Towards Evidence-based Suicide Prevention Programmes

Fulltext available: http://www.wpro.who.int/mnh/TowardsEvidencebasedSPP.pd

Suicide in Hong Kong: Epidemiological profile and burden analysis, 1981 to 2001

Objective. To describe changes of the epidemiological profile of suicides in Hong Kong, and the burden of suicides in terms of years of life lost between 1981 and 2001. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. Hong Kong. Participants. Data on registered deaths of the Hong Kong population from 1981 to 2001 were retrieved from records of the Census and Statistics Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Main outcome measures. Crude, standardised, age- and sex-standardised suicide rates; years of life lost; suicide method used; and rank among leading causes of death. Results. Suicide ranked sixth in the leading cause of deaths and represented about 3% of all deaths each year. The suicide rate has increased from 9.6 per 100 000 to 15 per 100 000 between 1981 and 2001. The total years of life lost due to suicide increased by 96.0%, from about 9900 years in 1981 to 19 400 years in 2001, whereas the figure for all causes of death decreased by 14.0%, from 274 600 years to 236 700 years. The total share of years of life lost attributable to suicide deaths has increased from 3.6% to 8.1% and is still increasing, especially among in the middle age-groups (30-59 years). The use of charcoal burning as a suicide method has increased from 6.0% before 1998 to more than 28.0% in 2001. Conclusion. The burden on the years of life lost due to suicide is underestimated and overlooked. The increase of suicides in recent years has had a significant impact on the years of life lost and can be used as a useful indicator of performance in Hong Kong.published_or_final_versio

The Effectiveness and Sustainability of a Universal School-Based Programme for Preventing Depression in Chinese Adolescents: A Follow-Up Study Using Quasi-Experimental Design

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Designing footwear and braces for children with clubfoot deformity

2014-2015 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

Effectiveness of a universal school-based programme for preventing depression in Chinese adolescents: a quasi-experimental pilot study

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the effectiveness, rather than efficacy, of universal school-based programmes for preventing depression among adolescents is limited. This study examined the effectiveness of a universal depression prevention programme, 'The Little Prince is Depressed' (LPD), which adopted the cognitive-behavioural model and aimed to reduce depressive symptoms and enhance protective factors of depression among secondary school students in Hong Kong. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was adopted for this pilot study. Thirteen classes were assigned to the intervention or control conditions according to the deliberation of the programme administrator of the four participating schools. Implementation was carried out in two phases, with a professional-led first phase and teacher-led programme second phase. LPD consisted of a 12-week school-based face-to-face programme with psycho-educational lessons and homework assignments. RESULTS: Students completed the programme generally showed positive development in help-seeking attitudes and self-esteem. For students who had more depressive symptoms at pre-assessment, the programme was found to be significant in enhancing cognitive-restructuring skills and support-seeking behaviours. The programme was not, however, found to be statistically significant in reducing depressive symptoms of the participants over the study period. LIMITATIONS: A small sample size, a high attrition rate, and a short follow-up time frame. CONCLUSIONS: The LPD programme was successful in building resilience of the students in general and enhancing the cognitive-behavioural skills of students with depressive symptoms. While we did not find sufficient evidence for concluding that the LPD was effective in reducing depressive symptoms, we believe that these results highlight the challenges of implementing evidence-based practices generated from highly controlled environments in real-life settings.postprin

Socio-economic and psychological correlates of suicidality among Hong Kong working-age adults: Results from a population-based survey

Background. The global toll of suicide is estimated to be one million lives per year, which exceeded the number of deaths by homicide and war combined. A key step to suicide prevention is to prevent less serious suicidal behaviour to preclude more lethal outcomes. Although 61% of the world's suicides take place in Asia and the suicide rates among middle age groups have been increasing since the economic crisis in many Asian countries, population-based studies of suicidal behaviour among working-age adults in non-western communities are scarce. Method. Data from a population-based survey with 2015 participants were used to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and behaviour among the working-age population in Hong Kong, and to study the associated socio-economic and psychological correlates. We focused particularly on potential modulating factors between life-event-related factors and suicidal ideation. Results. Six per cent of the Hong Kong population aged 20-59 years considered suicide in the past year, while 1.4% attempted suicide. Hopelessness, reasons for living, and reluctance to seek help from family and friends had direct association with past-year suicidal ideation. Reasons for living were found to moderate the effect of perceived stress on suicidal ideation. Conclusions. Suicidality is a multi-faceted problem that calls for a multi-sectored, multi-layered approach to prevention. Prevention programmes can work on modulating factors such as reasons for living to reduce suicidal risk in working-age adults. © 2006 Cambridge University Press.published_or_final_versio

Sexual and mental health in compensated dating in youth in Hong Kong: An exploratory quantitative study

Compensated dating, also known as enjo kosai (in Japanese), assisted relationship, freelance teenage sex work, and casual teen prostitution, emerged in Japan in 1990s and has spread to other Asian societies including Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong in the early 2000s. The compensated dating phenomenon was considered similar to youth sexual exploitation, defined as the exchange of sexual activity for money or other consideration according to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.published_or_final_versio

Evaluation of a Digital Game-Based Learning Program for Enhancing Youth Mental Health: A Structural Equation Modeling of the Program Effectiveness

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Profiling biomolecules at cell-biomaterial interface by quantitative proteomics

Session: Controlling Microenvironment and Cell Fate: abstract no. 789INTRODUCTION: Implant surface structure and chemistry determines the contacting cell’s fate. Therefore, the fate of those cells directly affect bone-implant incorporation in clinical practice1-5. However, how these chemical and mechanical signals translating to cellular responses are not yet known. The major drawback is a lack of systematic study of cellbiomaterial interaction in terms of protein expression, specifically, at the attachment interface between the cell and biomaterial (adherence surface, AS). Therefore, we have proposed to unbiasedly identify the biomolecules at the interface by proteomics. This method combines the use of a subcellular fractionation with quantitative mass …postprintThe 2010 North America Conference of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS-NA 2010), Orlando, FL., 5-8 December 2010

SARS CoV subunit vaccine: Antibodymediated neutralisation and enhancement

1. A SARS vaccine was produced based on recombinant native full-length Spike-protein trimers (triSpike) and efficient establishment of a vaccination procedure in rodents. 2. Antibody-mediated enhancement of SARS-CoV infection with anti-SARS-CoV Spike immune-serum was observed in vitro. 3. Antibody-mediated infection of SARS-CoV triggers entry into human haematopoietic cells via an FcγR-dependent and ACE2-, pH-, cysteine-protease-independent pathways. 4. The antibody-mediated enhancement phenomenon is not a mandatory component of the humoral immune response elicited by SARS vaccines, as pure neutralising antibody only could be obtained. 5. Occurrence of immune-mediated enhancement of SARS-CoV infection raises safety concerns regarding the use of SARS-CoV vaccine in humans and enables new ways to investigate SARS pathogenesis (tropism and immune response deregulation)