ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5453-0571
Current Organisation
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Department of Statistics
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Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 05-04-2019
Abstract: Aims: A community-based multi-component intervention (increasing awareness of the importance of physical activity in chronic illness management through reading comic books, training regarding warm-up stretching exercises, identifying facilitators and barriers to exercise through photosharing, supporting self-reflection and development of action plans) was developed to promote physical activity (PA) among patients with diabetes and hypertension. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of this intervention on health behaviour (walking) and health outcomes. Design: A non-randomized controlled trial with waitlisted control and pre- and post-measures. Setting: Community centres for the elderly. Participants: A total of 204 older adults with diabetes and/or hypertension were recruited. They were assigned to either the intervention group (IG) or waitlisted to the control group (CG). Intervention: Under the supervision of a nurse, six weekly group meetings were arranged in community centres for the elderly in which the participants freely exchanged their views regarding the barriers and facilitators of regular physical activity. Participants were encouraged to take photos in their neighbourhood or at home and brought these photos to share at the group meetings. The photos showed both the barriers and the facilitators to PA. In the last meeting, each participant worked out a plan to perform PA in the coming four weeks. Measures: PA referred to the number of steps taken per day and it was measured by a Garmin Accelerometer at baseline, Week 6 and Week 10. Other measures included the nine-item Self-Efficacy Scale for Exercise–Chinese version (SEE-C), and the 23-item Chinese Barriers to Exercise Scale and Senior Fitness Tests. Generalised estimating equations (GEE) models compared the outcomes over time between IG and CG. Results: A statistically significant difference in the changes in the average number of steps taken daily between the two groups at Week 10 (mean difference = 965.4 95% confidence interval: 92.2, 1838.6, p = 0.030) was observed, although the difference at Week 6 was non-significant (mean difference = 777.6 95% confidence interval: −35.3, 1590.5, p = 0.061). IG participants also showed significant improvements in lower body strength (mean difference = 0.967 95% confidence interval: 0.029, 1.904, p = 0.043) and lower limb flexibility (mean difference = 2.068 95% confidence interval: 0.404, 3.731, p = 0.015) at Week 10 compared to CG participants. Conclusion: This multi-component intervention improved the participants’ physical activity level and physical fitness, particularly in lower limb flexibility and body strength.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 07-04-2020
Abstract: Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the dementia literacy of community-dwelling adults in four cities (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Macau, and Zhuhai) of the Greater Bay Area of China, and to determine their mass media preferences for receiving dementia information. Methods: The survey was completed by 787 community-dwelling adults. Dementia literacy was indirectly measured using two validated scales—the 30-item Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale and the 20-item Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS). Participants were also asked to indicate whether they wanted to receive dementia information via digital or traditional media. Chi-square tests, logistic regressions, and MANOVA analyses were conducted. Results: Unemployed or retired people had poor attitudes towards dementia and lower levels of knowledge about dementia. Single, cohabiting, or orced people in Hong Kong and Macau had lower DAS scores than married people. Young people and those with a secondary education preferred to get their dementia information from social media. People with a tertiary education and employed people enjoyed searching government or hospital websites for information. Middle-aged, unemployed, or retired people tended to learn about dementia from television or radio. Conclusion: It is worth educating the public about dementia and developing strategies consistent with their preferences for types of mass media.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 31-03-2023
DOI: 10.2196/45697
Abstract: Practicing healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk to develop noncommunicable diseases and the related mortality. Studies showed that practicing healthy lifestyles could enhance disease-free life expectancy and preserve bodily functions. However, engagement in healthy lifestyle behavior was suboptimal. This study aimed to define in iduals’ lifestyle characteristics before and during COVID-19 and determine the factors associated with practicing a healthy lifestyle. This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2019 and 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys. US in iduals aged ≥18 years were interviewed via phone call. Healthy lifestyles were assessed through corresponding questions regarding the maintenance of optimal body weight, physical activity, daily consumption of at least five portions of fruits and vegetables, current smoking status, and alcohol consumption. Missing data were imputed using a package in the R statistical software. The effects of practicing a healthy lifestyle on cases without missing data and those with imputation were reported. There were 550,607 respondents (272,543 and 278,064 from 2019 and 2021, respectively) included in this analysis. The rates of practicing a healthy lifestyle were 4% (10,955/272,543) and 3.6% (10,139/278,064) in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Although 36.6% (160,629/438,693) of all 2021 respondents had missing data, the results of the logistic regression analysis for cases without missing data and those with imputation were similar. Of the cases with imputation, women (odds ratio [OR] 1.87) residing in urban areas (OR 1.24) with high education levels (OR 1.73) and good or better health status (OR 1.59) were more likely to practice healthier lifestyles than young in iduals (OR 0.51-0.67) with a low household income (OR 0.74-0.78) and chronic health conditions (OR 0.48-0.74). A healthy lifestyle should be strongly promoted at the community level. In particular, factors associated with a low rate of practice of healthy lifestyles should be targeted.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2018
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the effect of two interventions (verbal advice and comic books) on health literacy and medication compliance among older adults living in 15 public estates in Hong Kong. This is a two-phase multi-site quasi-experimental study with a pre-and-post design with four measurement points (T1–T4). In both phases, the two interventions were conducted by trained medical/nursing harmacy students. Two home visits were carried out in each phase. After the baseline measurement at Time 1 (T1), students verbally advised the older adult participants on how to read, understand, and interpret information on drug labels and how to store drugs properly. A post-assessment was conducted at T2. One year later, another pre-assessment was conducted at T3, and then students used a comic book to educate the older adults. A post-assessment was carried out at T4 after the use of the comic book. Health literacy was measured using the 24-item Chinese Health Literacy Scale for Chronic Care and medication compliance was measured using the Medication Compliance, Knowledge and Storage scale. Generalised Linear Mixed Models were used. A total of 165 subjects were included. The majority (60.6%) were female, aged from 67 to 96. About half (47.3%) had received no formal education. Controlling for age and cognition, there was a significant increase in health literacy after the use of the comic book (coefficient = 2.742, p = 0.001). There was also a significant improvement in medication compliance (total score) (coefficient = −1.018, p 0.001), reduced knowledge deficiency (coefficient = −0.236, p 0.05), and reduced storage problems (coefficient = −0.293, p = 0.001) after using comic books. Comic books are a good strategy to improve the health literacy level and medication compliance of community-dwelling older adults.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-10-2022
DOI: 10.1111/JGS.18094
Abstract: Dementia is an emerging public health issue. Growing evidence emerged on the association between social integration and the risk of dementia. However, the magnitude of the association between different aspects of social integration and the risk of dementia is unclear. Five databases were systematically searched. Newcastle–Ottawa scale for assessing the quality of the reporting was used for quality appraisal. Longitudinal cohort studies examining the association between social integration and the risk of dementia were analyzed using random effects model. A series of sensitivity analyses was conducted to enhance the robustness of the findings. Forty publications generated from 32 studies/databases were included. The meta‐analysis showed that strong social engagement (overall RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74–0.89, p 0.001) and frequent social contact (overall RR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.76–0.97, p = 0.018) were positively associated with decreased risk of dementia. The influence of social support (overall RR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.80–1.06, p = 0.238) and close social contact (overall RR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.48–1.13, p = 0.167) was not significant. Loneliness was significantly associated with an increased risk of dementia (overall RR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.26–1.60, p 0.001), whereas the influence of social isolation (overall RR = 1.58, 95% CI = 0.80–3.12, p = 0.192) was not significant. A larger social network size (RR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.59–0.97, p = 0.028) was a promising influencing factor even though the number of studies was insufficient for a meta‐analysis. However, the heterogeneity among studies was generally high even though sensitivity analysis was conducted. Our findings reveal that high social engagement and frequent social contact are significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia, whereas loneliness is associated with a higher risk. The promising impact of large social network size is also identified. Substantial heterogeneity appeared in most of the analysis, making the inference tentative. Nevertheless, the sensitivity analysis provided valuable implications that enhancing social engagement and reducing loneliness may prevent or delay the onset of dementia among middle‐aged and older adults.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 12-01-2023
Abstract: racticing healthy lifestyles can reduce the risk to develop noncommunicable diseases and the related mortality. Studies showed that practicing healthy lifestyles could enhance disease-free life expectancy and preserve bodily functions. However, engagement in healthy lifestyle behavior was suboptimal. his study aimed to define in iduals’ lifestyle characteristics before and during COVID-19 and determine the factors associated with practicing a healthy lifestyle. This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2019 and 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys. S in iduals aged ≥18 years were interviewed via phone call. Healthy lifestyles were assessed through corresponding questions regarding the maintenance of optimal body weight, physical activity, daily consumption of at least five portions of fruits and vegetables, current smoking status, and alcohol consumption. Missing data were imputed using a package in the R statistical software. The effects of practicing a healthy lifestyle on cases without missing data and those with imputation were reported. here were 550,607 respondents (272,543 and 278,064 from 2019 and 2021, respectively) included in this analysis. The rates of practicing a healthy lifestyle were 4% (10,955/272,543) and 3.6% (10,139/278,064) in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Although 36.6% (160,629/438,693) of all 2021 respondents had missing data, the results of the logistic regression analysis for cases without missing data and those with imputation were similar. Of the cases with imputation, women (odds ratio [OR] 1.87) residing in urban areas (OR 1.24) with high education levels (OR 1.73) and good or better health status (OR 1.59) were more likely to practice healthier lifestyles than young in iduals (OR 0.51-0.67) with a low household income (OR 0.74-0.78) and chronic health conditions (OR 0.48-0.74). healthy lifestyle should be strongly promoted at the community level. In particular, factors associated with a low rate of practice of healthy lifestyles should be targeted.
Location: Hong Kong
No related grants have been discovered for Sze Him Isaac Leung.