The epidemiology and natural history of depressive disorders in Hong Kong's primary care.

Background: Depressive disorders are commonly managed in primary care and family physicians are ideally placed to serve as central providers to these patients. Around the world, the prevalence of depressive disorders in patients presenting to primary care is between 10-20%, of which around 50% remain undiagnosed. In Hong Kong, many barriers exist preventing the optimal treatment and management of patients with depressive disorders.

Self-administered instrument to measure the patient's experience of recovery after first-episode psychosis: development and validation of the Psychosis Recovery Inventory.

Objective: Patients who are recovering from a first-episode psychosis face specific and complex issues that are related to their illness and treatment experiences, such as the appraisal of the extent of their recovery and the risk of relapse. Currently, no instrument provides a comprehensive assessment of these related attitudes. A novel self-administered rating scale for the measurement of key perceptions during the recovery stage after a first-episode psychosis is presented.

Psychological effects of the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong on high-risk health care workers.

Objective: To quantify stress and the psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on high-risk health care workers (HCWs).

Method: We evaluated 271 HCWs from SARS units and 342 healthy control subjects, using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to assess stress levels and a structured list of putative psychological effects of SARS to assess its psychological effects. Healthy control subjects were balanced for age, sex, education, parenthood, living circumstances, and lack of health care experience.

Stress and psychological impact on SARS patients during the outbreak.

Objective: To examine stress and psychological impact in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients during the 2003 outbreak. SARS is a novel, highly infectious pneumonia, and its psychological impact is still unclear.

Method: At the peak of the outbreak, SARS patients (n = 79) and healthy control subjects (n = 145) completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and documented a range of psychological responses.