Validity and equivalence of the SF-12v2 Health Survey for a Chinese Population

Poster Session 3: no. 124/1264Conference Theme: Integrating HRQOL in Health Care Policy, Research, and Practic

Energy-saving supporting tourism sustainability : a case study of hotel swimming pool heat pump

2002-2003 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Flashes, floaters, and retinal detachment

Patients presenting to the family physician and ophthalmologist often have complaints of flashes and floaters. These symptoms may be benign or they may be associated with serious conditions such as a retinal tear or retinal detachment. Recognizing the importance of these symptoms would allow prompt referral to the ophthalmologist for a detailed ocular examination. Today, more than 95% of retinal detachments can be successfully treated, although more than one procedure may be required. Prevention or early diagnosis is important because the rate of successful repair is higher and the visual results are better if the retinal detachment spares the macula, the part of the retina responsible for fine, central vision. Through successful treatment, patients will be able to enjoy a better quality of life and maintain their abilities to read, work, drive, and care for themselves.published_or_final_versio

A Network to Support Educational Changes

In 1998, there was a major shift in the medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary schools from English to Chinese. This change had many educational advantages. However, its implementation was not without problem. For example, the general public will probably label those schools using Chinese (CMI schools) as inferior to those using English (EMI schools). More seriously, most of the teachers, with their own learning experience only in English, may not be able to use Chinese as a language for teaching their subject-specific knowledge. This paper reports the work of a computer network, specifically established to support the educational change and discusses the strategies on providing effective support to educational changes through computer networking. The most important contribution of the network lies in the knowledge creation and the growth of the CMI school community as a whole, collecting, uplifting and disseminating high quality pedagogical knowledge within the community. Close collaboration with the front-line teachers at schools has also been highly valued, hoping to tackle down-to-earth problems of the teachers.published_or_final_versio

A study on pollutant emission through gas consumption in the Hong Kong hotel industry

Version of RecordPublishe

Chloroquine-induced bull's eye maculopathy

We report the case of a 51-year-old woman who presented with bilateral progressive deterioration in vision after taking chloroquine for severe rheumatoid arthritis for 10 years. She was found to have a bull's eye pattern of depigmentation in the macula of both eyes. Despite cessation of chloroquine, her vision did not improve. The clinical presentation of chloroquine retinopathy is discussed, along with the importance of scheduled eye examination for individuals taking chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.published_or_final_versio

Knowledge of risk and self-protection practices and the degree of influenza hazard from live poultry sales.

1. Perceptions of risk from buying live chickens were moderate, but sickness anxieties did not predict buying or touching habits. 2. Buying was strongly predicted by the erroneous belief that cooking is the best means of protection from avian influenza. Health education groups seeking to increase preventive practices to control possible avian influenza outbreaks need to learn from this.published_or_final_versio

An analysis of the participation of an online educational discussion forum - the study of Hong Kong Cyber Campus Forum

Information technology is now widely used in the education sector, and online discussion forum has been regarded as a useful tool for education. A large number of online forums have been set up with an unexamined assumption that participants will learn through interacting with others in the forums. This paper reports a case study of the discussion forum of the Hong Kong Cyber Campus (www.hkcampus.net). It is the in one of the largest public educational discussion forums in Hong Kong set up jointly by local higher education institutions, to provide a venue for educators, teachers, students and parents to discuss about educational issues and the use of information technology for teaching and learning. The current study addresses the following issues: (1) What are the major objects of discussion in the forum? (2) How the structure of the forum may affect interactions between the different types of participants? (3) To what extent is online discussion conducive to conceptual learning of the participants? (4) What are the characteristics of the interactions of the participants in online forum? (5) How should the moderator act effectively to facilitate discussion? What kinds of moderator's messages will spark off more discussion? What kinds of messages tend to end the discussion? To address these research questions, we have conducted an analysis of the messages of the forum generated in its first twelve months from Feb.1999 to Feb.2000. Some of the findings are highlighted in this paper, namely: (1) The objects of discussion are mostly about everyday work and life of students and teachers; (2) The structure of the forum does affect the amount of interaction between different types of participants; (3) Online discussion affords gathering opinion, exchanging information and expressing feelings; (4) Online forum appears weak in resolving conflicting views. Participants seldom exhibit a change of their beliefs during the discussion. It also tends to polarize the discussion, lead the participants to extreme points of view. This is especially salient when the participants do not share a common experience of the issue. (5) The kind of moderator's messages that try to round up, make conclusion and provide authoritative information tend to terminate the discussion, while the expression of example/experience with open meaning tend to spark off more discussion.published_or_final_versio

Factors influencing delayed presentation with symptomatic breast cancer in Hong Kong Chinese women.

published_or_final_versio

Development of a Chinese version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (CHI-VFQ-25) as a tool to study patients with eye diseases in Hong Kong

Background: To develop a Chinese version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (CHI-VFQ-25) and to test its reliability and validity in a group of patients with eye diseases in Hong Kong. Methods: The National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) was translated into Chinese. Patients were recruited from Hong Kong, and their demographic data and visual acuity were documented. Psychometric properties of the CHI-VFQ-25, including internal consistency, test-retest reliability, item-scale correlations and construct validity were tested. Results: 250 patients were recruited. The mean age of the patients was 66.04 (SD 14.00). 46% of them were male. The non-response rate and the floor and ceiling numbers of the CHI-VFQ-25 were calculated. The internal consistency was high in most subscales (except the general health and driving subscales), with Cronbach α ranging from 0.72-0.90. The test-retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient >0.90). Patients with worse visual acuity had significantly lower scores on the CHI-VFQ-25 supporting construct validity. Conclusion: The CHI-VFQ-25 is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the visual functions of Chinese patients with eye diseases in Hong Kong. Some questions had high non-response rates and should be substituted by the available alternatives.published_or_final_versio