1,721,562 research outputs found
Female Sexual Dysfunction among Young and Middle-Aged Women in Hong Kong: Prevalence and Risk Factors
No full textIntroduction. Sexual dysfunction is a serious public health problem that affects women's quality of life. However, there is very little epidemiological data on its incidence in Hong Kong Chinese women. Aim. To estimate the prevalence of, and risk factors associated with sexual dysfunction among young and middle-aged women in Hong Kong. Methods. The study was part of the ninth Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice survey conducted by the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong in 2007. The dataset comprised 1,510 face-to-face interviews with Hong Kong Chinese women aged 19-49 living in the community. Main Outcome Measure. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition classification of sexual dysfunction was used to measure female sexual dysfunction (FSD). Results. At least one form of FSD was reported by 37.9% of the sample. Multivariate analysis showed that having sought medical help for sexual problems (odds ratio [OR]=4.20), having a partner with erectile dysfunction (OR=2.44) and premature ejaculation (OR=2.56), perceiving sex as unimportant to marriage (OR=1.57), and reporting marital dissatisfaction (OR=1.45) were all significant risk factors for FSD and its specific components among the sample. However, having liberal attitudes to sex (OR=0.63) was a protective factor. Conclusion. The prevalence of FSD is lower among Hong Kong Chinese young and middle-aged women than in the United States and some Asian countries. Factors contributing to the risk of FSD span the domains of sexual experience, attitudes to sex, and relationship factors. These findings suggest future directions for the delivery of services addressing the prevention and treatment of FSD. Zhang H and Yip PSF. Female sexual dysfunction among young and middle-aged women in Hong Kong: Prevalence and risk factors. © 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.link_to_subscribed_fulltex
Neighbourhood effects on mental health in Hong Kong
No full textCharacteristics of places where people live can affect their mental health. Although there is a growing body of research into the relationship between neighbourhood context and mental health, evidence is still insufficient. Furthermore, there are limited studies conducted in non-Western settings. The aim of this thesis was to investigate neighbourhood-level factors influencing mental health in Hong Kong by conducting three studies.
The first study examined the geographic patterning, socioeconomic correlates, and inequalities of suicide in Hong Kong. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to estimate smoothed standardised mortality ratios for suicide (2005-2010) in small geographic units and their associations with a range of area socioeconomic characteristics. The “city centre” of Hong Kong, a generally non-deprived area, showed low suicide rates. However, there were high rates concentrating in some socioeconomically deprived, densely populated areas. Areas in the most deprived quintile had a suicide rate more than two times higher than the least deprived. Suicide
rates were associated with indicators of socioeconomic deprivation and social fragmentation.
In the second study, data from a population-based survey was used to investigate the association of individuals’ subjective well-being (measured by life satisfaction) individual-, household- and neighbourhood-level characteristics and any evidence for cross-level interactions. Multilevel models were used for analyses. Neighbourhood-level characteristics accounted for a small but significant proportion (around 5% or less) of the variance of life satisfaction. The area poverty rate and three neighbourhood factors (deprivation, social fragmentation, and ageing) had negative effects. There was evidence for cross-level interactions – the negative impact of neighbourhood poverty and social fragmentation appeared to be attenuated amongst households receiving social welfare allowance and living in public housing.
The third study investigated the relationship between the two mental health outcomes examined in the first two studies, i.e. suicide and subjective well-being. The association between regional suicide rates and mean scores of life satisfaction and happiness was assessed using Pearson correlation. There was a very strong inverse association of suicide rate with local levels of both life satisfaction (r = -0.84) and happiness (r =-0.83). The association was markedly attenuated after controlling for area socioeconomic characteristics; this, in parallel to findings from the first two studies, demonstrated the neighbourhood effects on mental health.
This thesis provides new evidence for the effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic context on suicide risk and subjective well-being in Hong Kong. The findings have implications for suicide prevention strategies and policies aimed at improving population well-being by focusing on disadvantaged and disconnected neighbourhoods.published_or_final_versionSocial Work and Social AdministrationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
Suicide and the media in the Chinese contexts
No full textThe suicide and the media research field are generally concerned with the effect, content, and production of mass-disseminating suicide information. Most of the previous studies in the field were conducted in western countries. This dissertation is devoted to extending the research map to the Chinese contexts and moving the field forward into the new media era. It proposes a conceptual framework based on the social construction of reality theory and refines the framework through a combination of five studies.
Study 1 might be the first investigation on mass-disseminating suicide information’s effect on suicide occurrences in Mainland China, using the Foxconn suicides as a case study. It finds that the Foxconn suicides were temporally clustered and influenced by inter-person contagion within the company, as well as the newspapers’ reporting about the topic in Beijing, the nation’s capital.
Study2 examines the prominence and representation patterns of reporting the Foxconn suicides in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in 2010 calendar year. It demonstrates that the media coverage of the Foxconn suicides in the three societies generally experienced a three-phase evolving process in 2010. Meanwhile, within every phase, the media in different societies showed differences in their representations. Furthermore, the study investigates how the representation can be influenced by news sources and social contexts and explores possible explanations why the Beijing media’s reporting influenced the occurrences of the Foxconn suicides.
Study3 compares representation of suicides in case-control psychological autopsy studies with representation of the same suicides in Hong Kong media. Considering the psychological autopsy as relatively more rigorous and validated, the comparison examines the suicide news representation’s accuracy and stereotyping tendencies. It finds a strong homogenisation of the Hong Kong newspapers in accurately reporting suicide methods but inaccurately reporting suicide risk factors, and that their reporting was problematic in stereotyping of gender-and method-specific suicides.
Study 4 is a qualitative study of 33newspaper journalists’ experiences with producing suicide news from representative daily newspapers in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Utilising the grounded theory method, it extracts how the journalists construct media reality of suicide within a social context. The study summarises criteria of suicide news values, identifies three types of key agents which are often engaged by the journalists in constructing suicide news, and also generates a comparative framework of suicide news production in the Chinese contexts.
Study 5 examines what suicide-related information is easily accessible online in Mainland China and Hong Kong and compares it with its counterparts in English. It explores how the comparative framework proposed by Study 4 can also be applied to understand the nature of the online suicide information and serves as a bridge connecting the thesis with future studies on suicide and the new media.
The five studies collectively contribute to understanding the nature and mechanism of constructing media reality of suicide in the Chinese contexts. By applying the research findings, suicide prevention professionals would be able to develop context-sensitive strategies to cooperate with the media and prevent suicide.published_or_final_versionSocial Work and Social AdministrationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
A study on population dynamics in Bangladesh
No full textpublished_or_final_versionAsian StudiesDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
Semiparametric methods in generalized linear models for estimating population size and fatality rate
No full textpublished_or_final_versionabstractStatistics and Actuarial ScienceMasterMaster of Philosoph
Identifying risk factors for suicide research and prevention
No full textResearch on risk factor for suicidal behaviors has been broadly conducted to enhance knowledge of suicide prevention. However, there are still challenges for risk factor research. Four major research gaps have been identified: (1) uncertain effectiveness of the population approach versus the high-risk approach for suicide prevention; (2) lack of a valid and convenient Chinese-version screening tool for the severity of suicidal ideation among adolescents; (3) demand for testing the prospective associations of risk factors with suicidal ideation using a longitudinal designed population-based sample; and (4) necessity of pathway analysis to explore and confirm how risk factors interact with each other and lead to suicidality. This thesis aims to address these gaps through a combination of five studies.
Study 1 introduces an illness and death model to suicide prevention research. Elasticity and sensitivity analyses were performed. The findings revealed that the control of suicide incidence among the healthy population is the most effective prevention strategy whereas treatment of mental illness appears to be the least effective approach to suicide prevention.
Study 2 validates the psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of Reynolds’s Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ) and Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire Junior (SIQ-JR, a short version of the SIQ) in a sample of Hong Kong adolescents. A short, four-item version of the SIQ-JR has been suggested as an alternative to the SIQ and the SIQ-JR.
Study 3 identifies the history of psychiatric treatment, depression, anxiety, hopelessness, unstable marital status, poor economic circumstance, and a recent death of a first-degree relative as significant risk factors for the incidence of suicidal ideation. The associations of change in risk factors with the development of suicidal ideation have been tested. There are gender and age differences in the patterns of such associations.
Study 4 focuses on psychological factors associated with the first-ever incidence of suicidal ideation. Psychological factors have been detected generally to differ in their associations with the incidence and persistence of suicidality. The idea that depression partially mediates the effect of average life distress on the persistence of suicidal ideation has clinical value.
Study 5 introduces and tests a stressor and illness model as a theoretical framework reference for future risk factor research. Risk factors are classified into stressor, illness, and pattern factors. Both the simple and complex models are tested. Evidence supported the proposed mediating role of mental disorders between negative life events and severity of suicidal ideation. A gender-specific pattern of associations between stressors, illness, and severity of suicidal ideation has also been detected.
This thesis has made substantial theoretical, psychometric, and empirical contributions to the existing knowledge of suicide research.published_or_final_versionSocial Work and Social AdministrationDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
Statistical analysis for capture-recapture experiments in discrete time
No full textpublished_or_final_versionStatistics and Actuarial ScienceMasterMaster of Philosoph
Evaluation of Apgar score as an intermediate assessment of the risk ofearly mortality
No full textpublished_or_final_versionabstracttocPaediatrics and Adolescent MedicineDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
The moderating effect of coping on depression in the elderly: a Hong Kong study
No full textpublished_or_final_versionabstracttocSocial Work and Social AdministrationMasterMaster of Philosoph
Analysis of infectious disease data
No full textpublished_or_final_versionStatistics and Actuarial ScienceDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph
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