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Helen F K Chiu

Publications and source records attributed to Helen F K Chiu.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Can IQCODE detect poststroke dementia?

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the performance of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) in the screening of post-stroke dementia (PSDE). METHODS: At 3 months after the index stroke, a research assistant administered the IQCODE to relatives of 189 Chinese patients with acute stroke who were consecutively admitted to a general hospital. A psychiatrist, who was blind to the IQCODE scores, interviewed all 189 patients and made DSM-IV diagnosis of dementia, which served as the benchmark for judging the performance of IQCODE in screening PSDE. RESULTS: The optimal cut-off point of IQCODE was 3.40. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of IQCODE, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, were 88%, 75%, 33%, 98%, and 0.88, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: When used as a sole instrument, IQCODE does not appear to be useful in screening PSDE in Chinese elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Validity and applicability of the Chinese version of community screening instrument for dementia.

The development of an educationally independent screening instrument for dementia is most valuable for epidemiological studies. The Community Screening Instrument for Dementia (CSI-D) was applied to 120 subjects, with 30 matched for age in each of the four groups of mild to moderately demented, depressed, low-education and high-education normal control subjects. The internal consistency and interrater reliability of CSI-D were satisfactory. Correlation with the ten-word-list learning task, a test sensitive to early dementia, was high. CSI-D could differentiate the demented from nondemented subjects, but not the high- from the low-education control group. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed good test performance of CSI-D. In conclusion, the Chinese version of CSI-D is a valid, reliable and educationally independent screening instrument for dementia sensitive to detect early stage of the disease.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Prevalence of dementia with Lewy bodies in an inpatient psychogeriatric population in Hong Kong Chinese.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the prevalence of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in an inpatient psychogeriatric population in Hong Kong Chinese. METHOD: Clinical notes of all dementia patients admitted to an inpatient psychogeriatric unit between 1 January and 31 December 2000 were reviewed to retrieve information on various subtypes of dementia that have been diagnosed prospectively using NINCDS-ARDRA, NINDS-AIREN, CDLB and DSM-IV by qualified senior psychogeriatricians. RESULT: There were only three cases of dementia with Lewy bodies out of 102 dementia inpatients, giving a prevalence rate of 2.9% over a two-year period. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of dementia with Lewy bodies is remarkably lower than figures reported in western studies. Further evaluation using better sampling frame and better-validated diagnostic gold standard is required. Ethnically related biological factors may be implicated to explain the preliminary low prevalence rate in Chinese population.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Distant visual acuity in chronic psychiatric patients. A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of systematically collected data on visual impairment in patients with chronic psychiatric disorders. The aim of this pilot study was to estimate the magnitude of impairment of distant visual acuity (DVA) including refractive and non-refractive errors in institutionalized psychiatric patients awaiting resettlement in the community in Hong Kong. METHOD: DVA was tested using the Snellen method in a randomly selected cohort of 428 institutionalized psychiatric patients from the four long-stay rehabilitation units in Hong Kong. The pinhole method was employed to differentiate between refractive and non-refractive impairment of DVA. RESULTS: Seventy-five percent of the sample had impaired DVA; 39 % of the subjects had refractive error (myopia). Only a small percentage of patients wore spectacles and had adequately corrected vision. Patients with impaired DVA were significantly older than those with normal DVA. CONCLUSION: While the frequency of myopia corresponds to that found in the general population in Hong Kong, the nature of non-refractive impairment needs further investigation including systematic eye examination, and examination of medication and life-style factors. Periodical eye examinations should be part of comprehensive health assessment for chronic psychiatric patients.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed2002

The pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia in Chinese patients: a comparison of prescription patterns between 1996 and 1999.

AIMS: In 1996 a Hong Kong-wide survey of pharmacological treatment for schizophrenic inpatients identified a few idiosyncratic prescription patterns that were not consistent with international standards. In the context of continuous quality assurance, the survey was repeated in 1999 to monitor trends in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia and to identify changes in prescribing practices. It was expected that the widespread introduction of novel antipsychotic drugs coupled with continuing medical education would favourably alter prescribing habits. METHODS: A representative random sample of 1202 schizophrenic patients from all inpatient settings in Hong Kong was surveyed. Basic socio-demographic data and a list of all psychotropic medication taken on census day were collected. RESULTS: Significant improvement was noted in several aspects of pharmacotherapy in 1999 as compared with 1996. The total daily dosage of antipsychotic drugs decreased from 716 +/- 627 to 561 +/- 482 mg day-1 chlorpromazine equivalent (CPZeq) (Mann-Whitney U-test; Z = -3.906, P = 0.000; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 70.0, 240.2 mg day-1 CPZeq), for acute patients and from 923 +/- 809 to 675 +/- 545 mg day-1 CPZeq (Mann-Whitney U-test; Z=-5.036, P = 0.000; 95% CI = 175.57, 321.63 mg day-1 CPZeq) for chronic patients. The percentage of patients coprescribed antipsychotics and an antiparkinson drug significantly decreased from 67.8% to 61.8% (chi2 = 5.558, P = 0.018) in the chronic schizophrenia group. The percentage of patients taking atypical antipsychotic medication increased significantly from 5.5% to 19.2% (chi2 = 27.14, P = 0.000) in the acute and 3.4% to 12.3% (chi2 = 27.76, P = 0.000) in the chronic group. CONCLUSIONS: Repeated surveys of prescribing practices proved to be a useful tool to demonstrate trends in the pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia. Our findings suggest that the widespread use of atypical antipsychotic drugs contributed to a more rational pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Psychiatric morbidity in first time stroke patients in Hong Kong: a pilot study in a rehabilitation unit.

OBJECTIVE: There is a paucity of data on post-stroke psychiatric morbidity in Chinese populations. We examined the frequency of post-stroke psychiatric morbidity in Chinese first time stroke patients, including depressive and anxiety disorders, mania, and psychosis. METHODS: One hundred and fifty-seven patients following their first stroke, who were consecutively admitted to a rehabilitation unit, participated in this prospective, cross-sectional study. All subjects were interviewed by a qualified psychiatrist using the SCID-DSM-III-R. Subjects' cognitive function, neurological status, and level of functioning were also measured. Twenty-five (92.6%) of the subjects with the diagnosis of depression were followed up 6.0 +/- 3.9 months after the initial assessment. RESULTS: The frequency of all depressive disorders was 17.2%. Major depressive episodes, adjustment disorder with depressed mood, dysthymia, and generalized anxiety disorder were diagnosed in 7.6%, 8.2%, 1.3% and 0.6% of the subjects, respectively. No cases of other anxiety disorders, mania or psychosis were found. The majority of depressed subjects were in remission at the follow-up assessment. CONCLUSION: The low morbidity of affective disorders and their relatively favourable short-term outcome in Chinese first time stroke patients warrants further investigation.

Adult↗