226 and 226V), we tested 2 commercial IgM tests (CTK lateral flow rapid test and EUROIMMUN IFA) alongside our in-house IgM assays (using both variants of the virus). Sensitivities of 2 published PCR protocols were also evaluated based on RNA standards derived from cell-cultured viruses. The commercial assays had different performances in each outbreak, with CTK's lateral flow test having the best performance in the first outbreak and EUROIMMUN IFA being more sensitive in the second outbreak. Use of the current circulating virus in a test assay improves sensitivity of the MAC-ELISAs. For PCR, a probe-based real time RT-PCR method was found to be 10 times more sensitive than the SYBR Green method. Despite this, the latter protocol is found to be more suitable and cost-effective for our diagnostic laboratory. This evaluation demonstrates the importance of appraisal of commercial kits and published protocols before application of a diagnostic tool in the clinical and operational setting

Entomologic and Virologic Investigation of Chikungunya, Singapore

Data from longitudinal analyses can be useful in the design and implementation of control strategies

The Early Clinical Features of Dengue in Adults: Challenges for Early Clinical Diagnosis

Dengue infection in adults has become increasingly common throughout the world. As most of the clinical features of dengue have been described in children, we undertook a prospective study to determine the early symptoms and signs of dengue in adults. We show here that, overall, dengue cases presented with high rates of symptoms listed in the WHO 1997 or 2009 classification schemes for probable dengue fever thus resulting in high sensitivities of these schemes when applied for early diagnosis. However, symptoms such as myalgia, arthralgia, retro-orbital pain and mucosal bleeding were less frequently reported in older adults. This trend resulted in reduced sensitivity of the WHO classification schemes in older adults even though they showed increased risks of hospitalization and severe dengue. Instead, we suggest that older adults who present with fever and leukopenia should be tested for dengue, even in the absence of other symptoms. This could be useful for early clinical diagnosis in older adults so that they can be monitored and treated for severe dengue, which is especially important when an antiviral drug becomes available

Getting inside their brains: Exploring the psycho-social needs and employment-related concerns of Chinese childhood brain tumor survivors

Poster Session - Psychosocial Oncology: abstract no. A80Theme: Integration and Collaboration - the Way Forwar

Towards a balanced performance measurement system in a public health care organization

Purpose: This article attempts to devise an integrated performance measurement framework to assess the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) management system by harnessing previous performance measurement systems. Design/Methodology/Approach: An integrated evaluative framework based on the balanced score card (BSC) was developed and applied using the case study method and longitudinal data to evaluate the HA\u27s performance management system. Findings: The authors unveil evolving HA performance indicators (PI). Despite the HA staff\u27s explicit quality emphasis, cost control remains the primary focus in their performance measurements. Research Limitations/Implications: Data used in this study are from secondary sources, disclosed mostly by HA staff. Practical Implications: This study shows public sector staff often attach too much importance to cost control and easily measurable activities at the expense of quality and other less easily measurable attributes\u27. Originality/Value: A balanced performance measurement system, linked to health targets, with a complementary budgeting process that supports pertinent resource allocation is yet to be implemented in Hong Kong\u27s public hospitals

Exploring the sources of meaning in life among Chinese advanced cancer patients

Free Paper Session - Psychosocial Oncology: abstract no. A57The 17th Hong Kong International Cancer Congress (HKICC 2010), Hong Kong, 3-5 November 2010

From despair to peace: spiritual experience of Chinese palliative care patients at the end of life

Theme: Research That Makes a Difference: Advancing Practice and Shaping Public PolicyBACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Spirituality has been increasingly recognized as a central component of holistic well-being at the end of life. Yet, most studies on spirituality in palliative care have focused on the experience of people from a Judeo-Christian tradition; there is very little information on the perspective of patients from other backgrounds. Given that spirituality encompasses both the religious and non-religious meaning and values of an individual, understanding how people in different cultures find peace and make sense of life and death becomes of paramount importance for culturally respectful practice. The purpose of this study is to ...link_to_OA_fulltex