Effect on muscle strength after blood flow restriction resistance exercise in early in-patient rehabilitation of post-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease acute exacerbation, a single blinded, randomized controlled study.

Background: Early commencement of rehabilitation might counteract the loss of muscle strength due to a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease acute exacerbation (COPDAE). Blood flow restriction resistance exercise (BFR-RE) using a low intensity of training load has demonstrated muscle strength gain in varieties of clinical populations. This trial aimed at studying the efficacy and acceptability of BFR-RE in patients with post-COPDAE which was not reported before.

Outcomes of community-based and home-based pulmonary rehabilitation for pneumoconiosis patients: a retrospective study.

Background: Pneumoconiosis patients receive community-based or home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for symptom management and enhancement of physical and mental well-being. This study aimed to review the clinical benefits of community-based rehabilitation programmes (CBRP) and home-based rehabilitation programmes (HBRP) for PR of pneumoconiosis patients.

Methods: Archival data of pneumoconiosis patients who participated in CBRP and HBRP between 2008 and 2011 was analysed.

Effects of a nurse-led post-discharge advance care planning programme for community-dwelling patients nearing the end of life and their family members: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Although evidence increasingly demonstrates the effects of advance care planning, the relevant studies are of questionable quality, and lack consensus regarding when and with whom to initiate the conversation.

Objective: To examine the effects of a structured, nurse-led post-discharge advance care planning programme on congruence between the end-of-life care preferences of the patient and family members, decisional conflicts and the documentation of care preferences.

Design: A two-arm parallel-group randomised controlled trial.

Declining Trends of Cardiovascular-Renal Complications and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes: The Hong Kong Diabetes Database.

Objective: Nationwide studies on secular trends of diabetes complications are not available in Asia. We examined changes in risk factor control and incidence of complications from diabetes and death in a large longitudinal cohort of Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes in Hong Kong.

Research Design And Methods: Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2012, 338,908 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes underwent metabolic and complication assessment in 16 diabetes centers operated by Hong Kong Hospital Authority that provided care to a large majority of diagnosed patients.

The meaning of hope from the perspective of Chinese advanced cancer patients in Hong Kong.

Aim: This article reports a study to examine the meaning of hope from the perspective of Chinese advanced cancer patients in Hong Kong.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of advanced cancer patients recruited from the palliative care unit of a local hospital. Data were saturated after 17 participants were interviewed.

Comparing noncancer and cancer deaths in Hong Kong: a retrospective review.

This retrospective study aimed to compare noncancer deaths with cancer deaths in the following: 1) utilization of the public health care system in the last six months of life; 2) end-of-life care received; and 3) documentation of the advance care planning (ACP) process. The following sample was recruited from the deaths in 2006 in four public hospitals for analysis: 656 noncancer deaths consisting of 239 deaths from chronic renal failure (CRF), 242 deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 175 deaths from congestive heart failure (CHF), and 183 cancer deaths. Only 1.

Health-care professionals' perspective on hope in the palliative care setting.

Hope is considered a coping strategy as well as a factor that enhances quality of life for patients with advanced cancer. Most studies on the meaning of hope are from the patients' perspective. However, the health-care professionals' view is also important since it may affect their practice.

Healthcare professionals' perceptions of existential distress in patients with advanced cancer.

Aim: This paper is a report of an exploration of the phenomenon of existential distress in patients with advanced cancer from the perspectives of healthcare professionals.

Background: Existential distress is an important concern in patients with advanced cancer; it affects their well-being and needs to be addressed in the provision of holistic care.

Method: Focus groups were conducted from November 2008 to February 2009 with physicians, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and chaplains working in a palliative care unit that served patients with advanced cancer in Hong Kong.

The burden of lung disease in Hong Kong: a report from the Hong Kong Thoracic Society.

Background And Objective: The burden of lung disease in Hong Kong is not known. This study determined the mortality and hospitalization rates of respiratory diseases in Hong Kong in 2005, their trend in the past decade and their incidence/prevalence.

Methods: Mortality data were obtained from the Department of Health and hospitalization data from the Hospital Authority, Hong Kong.

Sex- and age-dependent association of SLC11A1 polymorphisms with tuberculosis in Chinese: a case control study.

Background: Host genetic factors are important determinants in tuberculosis (TB). The SLC11A1 (or NRAMP1) gene has been studied extensively for genetic association with TB, but with inconsistent findings. In addition, no study has yet looked into the effect of sex and age on the relationship between SLC11A1 polymorphisms and TB.

Scanning laser polarimetry in pulmonary tuberculosis patients on chemotherapy.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyse the thickness of the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) of pulmonary tuberculosis patients on ethambutol and isoniazid.

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective cohort study where patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis requiring chemotherapy, including ethambutol and isoniazid, were imaged using scanning laser polarimetry. Their mean baseline RNFL thickness and various scanning laser polarimetry parameters of both eyes were measured 2 weeks after the commencement of chemotherapy.

Diagnostic application of genotypic identification of mycobacteria.

This study evaluated conventional methods, GLC and three molecular tests, including 16S rRNA sequencing, for the identification of mycobacteria, and the experiences of the authors with the integration of these methods into a diagnostic clinical laboratory were also recorded. Of 1067 clinical isolates of mycobacteria identified by conventional tests, 365 were tested by Accuprobe hybridization assays and PCRs specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex or Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), 202 were tested by 16S rRNA sequencing, and 142 were tested by GLC. Three runs of all tests were performed on a weekly basis.

Viral load distribution in SARS outbreak.

An unprecedented community outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in the Amoy Gardens, a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong. Droplet, air, contaminated fomites, and rodent pests have been proposed to be mechanisms for transmitting SARS in a short period. We studied nasopharyngeal viral load of SARS patients on admission and their geographic distribution.

The validity and reliability of the functional impairment checklist (FIC) in the evaluation of functional consequences of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS).

Severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS) contributed to significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. We aimed to establish the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the functional impairment checklist (FIC) as a measurement tool for physical dysfunction in SARS survivors. One hundred and sixteeen (65 females and 51 males, mean age 45.

Retrospective analysis of antibiotic use and survival in advanced cancer patients with infections.

Infection is common among advanced cancer patients. This study was undertaken to review the pattern of use of antibiotics and to identify potential factors that could affect outcomes after infection. The medical records of all patients with advanced cancer who were enrolled into the palliative care service of a district hospital during the period January, 2002 to July, 2002 were retrospectively reviewed for infections and the use of antibiotics.

Assessing quality of life of patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the end of life.

Given the limitations of existing health-related quality-of-life (QOL) measures in capturing the end-of-life experience of patients with advanced chronic diseases, an empirically grounded instrument, the quality-of-life concerns in the end of life questionnaire (QOLC-E), was developed. Though it was built on the McGill quality of life questionnaire (MQOL), its sphere is more holistic and culturally specific for the Chinese patients in Hong Kong. One hundred and forty-nine patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or metastatic cancer completed the questionnaire.

Initial viral load and the outcomes of SARS.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a novel coronavirus. It may progress to respiratory failure, and a significant proportion of patients die. Preliminary data suggest that a high viral load of the SARS coronavirus is associated with adverse outcomes in the intensive care unit, but the relation of viral load to survival is unclear.

An empirical analysis of the decision-making of limiting life-sustaining treatment for patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Hong Kong, China.

Objectives: To understand the prognostic and quality-of-life considerations surrounding life-sustaining treatment decisions for patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Hong Kong China.

Methods: A documentary review of 49 COPD patients and 19 patient case studies from the medical departments of 2 hospitals were undertaken to examine the practices of DNI decision-making (do not perform mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Statistical, event, and thematic analyses were conducted to delineate the prognostic and quality-of-life factors that shaped the not for intubation and mechanical ventilation (DNI) decisions.

Differential diagnosis of pleural effusions by fuzzy-logic-based analysis of cytokines.

Pleural effusions can be caused by highly different underlying diseases and are characterized by complex interactions of various local and circulating cells as well as numerous soluble parameters like interleukins (IL). Knowledge about this complex network could help to indicate underlying disease. Therefore, we have investigated immunoreactive concentrations of IL-4, IL-6, IL-11, IL-15, IL-17, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in pleural effusions and peripheral blood from patients with tuberculosis, bronchial carcinoma and other carcinomas as well as congestive heart failure (CHF) and pneumonias.

High-resolution computed tomography is useful for early diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus pneumonia in patients with normal chest radiographs.

Objective: We investigated the usefulness of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in early detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus pneumonia and analyzed HRCT findings associated with potentially more severe disease.

Methods: All patients with suspected SARS and normal chest radiographs on admission within the study period were subjected to HRCT examination. The clinical, radiologic, and laboratory data of patients who were confirmed to have SARS-associated coronavirus infection by a positive nasopharyngeal aspirate, stool or urine reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and/or serological testing were prospectively followed up and analyzed.