Publications by authors named "Chong Yap-Seng"
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation (DNAm) clocks estimate biological age according to DNA methylation. This study investigated the associations between measures of physical function and physical performance and ten DNAm clocks in the oldest-old in Singapore. The SG90 cohort included a subset of community-dwelling oldest-old from the Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS) and Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study (SLAS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Apolipoproteins as an integral part of lipoproteins are crucial for the transport and metabolism of lipids. However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies to quantify the concentrations of maternal apolipoproteins from preconception to postpartum and their associations with maternal metabolic health and offspring birth outcomes.
Methods: Quantification of apolipoproteins was performed on maternal plasma samples (N = 243 trios) collected at preconception, 26-28 weeks' pregnancy, and three months postpartum in the Singapore PREconception Study of long-Term maternal and child Outcomes (S-PRESTO) cohort study.
Life stage impact on the human skin ecosystem: lipids and the microbial community.
NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes
January 2025
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the relationship between skin oxylipins, which are bioactive lipids produced from fatty acids by skin microbes, and different microbial communities on the skin of children and adults.
- Findings highlighted that Malassezia restricta, a type of skin fungus, has a positive impact on the production of a specific oxylipin (9,10-DiHOME) in adults, while showing a negative correlation with its precursor in children, indicating differences in skin chemistry across age groups.
- The research suggests a complex communication system between skin microbes and host lipid metabolism that could have implications for skin health, emphasizing the need for further exploration of these interactions for potential therapeutic applications.
Objectives: To examine the predictors of parent-child bonding and parenting satisfaction using structural equation models at three time points across the perinatal period: (1) during pregnancy at >24 gestational weeks, (2) one month postpartum, and (3) three months postpartum.
Methods: This longitudinal exploratory quantitative study recruited a convenient sample of 118 heterosexual couples (236 participants; 118 mothers and 118 fathers) from maternity clinics of a public tertiary hospital in Singapore. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the parents' characteristics and study variables.
Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits and repetitive behaviors. Environmental pollutants may contribute to the etiology of ASD, but studies of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have shown conflicting results.
Objectives: We assessed associations between cord blood concentrations of PFAS with autistic traits at age seven years in a Singaporean birth cohort.
Article Synopsis
- * In a sample of 382 Asian women planning to conceive, the research identifies a new liver fat cutoff of 2.07% for diagnosing MetS, with trends indicating worsened MetS traits and plasma metabolomic changes as liver fat increases.
- * Results show that preconception liver fat levels significantly correlate with the risk of gestational diabetes, with moderate liver fat (2.07% to 5.56%) doubling and high liver fat (≥5.56%) increasing the risk seven
Background: Body mass index (BMI) trajectories have been used to assess the growth of children with respect to their peers, and to anticipate future obesity and disease risk. While retrospective BMI trajectories have been actively studied, models to prospectively predict continuous BMI trajectories have not been investigated.
Materials And Methods: Using longitudinal BMI measurements between birth and age 10 y from a mother-offspring cohort, we leveraged a multi-task Gaussian process approach to develop and evaluate a unified framework for modeling, clustering, and prospective prediction of BMI trajectories.
Background: The development of the breast for lactation occurs throughout pregnancy. It is unknown whether pregnancy complications resulting in poor fetal growth can affect breastfeeding (BF) success.
Objectives: We examined whether fetal growth-related pregnancy complications were associated with earlier BF cessation and changes in the concentrations of human milk biomarkers of low milk production.
Background: Phenotypic age (PhenoAge), a widely used marker of biological aging, has been shown to be a robust predictor of all-cause mortality and morbidity in different populations. Existing studies on biological aging have primarily focused on individual domains, resulting in a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the multi-systemic dysregulation that occurs in aging.
Methods: PhenoAge was evaluated based on a linear combination of chronological age (CA) and 9 clinical biomarkers in 952 multi-ethnic Asian women of reproductive age.
Article Synopsis
- Structural variants (SVs) play a crucial role in genetic differences that relate to traits and diseases, but most research has focused on European populations.
- This study compiles a catalogue of over 73,000 SVs from a diverse group of 8,392 Singaporeans, revealing that about 65% of these SVs are novel and specific to Asian ancestry groups.
- The findings help identify clinically relevant SVs and improve genetic research by addressing biases related to ancestry, which is important for equity and diversity in the field.
Singapore, located strategically at the meeting point of the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, has established itself as a global financial and economic hub. Despite its small geographical size, Singapore is home to over 5 million people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The city-state's medical education landscape has evolved significantly over the past century.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: In Singapore, diabetes imposes a huge population health and economic burden. Despite that, there is paucity of evidence on the health economics of screening programs for type 2 diabetes, especially in the context of screening after gestational diabetes (GDM). The objective of this study is to assess cost-effectiveness of universal lifelong screening for type 2 diabetes after GDM, which is supported by current guidelines, compared with elective screening where 54% of mothers with GDM undertake one-off screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaternal Depressive Symptoms and Risk for Childhood Depression: Role of Executive Functions.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
October 2024
Objective: Offspring of mothers with depression are at increased risk for executive function (EF) deficits and later depressive symptoms, but limited studies have examined EF as an intermediary pathway. This study examined the role of EF in mediating the association between maternal and child depressive symptoms.
Method: Data were from a longitudinal birth cohort comprising 739 participants followed from the antenatal period for 12 years.
Disorganized attachment is a risk for mental health problems, with increasing work focused on understanding biological mechanisms. Examining late childhood brain morphology may be informative - this stage coincides with the onset of many mental health problems. Past late childhood research reveals promising candidates, including frontal lobe cortical thickness and hippocampal volume.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - The study investigates the link between evening-chronotype children, sleep issues, and socioemotional problems during preschool and later school age, emphasizing that evening-chronotype children experience more socioemotional challenges and sleep difficulties.
- - Using data from 399 preschoolers, researchers looked at how sleep problems and duration influenced the relationship between chronotype and socioemotional issues, revealing that sleep problems, not duration, played a key mediating role as the children grew older.
- - The findings suggest that addressing sleep problems early on can potentially mitigate socioemotional issues in school-aged children, particularly those with an evening chronotype.
Article Synopsis
- - The study evaluates the effectiveness of the Parentbot, a digital healthcare assistant, in improving various outcomes for parents during the perinatal period, including parenting self-efficacy, stress, and mental health.
- - Conducted with 118 heterosexual couples in Singapore, the research involved random assignment to either the intervention group (Parentbot plus standard care) or a control group (standard care only), with data collected at multiple points postpartum.
- - Results showed that the intervention group reported higher parenting self-efficacy at one month postpartum and lower anxiety levels among mothers at three months postpartum compared to the control group.
Article Synopsis
- - Researchers studied how a mother's diet quality and eating habits during pregnancy affect her child's metabolic health, particularly focusing on weight and insulin resistance in children by age 6.
- - They found that a better diet quality during pregnancy was linked to lower insulin resistance in children, while mothers who mainly ate at night tended to have offspring with higher insulin resistance, especially among boys.
- - Overall, the study highlights the significance of maternal eating patterns and diet quality during pregnancy, suggesting both factors can influence a child’s metabolic health, with stronger effects observed in male children and in those exposed to lower diet quality.
Article Synopsis
- A study examined how physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep—collectively known as 24-h movement behaviors—affect cognitive development in children, specifically focusing on executive function and academic performance.
- The research involved 432 children in Singapore aged 5.5 to 9 years, using wrist-worn accelerometers to accurately measure their movement behaviors and various cognitive assessments to gauge outcomes.
- Findings revealed that while overall 24-h movement behaviors didn't link to cognitive performance, reallocating time from moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to sleep improved academic achievement scores.
Background: The cognitive benefits of breastfeeding are widely recognized; however, its effects on brain development and later academic skills require further examination. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal relations between breastmilk feeding, neurophysiological changes, and early academic skills.
Methods: In the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) birth cohort, breastmilk feeding practices were collected every 3 months from 3 weeks to 18 months postpartum.
Objective: We explored the potential value of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in early pregnancy in predicting gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and pregnancy outcomes.
Research Design And Methods: The study recruited 103 multiethnic Asian pregnant women with overweight or obesity from a hospital-based, prospective cohort. All of them had worn blinded CGM devices in early pregnancy and underwent the universal GDM screening at 24-28 gestation weeks.
Objective: We aimed to summarize the association between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its intergenerational cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) impacts in both mothers and offspring post-delivery in existing literature.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus were utilized for searching publications between January 1980 and June 2024, with data extraction and meta-analysis continuing until 31 July 2024. Based on a predefined PROSPERO protocol, studies published as full-length, English-language journal articles that reported the presence of GDM during pregnancy and its association with any CVD development post-delivery were selected.
Objective: To characterise lifestyle patterns (comprising dietary and movement behaviour aspects) of children in Singapore and examine the correlates of these patterns.
Design: An observational study approach was used. Children recorded their diet and activities over two weekdays and two weekend days on a validated web-based assessment, My E-Diary for Activities and Lifestyle (MEDAL).
Background: The loss of ancestral microbes, or the "disappearing microbiota hypothesis" has been proposed to play a critical role in the rise of inflammatory and immune diseases in developed nations. The effect of this loss is most consequential during early-life, as initial colonizers of the newborn gut contribute significantly to the development of the immune system.
Methods: In this longitudinal study (day 3, week 3, and month 3 post-birth) of infants of Asian ancestry born in Singapore, we studied how generational immigration status and common perinatal factors affect bifidobacteria and subsp.
Background: Parents experience many challenges during the perinatal period. Mobile app-based interventions and chatbots show promise in delivering health care support for parents during the perinatal period.
Objective: This descriptive qualitative process evaluation study aims to explore the perinatal experiences of parents in Singapore, as well as examine the user experiences of the mobile app-based intervention with an in-built chatbot titled Parentbot-a Digital Healthcare Assistant (PDA).