Predicting outcomes of conservative treatment for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: Group- and individual-based rehabilitation.

Objective: To identify predicting factors of treatment outcomes of a two stage group-based and then individual-based intervention programme for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Methods: A prospective cohort study where patients diagnosed with CTS were recruited from an out-patient occupational therapy clinic to join the two-stage CTS programme. The Stage-One programme consisted of splinting and educational talks in a group format, while the Stage-Two programme consisted of four weekly individual sessions providing psychosocial support, reinforcing correct ergonomics and mobilization.

An Occupational Therapy Fall Reduction Home Visit Program for Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Hong Kong After an Emergency Department Visit for a Fall.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of an occupational therapy fall reduction home visit program for older adults admitted to the emergency department (ED) for a fall and discharged directly home.

Design: Single-blind, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.

Settings: EDs in three acute care hospitals in Hong Kong.

Risk assessment for epithelial ovarian cancer: proposing a new approach to a deadly problem.

Presently the majority of women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have advanced stage disease (III-IV) with a poor 5-year survival rate (12-30 %). This significantly contrasts when early stage disease is detected, which has a 5-year survival rate approximating 90 %. Therefore, detection of early stage disease is critical to making an impact on outcome.

Effects of age, education and gender in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for the Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD)-Neuropsychological Assessment Battery for Cantonese-speaking Chinese elders.

Background: The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (CERAD-NAB) offers information on the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and gives a profile of cognitive functioning. This study explores the effects of age, education and gender on participants' performance on eight subtests in the Chinese-Cantonese version of the CERAD-NAB.

Methods: The original English version of the CERAD-NAB was translated and content-validated into a Chinese-Cantonese version to suit the Hong Kong Chinese population.

The use of Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire in rehabilitation after acute traumatic hand injuries.

This longitudinal observational prospective study evaluates the use of a self-reported measure Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) in assessing traumatic hand injury patients. A total of 146 subjects were invited to fill out a validated questionnaire (DASH) during their first consultation and at discharge from therapy. The findings revealed a significant improvement in DASH scores upon discharge from therapy.

Grip strength and physical demand of previous occupation in a well-functioning cohort of Chinese older adults.

The grip strength of 214 independently ambulatory Chinese older adults (M age = 75.1 +/- 7.0 yr.

Splinting programmes for tendon injuries.

It is beyond doubt that splinting programmes have often been an integral and important part of the rehabilitation process in tendon injuries. Over the past three decades, hand splints for tendon injuries of various designs and different mobilisation programmes have been developed in the hope of pursuing better clinical and functional outcome for patients. In this paper, the development of different splinting programmes in flexor and extensor tendon injuries and the current practice in some acute hospitals in Hong Kong were discussed.

Evidence-based practice in splinting the injured hand.

Evidence-based medicine has been practised in the early 1990s in the Western countries and its model has aroused interests in the Asian countries including Hong Kong in the late 1990s. The need for evidence-based practice was called upon by Sackett and his colleagues 14-16 mainly because of the exponential growth of new evidence of treatment effectiveness. There is a great demand for clinicians to search for the best evidence and to incorporate into the daily practice so as to ensure the best quality and standard of treatment.