Publications by authors named "Janet Wong"

Background: Breastfeeding is vital for the health and well-being of both mothers and infants, and it is crucial to create supportive environments that promote and maintain breastfeeding practices.

Objective: The objective of this paper was to describe the development of a breastfeeding-friendly app called "bfGPS" (HKU TALIC), which provides comprehensive territory-wide information on breastfeeding facilities in Hong Kong, with the goal of fostering a breastfeeding-friendly community.

Methods: The development of bfGPS can be categorized into three phases, which are (1) planning, prototype development, and preimplementation evaluation; (2) implementation and updates; and (3) usability evaluation.

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Background: We aimed to identify the central lifestyle, the most impactful among lifestyle factor clusters; the central health outcome, the most impactful among health outcome clusters; and the bridge lifestyle, the most strongly connected to health outcome clusters, across 29 countries to optimise resource allocation for local holistic health improvements.

Methods: From July 2020 to August 2021, we surveyed 16 461 adults across 29 countries who self-reported changes in 18 lifestyle factors and 13 health outcomes due to the pandemic. Three networks were generated by network analysis for each country: lifestyle, health outcome, and bridge networks.

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Loneliness has been recognized as a pressing global health threat. Research shows that loneliness is associated with depressive symptoms, but less is known about what factors might influence this relationship. This study tested the hypothesis that mindfulness would buffer the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms.

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Background: A novel handheld point-of-care high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I analyser has recently been introduced to the market. Evaluating its diagnostic performance against laboratory standards is imperative, given the variations in cardiac troponin levels across populations. This study compared the diagnostic performance between the point-of-care high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assay (Siemens Healthineers Atellica VTLi) and a laboratory high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assay (Abbott ARCHITECT STAT High Sensitive Troponin-I) performed using blood samples from various populations (overall, male, female, younger and older) of Chinese patients with chest pain.

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  • * It includes a sample of 146 young adults who completed surveys on childhood trauma, self-stigma, and dissociative symptoms at the start and again after three months.
  • * The findings suggest that self-stigma may worsen the effects of childhood trauma on dissociative symptoms, highlighting the importance of addressing self-stigma in childhood trauma survivors for better mental health outcomes.
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Background: Dissociative symptoms are often conceptualized as a response to childhood trauma. However, most previous studies did not consider dissociation as a multidimensional phenomenon and only focused on English-speaking samples.

Objectives: To establish the cross-cultural validity of dissociation and examine the relationship of childhood trauma with different specific dissociative symptoms across two different samples.

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy emerges as a compelling and urgent concern within the domain of public health, casting a long shadow over a substantial cohort of women. Its pernicious consequences extend beyond the individual, enveloping the well-being of both the mother and the fetus, giving rise to an elevated risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, fetal harm, and maternal psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and, tragically, maternal mortality. Despite the prevalence of IPV being comparable to other conditions like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, a universal screening protocol for IPV remains absent globally.

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There is an ongoing debate regarding whether ICD-11 complex PTSD and DSM-5 borderline personality disorder (BPD) are the same syndrome. Little is known about the extent to which these two conditions overlap and whether they exhibit distinct clinical correlates in Asian cultures. This study examined the co-occurrence of ICD-11 complex PTSD and DSM-5 BPD in a sample of treatment seekers in Hong Kong (N = 220).

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Background: Health disparities among ethnic minority and migrant women can lead to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study explores the maternity care experiences of South Asian women in Hong Kong, providing insights for woman-centred and culturally responsive care in the East Asia.

Objective: To understand South Asian women's views and experiences regarding maternity care services in Hong Kong.

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Trauma can give rise to mental health problems and emotional and interpersonal difficulties, which in turn can perpetuate the cycle of trauma and adversity for future generations. However, little is known about the prevalence and potential effects of trauma and trauma-related mental health problems among parents. The primary goal of this study was to examine childhood and adulthood trauma and trauma-related symptoms among mothers of children aged between 6 and 18.

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  • The study examined the relationship between complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) and dissociative symptoms among individuals seeking treatment.
  • Out of 165 participants meeting C-PTSD criteria, only 42.3% showed clinically significant dissociative symptoms.
  • The results suggest that while C-PTSD does not categorize it as a dissociative disorder, it’s crucial to acknowledge dissociation as a significant aspect of C-PTSD experiences.
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Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the use of baby-friendly community initiative (BFCI) model on various stakeholders in the community.

Design: Quasi-experimental research design.

Method: The study was conducted in public premises and online workshops from April 2019 to September 2022.

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  • A study surveyed over 16,500 adults from 30 countries to assess their fears related to various diseases and events, focusing on the implications for public health strategies.
  • The most significant fear reported was the loss of family members, followed by fears of cancer and stroke, while factors such as losing a mobile phone and social isolation ranked as less feared.
  • The findings suggest that understanding these fears can enhance public health messaging and support initiatives aimed at addressing bereavement, promoting preventive services for diseases, and managing fears during health emergencies.
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  • The study investigates factors influencing people's willingness to continue digital work arrangements that emerged during the pandemic, particularly among residents of Hong Kong aged 18 and older.
  • Data was gathered through web-based surveys from over 1,000 participants, revealing that about 39% were willing to maintain digital work, with employment status and longer screen time being positive influences.
  • Negative influences included older age, extroversion, and higher eHealth literacy, indicating that certain demographics are less inclined to sustain remote work practices.
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Background: Central and bridge nodes can drive significant overall improvements within their respective networks. We aimed to identify them in 16 prevalent chronic diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to guide effective intervention strategies and appropriate resource allocation for most significant holistic lifestyle and health improvements.

Methods: We surveyed 16 512 adults from July 2020 to August 2021 in 30 territories.

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Background: The incidence of sexually transmitted infections has been increasing throughout the world. Additionally, substantial changes in emerging adults' attitudes toward sex and the popularization of premarital sex could further affect the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. With the high acceptability and effectiveness of instant messaging (IM) interventions for health promotion, there is potential for such interventions to improve condom use knowledge and promote safer sex practice.

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The tribological properties of lubricants can be effectively improved by the introduction of amphiphilic molecules, whose performance is largely affected by their polar head groups. In this work, the tribological performance in steel-steel contacts of two isomers, glycerol monostearate (GMS) and stearyl glycerate (SG), a glyceride and a glycerate, were investigated as organic friction modifiers (OFM) in hexadecane. SG exhibits a much lower friction coefficient and wear than GMS despite their similar structures.

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  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a significant hospital-acquired infection that can lead to severe conditions like sepsis, and its carbapenem-resistant strains are prioritized for urgent treatment development by the WHO.
  • Renewed interest in bacteriophage therapy shows promise, as a study demonstrated that phage treatment could effectively eliminate the infection from the blood, kidneys, and spleen while facing challenges in the lungs and liver due to bacterial resistance.
  • By using a phage cocktail to pre-expose the bacteria, researchers found that this strategy not only helped to clear the infection from all organs but also made the resistant bacteria vulnerable again to various antibiotics.
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This study addresses the gap in understanding the varied effectiveness of group cognitive behavioral therapy (gCBT) delivered by different professionals. This study aims to address this gap by conducting a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluate gCBT and compare it to inactive controls in adults with a clinical diagnosis of depression. A total of 33 RCTs were included for analysis.

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Background: Health care avoidance in the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely reported. Yet few studies have investigated the dynamics of hospital avoidance behavior during pandemic waves and inferred its impact on excess non-COVID-19 deaths.

Objective: This study aimed to measure the impact of hospital avoidance on excess non-COVID-19 deaths in public hospitals in Hong Kong.

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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak exacerbated workplace violence and turnover intention among nurses, particularly affecting greater levels of psychological distress. This study aimed to examine psychological distress as a mediator of the relationship between workplace violence and turnover intention among clinical nurses, and to investigate whether caring for patients with COVID-19 moderates this relationship through the lens of the affective events theory. We conducted an online survey of 325 Korean registered nurses (mean age = 30.

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Background: The United Nations Women and other sources have highlighted the poor maternal and neonatal care experienced by South Asian women, emphasizing the need to understand the cultural factors and specific experiences that influence their health-seeking behavior. This understanding is crucial for achieving health equity and improving health outcomes for women and infants.

Objectives: This study aims to examine and synthesize qualitative evidence on the perspectives and experiences of South Asian women regarding maternity care services in destination countries.

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Background And Aims: Smoking is a risk factor for low back pain (LBP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We aimed to estimate the global health and economic burden of LBP and RA attributable to smoking.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study.

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