Height and mental health and health utility among ethnic Chinese in a polyclinic sample in Singapore.

Introduction: Whether fi nal height is associated with quality of life and mental health is a matter of epidemiological and medical concern. Both social and biological explanations have been previously proposed. This study aims to assess the associations in ethnic Chinese in Singapore.

Using spatial accessibility to identify polyclinic service gaps and volume of under-served population in Singapore using Geographic Information System.

Primary care services in Singapore are provided by 18 Government-funded polyclinics and about 1200 private General Practitioners (GPs). This study aims to examine the spatial accessibility to polyclinics and identify service gaps, and suggest optimal sites using Geographic Information System (GIS) to aid in future planning. A national database containing 3.

The association of body mass index with health-related quality of life: an exploratory study in a multiethnic Asian population.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a multiethnic Asian population in Singapore, and to explore if the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of alternative BMI cutoffs for Asians could be further strengthened by evidence of higher risk of impaired HRQoL using these criteria.

Methods: Consenting English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil-speaking primary care patients (age >or= 21 years) were interviewed using English/their respective mother tongue versions of the EQ-5D/EQ-VAS, Health Utilities Index (HUI2 & HUI3) and the SF-6D. We first evaluated the relationship between BMI and HRQoL (overall and individual attributes for each instrument) using multiple linear/logistic regression (where appropriate) to adjust for factors known to affect HRQoL.

Improving access to outpatient cardiac care at the national heart centre--a partnership between specialists and primary care.

Ensuring timely access to specialist care is an important indicator of the quality of a health service. Demand for cardiology outpatient appointments has grown considerably in the last decade, leading to increased waiting time for cardiology appointments at public hospitals. This paper examines the effectiveness of past and ongoing strategies initiated by the National Heart Centre, many of which were in collaboration with SingHealth Polyclinics, documents the lessons learnt, and provides a framework for approaching this problem.