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Biomedical subjects

T P Ho

Publications and source records attributed to T P Ho.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Seasonal variation in suicides re-examined: no sex difference in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The seasonal variation in suicides in Hong Kong and Taiwan during the period 1981 to 1993 was examined using harmonic analysis. A single cycle per year with lowest incidence in the winter months was found in both locations and for both sexes. Despite the regional differences in ascertainment procedures and preferred suicide methods, the absence of a biseasonal distribution of female suicides was consistently observed. This finding was contrary to that reported in many Western countries. A non-shared psychosocial process underlying the cross-cultural differences in the seasonality of female suicide is suggested.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed1996

Changing patterns of suicide in Hong Kong.

This paper aims to examine the changes in frequency, distribution and methods of suicide in the past 30 years in Hong Kong, and to explore the sociocultural factors behind such changes. Official data on suicides, undetermined deaths and seven social variables were used to estimate the age-, sex- and method-specific suicide rates and monthly occurrence of suicides, and to measure social changes. A low "anomie" status has been maintained for the past 30 years in Hong Kong. After accounting for undetermined deaths, suicide rates in adult males and young females (aged 15-24 years) decreased, while the rates in adult females remained stable. The phenomenon may be due to a protective effect of employment in males and by the changing status of women in Hong Kong. Suicide by jumping from heights became increasingly common, but appears to have substituted other means of suicide rather than increasing the overall suicide rate. Winter months had lower suicide rates, and the same circannual rhythm across diverse cultures speaks for a shared socio-biological process underlying suicide.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Help-seeking behaviours among child psychiatric clinic attenders in Hong Kong.

This study employed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to describe the help-seeking processes and examine the determinants of help-seeking behaviours in 100 consecutive referrals to a child psychiatric clinic in Hong Kong. The help-seeking processes were characterized by (1) a sequential pattern of lay consultations starting from the families, relatives, friends and, rarely, neighbours; (2) detour via multiple professionals; (3) delay in reaching specialist services. A total of seven psychosocial variables were used to predict the help-seeking behaviours. The younger the child was, the more likely members outside the families were sought for advice. A large number of professional consultations was predicted by a high symptom score and relative old age in the referred child, less social disadvantages in the family and parental beliefs that family influences were not the cause of the child's problems. A long delay in reaching specialist services was predicted by a high symptom score in the child. Parental beliefs of outside influences being the cause of the child's problems predicted a short delay in reaching the clinic. Low awareness of services was the predominant difficulty parents encountered when they sought psychiatric care for their children. Public health education to demystify the cause of mental disturbances, close networking with teachers and general practitioners, and establishment of community child mental health clinics for easy access are recommended.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Establishing the constructs of childhood behavioral disturbances in a Chinese population: a questionnaire study.

The behavioral problems of Chinese children were examined in a questionnaire study of a representative sample of 3,069 seven-year-old Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong using Rutter's questionnaires for completion by parents and teachers. Separate robust dimensions of hyperactivity, antisocial, and neurotic behaviors were evident. The correlations among different dimensions were similar to those reported in the West. Short-term longitudinal analysis suggested that these dimensions were stable over time and that antisocial behaviors might develop in hyperactive children. The finding highlights the necessity of differentiating the hyperactive domain from the antisocial one. A significant source effect was found in all three dimensions. Chinese schoolboys had nearly two times the level of questionnaire-rated hyperactivity compared with school boys in the West; but it is premature to conclude that hyperactivity is more common in Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong. Cross-cultural differences in adults' expectations and tolerance remain a plausible explanation.

Caregivers↗
PubMed1996

Situational versus pervasive hyperactivity in a community sample.

Groups of home and school situational hyperactive primary schoolboys identified from the community were compared with pervasive hyperactive and non-hyperactive controls on a wide range of measures. The hyperactive groups tended to persist in the same category over a half-year period. Both situational hyperactive groups had lower measured activity levels than the pervasive hyperactive group and only the latter differed from non-hyperactive controls. Home hyperactivity was characterized by poor family relationships and was not distinguishable from non-hyperactive home-antisocial controls. School hyperactive boys had specific correlates of low intelligence, motor clumsiness, poor reading and academic abilities. Pervasive hyperactive subjects differed from both situational groups in showing a higher percentage of delayed language development. While home hyperactivity has dubious identity, the distinct pattern of external correlates in school and pervasive hyperactivity speak for the need to regard these as separate entities.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1996

Separation and comorbidity of hyperactivity and conduct disturbance in Chinese schoolboys.

In a two-stage community study of 3069 Chinese schoolboys in Hong Kong, those entering stage 2 were classified by scores on Rutter's teacher and parent questionnaires into: (1) a mixed hyperactive/conduct-disturbed (HA-CD) group; (2) a pure hyperactive (HA) group; (3) a pure conduct-disturbed (CD) group; and (4) a normal control group. The four groups of children were compared on a series of psychosocial, cognitive and neurodevelopmental measures. This was followed by a regression analysis to examine the specificity of the differential patterns of associations between HA and CD. There was a mix of negative and positive findings defying a simple, definitive conclusion. However, the positive findings that did emerge supported a growing body of recent literature which favoured a separation of HA from CD and their cross-cultural validity: the former was associated with neurodevelopmental impairments, the latter with family disharmony. The mixed condition, HA-CD, was a hybrid of its two constituent conditions, displaying the attributes of both.

Achievement↗
PubMed1996

The diagnosis and prevalence of hyperactivity in Chinese schoolboys.

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to examine the validity of different diagnostic definitions of hyperactivity in a Chinese population. Estimates of the prevalence of hyperactivity were made according to these different diagnostic definitions. METHOD: In a two-stage epidemiological study of hyperactivity in Hong Kong, 3069 Chinese schoolboys were screened by questionnaires; and a stratified sample of 611 of them entered a second stage for more detailed diagnostic assessment. RESULTS: Children with hyperkinetic disorder (ICD-10) or ADDH (DSM-III) both displayed significant hyperactive symptoms, but with somewhat different external correlates; hyperkinetic disorder tended to show more neurodevelopmental impairments, ADDH more cognitive and educational difficulties. These findings raise the possibility of heterogeneity in the disorders present with hyperactivity. The DSM-III-R category of ADHD was more common, and those extra cases, that did not overlap with ADDH or hyperkinetic disorder, included children with no obvious behavioural, cognitive or neurodevelopmental impairments. Hence ADHD may be an over-inclusive category. Prevalence rates for hyperkinetic disorder, ADDH and ADHD were respectively 0.78%, 6.1% and 8.9%. CONCLUSIONS: A disorder of hyperactivity does exist in the Chinese culture, displaying the same kinds of symptomatology and external correlates as in the West. The prevalence rates of hyperkinetic disorder and ADDH in Chinese schoolboys are on the low side when compared to those reported in Western studies.

Attention↗
PubMed1995

Characteristics of youth suicide in Hong Kong.

This paper explores the intrapersonal and sociocultural factors behind youth suicide in Hong Kong. The coroner's court reports of consecutive population-based youth suicide (below age of 25 years, n = 303) cases from 1986 to 1992 were reviewed. Compared with other countries, Hong Kong had low male but high female youth suicide rates. The number of undetermined deaths did not significantly affect the estimated suicide rates. Cross-cultural differences in youth suicide rates may be understood from a differential distribution of risk factors and cultural attitudes towards role behaviours and suicide. Youth suicides in Hong Kong were characterised by a high prevalence of psychiatric disturbances and age-normative precipitants; both findings bear great resemblances to samples studied elsewhere. The results were evaluated in light of studies in different sociocultural backgrounds and highlighted the universality and specificity of youth suicide in Hong Kong.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Fat phobic and non-fat phobic anorexia nervosa: a comparative study of 70 Chinese patients in Hong Kong.

A mixed retrospective-prospective study of 70 Chinese anorexic patients in Hong Kong shows that although they were similar to Western anorexics in most other ways, 41 (58.6%) of them did not exhibit any fear of fatness throughout their course of illness. Instead, these non-fat phobic patients used epigastric bloating (31.4%), no appetite/hunger (15.7%) or simply eating less (12.9%) as legitimating rationales for food refusal and emaciation. Compared to fat phobic anorexics, they were significantly slimmer pre-morbidly (P < 0.0001) and were less likely to exhibit bulimia (P = 0.001). The possible explanations for the absence of fat phobia and the interpretive dilemma this provokes are discussed from historical, pathoplastic and cultural anthropological perspectives. It is argued that anorexia nervosa may display phenomenological plurality in a Westernizing society, and its identity may be conceptualized without invoking the explanatory construct of fat phobia exclusively. As non-fat phobic anorexia nervosa displays no culturally peculiar features, it is not strictly speaking a Western culture-bound syndrome, but may evolve into its contemporary fat phobic vogue under the permeative impact of Westernization. Its careful evaluation may help clarify the aetiology and historical transformation of eating disorder, foster the development of a cross-culturally valid taxonomy of morbid states of self-starvation, and exemplify some of the crucial issues that need to be tackled in the cross-cultural study of mental disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Sexual abuse in Chinese children in Hong Kong: a review of 134 cases.

This is a retrospective study of 134 cases of sexual abuse in Chinese children aged 16 years or under in Hong Kong. The data with respect to the victim's age, sex, severity and type (intra- or extrafamilial) of abuse, perpetrator's characteristics and family disturbances were analysed. The overall profile is similar to that reported in the West. The reasons for the apparently low prevalence, younger age of victim and low proportion of male victims are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1984

Extensibility characteristics of human cheek--visco-elastic properties.

Using a hydraulic bellows system mounted on a maxillary partial denture, continuous force-displacement data were taken in an edentulous area in the maxillary bicuspid-molar region on ten adults. Both loading and unloading force-displacement curves showed three segments. Two visco-elastic properties - hysteresis and relaxation - were consistently evident. The maximum difference in force-magnitude of the hysteresis loop was 1.02 g. A pre-conditioning phenomenon of the cheek tissue, evidence by a reduction of the area of the hysteresis loop, was observed in a series of repeated runs. The significance of the study was that: (1) in some individuals, the cheek could be displaced, by expansion of the molars, up to 1 mm into a second stable position; and (2) the relaxation phenomenon suggests a limited adjustive capacity in cheek stiffness.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Physical properties of human lips: experimental and theoretical analysis.

The lip stiffness characteristics in the vertical plane of a white population sample, aged 18-26, were studied. The physical properties of the lip system were analyzed and a mathematical model was derived to approximate this system. The instrumentation consisted of a force-transducer bar, a head holder and a three-directional micrometer adjustment. Four specific contact areas were used. Individual lower lip is stiffer than upper lip and the corresponding male lip is stiffer than the female lip. The force-displacement relationship approximates a linear function at small displacements (less than 1 mm) and is a second order function at larger displacements. A mechanical T-spring model approximates the system to an accuracy of about 96%.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Congenital anosmia.

We present two cases demonstrating congenital anosmia. In both cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has served to highlight an interesting clinical oddity. To date, there has only been one study of the use of MRI in the assessment of patients with congenital anosmia who do not have Kallmann's syndrome.

Adolescent↗