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

Towards Evidence-based Suicide Prevention Programmes

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

Chinese Adolescents’ Meaning-Focused Coping With Prolonged Parent-Child Separation

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Combined simultaneous transcranial and transsphenoidal resection of large-to-giant pituitary adenomas

Background: While large-to-giant pituitary adenomas (PAs) may be safely removed by experienced surgeons through a single route, the procedure is technically challenging. We present the outcome of a simultaneous combined transcranial and transsphenoidal approach and discuss its applications. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 12 consecutive patients. Surgical complications, visual and endocrinological functions, and tumour control were reviewed. Results: There were four men and eight women, with a mean age of 47.6 years. All but one patient had non-functioning PAs. The mean tumour height was 4.1 cm (range: 2.3-5.5). The predominant presenting symptoms were visual field loss in eight patients, headache in three patients and mental confusion in one patient. There was no operative mortality. Post-operative cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in one patient. Five of the eight patients who presented with visual field loss achieved full recovery, and three had partial improvement. Two patients developed permanent diabetes insipidus after surgery. Panhypopituitarism occurred in one patient. Gross total removal (GTR) was achieved in five, and subtotal removal (STR) in seven patients. Seven patients received post-operative external irradiation. All patients who had GTR remained tumour-free and all those with STR had stable diseases after a mean follow-up period of 53.1 months (range: 14.1-92.1). Conclusion: The simultaneous 'above and below' approach is a safe and effective surgical strategy for large-to-giant PAs, particularly when expertise in endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery is unavailable. Its use, however, should be limited to a carefully selected group of patients, and tailored to individual user's expertise and experience. © 2011 The Author(s).published_or_final_versio

Living with prolonged parent-child separation by migration: a phenomenological study about left-behind life from adolescent's perception

Session - Parenting relationshipsBACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In the context of a large flow of rural-urban migration in China, more than 61 million children and adolescents are left behind in rural areas by their migrant parents. While increasing studies find negative effects of left-behind life on children’s psychological well-being, the understanding on how coping sustains left-behind adolescent’s psychological well-being in the context of parental migration is lacking ...postprin

A cost-effective digital forensic investigation model

Computers operate at discrete points in time and hence digital traces are discrete events in temporal logic that re°ect the occurrence of computer processes. From the perspective of a digital investigation, it is the duty of digital investigators or forensic examiners to retrieve digital traces so as to prove or to refute the alleged computer acts. Given the resource constraints of most organizations and the limited time-frame available for the examination, it is not always feasible or indeed necessary for forensic examiners to retrieve all the related digital traces and to conduct a thorough digital forensic analysis. It is therefore the aim of this paper to propose a model that can o®er swift and practical digital examination in a cost-effective manner.postprin

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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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