Publications by authors named "Chun-bong Chow"

Background & Aims: Peripartum prophylaxis (PP) with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is the standard of care to prevent mother-to-child transmission of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection in mothers who are highly viremic. We investigated the maternal and infant outcomes in a large Chinese cohort of TDF-treated CHB pregnant participants.

Methods: In this prospective study, treatment-naive mothers with CHB and highly viremic (HBV DNA ≥200,000 IU/ml) but without cirrhosis were treated with TDF at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy.

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Background: Evidence supports the effectiveness of serious games in health education, but little is known about their effects on the psychosocial well-being of children in the general population.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the potential of a mobile game-based safety education program in improving children's safety and psychosocial outcomes.

Methods: Safe City is a mobile roleplaying game specifically designed to educate children in Hong Kong about safety.

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Background And Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association between birth weight (BW) and abnormal HOMA-IR in US adolescents aged 12-15 years. The role of concurrent body mass index (BMI) in adolescence was also examined.

Methods And Results: This retrospective cohort study included 3429 participants from NHANES with data in 1999-2020.

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Background: Simulation-based training improves neonatal resuscitation and decreases perinatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries. Interdisciplinary in-situ simulation may promote quality care in neonatal resuscitation. However, there is limited information regarding the effect of multidisciplinary in-situ simulation training (MIST) on neonatal outcomes.

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Background: Injury is an increasingly pressing global health issue. An effective surveillance system is required to monitor the trends and burden of injuries.

Objective: This study aimed to identify a set of valid and context-specific injury indicators to facilitate the establishment of an injury surveillance program in Hong Kong.

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Background: Comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment of neurodevelopmental outcomes of high-risk neonates may have significant challenges in low- and middle-income countries, in addition to socio-cultural barriers. We aimed to compare the time to diagnosis of neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) and cerebral palsy (CP) in preterm neonates (<29 weeks) at a multidisciplinary assessment and care (MDAC) clinic with that of a conventional high-risk infant follow-up clinic in China.

Methods: All eligible surviving very preterm neonates born at <29 weeks gestation at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital between January 2015 and December 2019 were followed up in conventional (2015-2017) and MDAC (2018-2020) clinics up to 2 years corrected age with clinical demographic information collected in a prospective database.

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Background: Age-specific incidence of acute myocarditis/pericarditis in adolescents following Comirnaty vaccination in Asia is lacking. This study aimed to study the clinical characteristics and incidence of acute myocarditis/pericarditis among Hong Kong adolescents following Comirnaty vaccination.

Methods: This is a population cohort study in Hong Kong that monitored adverse events following immunization through a pharmacovigilance system for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines.

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Background And Objectives: Interventions on adolescent drinking have yielded mixed results. We assessed the effectiveness of an Internet quiz game intervention compared to conventional health education.

Methods: In this cluster randomized controlled trial with parallel group design, we randomly allocated 30 participating schools to the Internet quiz game intervention or the conventional health education (comparison) group, with 1:1 ratio.

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Previous studies have shown that seasonal influenza strikes annually causing millions to fall sick and several hundred thousand to die globally. Hence, universal vaccination is a public health aim to control influenza. The Hong Kong Government started to introduce the School Outreach Vaccination (SOV) program in 2018 to increase vaccination rates in children.

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CTNNB1-related disorder is an autosomal dominant neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a variable degree of cognitive impairment, microcephaly, truncal hypotonia, peripheral spasticity, visual defects, and dysmorphic features. In this case series, we report the clinical and molecular findings of nine Chinese patients affected by CTNNB1-related disorders. The facial features of these affected individuals appear to resemble what had been previously described, with thin upper lip (77.

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Importance: Schools were closed intermittently across Hong Kong to control the COVID-19 outbreak, which led to significant physical and psychosocial problems among children and youths.

Objective: To compare the clinical characteristics and sources of infection among children and youths with COVID-19 during the 3 waves of outbreaks in Hong Kong in 2020.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study involved children and youths aged 18 years or younger with COVID-19 in the 3 waves of outbreaks from January 23 through December 2, 2020.

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Background: Adopting the family-centered care (FCC) approach in the neonatal care has been shown to improve breastfeeding rate and parental satisfaction. To minimize the transmission of COVID-19, family visit in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was suspended in China. In order to maintain the benefits of FCC, the Hong Kong University-Shenzhen Hospital NICU modified FCC strategies.

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Quantification of injury burden is vital for injury prevention, as it provides a guide for setting policies and priorities. This study generated a set of Hong Kong specific disability weights (DWs) derived from patient experiences and hospital records. Patients were recruited from the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of three major trauma centers in Hong Kong between September 2014 and December 2015 and subsequently interviewed with a focus on health-related quality of life at most three times over a 12-month period.

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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a profound impact on the health and development of children worldwide. There is limited evidence on the impact of COVID-19 and its related school closures and disease-containment measures on the psychosocial wellbeing of children; little research has been done on the characteristics of vulnerable groups and factors that promote resilience.

Methods: We conducted a large-scale cross-sectional population study of Hong Kong families with children aged 2-12 years.

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To investigate the incidence and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in very and extremely preterm (28- <32, and <28 weeks gestation, respectively) neonates, and the predictive factors for ROP in the early hours after birth and during hospitalization. Using a prospective database supplemented with a retrospective chart review, we identified preterm neonates born at gestation <32 weeks at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital between January 2015 and August 2018. Demographic and clinical variables were studied including indicators of disease acuity in the first 24 h after birth.

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As another wave of COVID-19 outbreak has approached in July 2020, a larger scale COVID-19 pediatric Asian cohort summarizing the clinical observations is warranted. Children confirmed with COVID-19 infection from the Republic of Korea, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Wuhan, China, during their first waves of local outbreaks were included. Their clinical characteristics and the temporal sequences of the first waves of local paediatric outbreaks were compared.

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Background: Children have high levels of curiosity and eagerness to explore. This makes them more vulnerable to danger and hazards, and they thus have a higher risk of injury. Safety education such as teaching safety rules and tips is vital to prevent children from injuries.

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Objective: The study aimed to explore the association between area-based coverage of community services and the incidence of self-harm, which will provide an evaluation framework for the support of self-harm.

Methods: Enhanced two-Step floating catchment area method was used to estimate the centersto- population ratio and geographical accessibility adjusted by a distance-decay function. Spearman's rank coefficient was used to examine the association between the self-harm rate and adjusted accessibility index.

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Rapid repeat pregnancy (RRP) often occurs in teenage and young mothers. Mothers with a history of RRP are more likely to experience high stress increasing their risk of child maltreatment. Despite these challenges, some mothers can continue to cope adaptively.

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Objectives: To describe the mortality patterns, comorbidities, and attendance at accident and emergency departments among children with Down syndrome in Hong Kong.

Study Design: This is a population-based, retrospective cohort study of live births of children with Down syndrome delivered between 1995 and 2014, as identified from territory-wide hospitalization data in Hong Kong. The Kaplan-Meier product limit method was adopted to estimate the survival probabilities of children with Down syndrome by selected demographic and clinical characteristics.

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School-based vaccination, as a means to mitigate seasonal influenza outbreak, depends on attaining adequate coverage rate. We evaluated the potential of a fully subsidized school outreach vaccination (SOV) program to achieve epidemic prevention potential in Hong Kong. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of SOV program 2018-2019 on influenza vaccination rates and influenza-like illness (ILI) in the primary school students and their household members during the influenza season.

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Objective: This study aimed at exploring the attempters' perception of community social services included any barriers to seeking help and services.

Method: The participants were patients with self-harming behavior aged 15 years or above. A set of guiding questions were designed to explore the general barriers and accessibility to community social services.

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There is inconsistent evidence on the association between prenatal substance exposure and child behavioral problems. Children affected by maternal substance misuse are vulnerable to physical abuse and neglect. Few studies have examined factors contributing to internalizing and externalizing problems in these children.

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Previous studies point to a link between parenting style and child maltreatment, but evidence from a Chinese context is lacking. We investigated the association between parenting style and child maltreatment in Hong Kong, and examined whether family socio-economic status and child gender moderate this relationship. Using stratified random sampling, 7585 children in Grade 1 to Grade 3 of 51 schools in Hong Kong were recruited and their parents were invited to complete the questionnaire.

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