Information developer-user system linking roles of education assistants in the Missouri small farm family program

"August 1982."Includes bibliographical references (pages 34-35)

An alternative to research, develop and deliver : rural development in Missouri as a case in point

Includes bibliographical references (pages 66-73)

A Comparison Between Chinese Children Infected with Coronavirus Disease-2019 and with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2003

OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical and laboratory features of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2003 (SARS) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in two Chinese pediatric cohorts, given that the causative pathogens and are biologically similar. , STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study reviewing paediatric patients with SARS (n = 43) and COVID-19 (n=244) who were admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong and Wuhan Children's Hospital in Wuhan, respectively. Demographics, hospital length of stay, clinical and laboratory features were compared RESULTS: Overall, 97.7% of patients with SARS and 85.2% of patients with COVID-19 had epidemiological associations with known cases. Significantly more patients with SARS developed fever, chills, myalgia, malaise, coryza, sore throat, sputum production, nausea, headache, and dizziness than patients COVID-19. No SARS patients were asymptomatic at the time of admission. 29.1% and 20.9% COVID-19 patients were asymptomatic on admission and throughout their hospital stay, respectively. More SARS patients required oxygen supplementation than COVID-19 patients (18.6 vs. 4.7%, P = 004). Only 1.6% COVID-19 and 2.3% SARS patients required mechanical ventilation. Leukopenia (37.2% vs. 18.6%, p=0.008), lymphopenia (95.4% versus 32.6%, p<0.01), and thrombocytopenia (41.9% vs 3.8%, p<0.001) were significantly more common in SARS than COVID-19 patients. The duration between positive and negative nasopharyngeal aspirate and the length in hospital stay were similar in COVID-19 patients regardless of whether they were asymptomatic or symptomatic, suggesting a similar duration of viral shedding. CONCLUSIONS: Children with COVID-19 were less symptomatic and had more favorable hematological findings than children with SARS

The interferon gamma gene polymorphism +874 A/T is associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome

BACKGROUND: Cytokines play important roles in antiviral action. We examined whether polymorphisms of IFN-γ,TNF-α and IL-10 affect the susceptibility to and outcome of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). METHODS: A case-control study was carried out in 476 Chinese SARS patients and 449 healthy controls. We tested the polymorphisms of IFN-γ,TNF-α and IL-10 for their associations with SARS. RESULTS: IFN-γ +874A allele was associated with susceptibility to SARS in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.001). Individuals with IFN-γ +874 AA and AT genotype had a 5.19-fold (95% Confidence Interval [CI], 2.78-9.68) and 2.57-fold (95% CI, 1.35-4.88) increased risk of developing SARS respectively. The polymorphisms of IL-10 and TNF-α were not associated with SARS susceptibility. CONCLUSION: IFN-γ +874A allele was shown to be a risk factor in SARS susceptibility

Linking healthcare and social service databases to study the epidemiology of child maltreatment and associated health problems: Hong Kong's experience

Objective: To examine the incidence and trend of child maltreatment and its associated health problems in Hong Kong by linking healthcare and social service databases. Study design: Data on 4816 children under the age of 18 years registered with the Child Protection Registry and matching health records in public hospitals in Hong Kong from 2003 to 2010 were extracted. Associations were examined between different types of child maltreatment and child's medical diagnosis according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision codes including suicidal attempt (X60-X84), nonchild maltreatment related injuries (S00-S99; T00-T98, excluding T74 and T76 that are maltreatment related injuries), mental health problems (F00-F99), and congenital malformations/chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99). Results: Significant rising trends were found for child physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse during the period from 2003 to 2010. Psychological abuse remained stable. Risk of suicide attempt was higher among children suffering from sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and children experiencing multiple abuses; mental health diagnoses were more common in victims of psychological and multiple abuses. Congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities were more commonly found among neglected children. Conclusions: In contrast to the decreasing trend observed in the West during the study period, there has been an escalating trend in child maltreatment in Hong Kong and child maltreatment is strongly associated with major health problems. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate the power of linking healthcare and social service databases, which allows for both a better understanding of the impact of child maltreatment and as a guide future policy and service planning

Impact of a focus education in Zoom on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Hong Kong parents of the preschoolers

Parental vaccine hesitancy is a major barrier to achieving high vaccination uptake among children, particularly in young children during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Developing herd immunity is a critical concept for overcoming the current pandemic. The purpose of this study is to reduce parental vaccine hesitancy through a focused educational seminar in ZOOM and to empower parents who are concerned about vaccinating their children to communicate with medical experts during live seminars. Parents of preschoolers, teachers, and kindergarten principals from three local pre-school education and services associations attended live seminars. After attending seminars, parental willingness to vaccinate their children increased by 65%. The live Zoom seminar led by medical experts resulted in a decrease in vaccine hesitancy. Our findings support the creation of seminars that allow clients and medical specialists to communicate directly with one another. Offering an open and honest forum for people to express their concerns to medical experts could be a useful strategy for dealing with not only vaccination apprehension, but also other health-related emergencies

Rasch validation of the Chinese parent–child interaction scale (CPCIS)

Background: Proper parent–child interaction is crucial for child development, but an assessment tool in Chinese is currently lacking. This study aimed to develop and validate a parent-reported parent–child interaction scale for Chinese preschool children. Methods: The Chinese parent–child interaction scale (CPCIS) was designed by an expert panel based on the literature and clinical observations in the Chinese context. The initial CPCIS had 14 parent–child interactive activity items. Psychometric properties of the CPCIS were examined using the Rasch model and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity was investigated by the associations between CPCIS and family income, maternal education level, and children’s school readiness. Results: The study recruited 567 Chinese parent–child pairs from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, who completed the CPCIS. Six out of the 14 items in the initial CPCIS were dropped due to suboptimal fit values. The refined 8-item CPCIS was shown to be valid and reliable by Rasch models and CFA. The person separation reliability and Cronbach’s α of the CPCIS were 0.81 and 0.82, respectively. The CPCIS scores were positively associated with family’s socioeconomic status (η2 = 0.05, P &lt; 0.001), maternal education level (η2 = 0.08, P &lt; 0.001), and children’s school readiness (η2 = 0.01, P &lt; 0.01). Conclusion: CPCIS is an easily administered, valid, and reliable tool for the assessment of parent–child interactions in Chinese families

Effectiveness of a culturally attuned internet-based depression prevention program for Chinese adolescents: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Depression prevention among adolescents is crucial for reducing the global disease burden. Internet‐based depression prevention approaches are found to be effective but they were mostly evaluated in a Western context. Grasping the Opportunity is a Chinese Internet intervention, which was translated and modified from CATCH‐IT developed in the West. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Grasp the Opportunity in reducing depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, Chinese adolescents aged 13 to 17 years with mild‐to‐moderate depressive symptoms were recruited from three secondary schools in Hong Kong. The participants (n = 257) were randomly assigned to receive either intervention or attention control. The primary outcome was the improvement in depressive symptoms according to the revised Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD‐R) at the 12‐month follow‐up. Analyses were performed using intention to treat (ITT). Results: The participants were randomly assigned to receive the intervention (n = 130) or attention control (n = 127). Follow‐up data were obtained from 250 (97%) participants. Only 26 (10%) participants completed the intervention. Compared to the attention control, Grasp the Opportunity led to reductions in depressive symptoms at the 12‐month follow‐up with a medium effect size using ITT analysis (mean difference 2.6, 95% CI 0.59–5.55, effect size d = 0.36). Conclusions: Grasp the Opportunity is effective in reducing depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents over a long follow‐up period. Poor completion rate is the major challenge in the study

Neurobehavioral Impairment in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose: The neurocognitive outcomes of pediatric brain tumor survivors have been extensively studied but the risk and predictors for neurobehavioral impairment are less clearly defined. We systematically analyzed the rates of emotional, psychosocial, and attention problems in pediatric brain tumor survivors. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane were searched for articles published between January 2012 to April 2022. Eligible studies reported neurobehavioral outcomes for PBTS aged 2 to &lt;23 years with a brain tumor diagnosis before 18 years of age. A random-effect meta-analysis was performed in R. Results: The search yielded 1187 unique publications, of which 50 were included in the quantitative analysis. The estimated risk of having emotional, psychosocial, and attention problems were 15% (95%CI 10&ndash;20%), 12% (95%CI 9&ndash;16%), and 12% (95%CI 9&ndash;16%), respectively. PBTS were more likely to have emotional difficulties (Hedge&rsquo;s g = 0.43 [95%CI 0.34&ndash;0.52]), psychosocial problems (Hedge&rsquo;s g = 0.46 [95%CI 0.33&ndash;0.58]), and attention problems (Hedge&rsquo;s g = 0.48 [95%CI 0.34&ndash;0.63]) compared to normal/healthy control subjects. There was no significant difference in the rates of neurobehavioral impairment between children with and without history of cranial radiotherapy. Conclusions: PBTS are at elevated risk of neurobehavioral impairment. Neurobehavioral monitoring should be considered as the standard of care for PBTS