Food safety and unhealthy dietary pattern are important global health problems. Understanding food-related health needs and providing corresponding support are important to health risk reduction. A needs assessment, education intervention for food labelling, and another intervention for salt-intake reduction were conducted in a rural Kunge community in Yunnan, China in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. Not checking the expiry date of packaged food (37.1%) and a high salt diet (53.9%) were the most common problems in the community. Both topics were selected for education intervention. Pre... read more

Background

This review examines the human health impact of climate change in China. Through reviewing available research findings under four major climate change phenomena, namely extreme temperature, altered rainfall pattern, rise of sea level and extreme weather events, relevant implications for other middle-income population with similar contexts will be synthesized.

Sources of data

Sources of data included bilingual peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2018 in PubMed, Google Scholar and China Academic Journals Full-text Database.

Areas of... read more

Background

The post-disaster mental health crisis intervention (MHCI) system in China remains immature and unsystematic. We aim to report the perceptions of a large sample of MHCI workers and government administrators and provide recommendations for developing a national mental health disaster response management plan in China.

Methods

An in-depth qualitative study was conducted, collecting data from 20 focus-group discussions and 25 key stakeholder interviews. These recruited participants who had been involved in different types of disaster rescue across 7 provinces/... read more

Background: Literature on health emergency disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) for urban public transport safety is limited. This study explored: (i) the confidence in public transport safety, (ii) the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and risk perception of transport safety and (iii) the association between previous first-aid training and response knowledge. Method: This is a population-based cross-sectional telephone survey conducted in March 2017, one month after a major subway incident in Hong Kong. Respondents were randomly selected with the... read more

Health-emergency disaster risk management (health-EDRM) aims to reduce the health risks and vulnerability associated with emergencies and disasters, such as natural disasters, infectious disease epidemics, complex emergencies, technology failure, or global population movement. Medical care and health responses in emergency contexts often rely on best-fit interventions rather than best practices to protect communities in suboptimally functioning systems and complex contexts. Unlike health emergency actions that are focused on the response, the health-EDRM approach emphasises emergency... read more

Introduction

Disaster epidemiological studies indicate that Asia has the highest frequency of natural disasters. Rural communities are heavily impacted by natural disasters and have different healthcare needs to urban ones. Referencing Asian countries, this paper’s objective is to provide an overview of health impacts and the current evidence for designing programmes and policies related to rural health emergency and disaster risk management (health-EDRM).

Sources of data

This paper uses published English-only reports and papers retrieved from PubMed, Google Scholar,... read more

Water security is essential for maintaining health and well-being, and for reducing a population’s vulnerability in a disaster. Among resource-poor villagers in China, water-related disasters and climate change may increasingly affect people’s water security. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived water security and disaster risk perception in a rural ethnic minority community. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in 2015 in Xingguang village, Chongqing, China, examining the association between villagers’ perceptions of household water... read more

Fire is one of the major disasters in rural communities but evidence of the effectiveness of education interventions against fire risks is limited. This was a 2-year study assessed the effectiveness of face-to-face Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) education interventions for raising fire risk reduction knowledge in a fire-prone rural ethnic minority community. The study was conducted in various pre-set time points of an intervention-based project in a Dong-based community in Nanjiang Village, Guizhou Province in 2015 and 2016 to increase knowledge among the... read more

OBJECTIVE:

Restrictive food avoidance behavior among Chinese cancer patients is common. Yet, to the authors' knowledge, no study has investigated factors associated with such behavior. This study attempted to validate a new measurement tool, the Cancer Patients Food Avoidance Behaviors Scale (CPFAB), that assessed cancer patients' belief regarding 5 perceived benefits of practicing food avoidance, and to test its applicability.

DESIGN:

Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews.

SETTING:

Two outpatient oncology clinics in 2 different districts of Hong Kong... read more

Ma’an Qiao Village, a Dai and Yi ethnic minority-based community in Sichuan Province, China sustained complete infrastructure devastation during the 2008 Panzhihua earthquake. Health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) education intervention programs were implemented in 2010 and 2011. This serial cross-sectional survey study aimed to examine the immediate and long-term impacts of the Health-EDRM interventions in this remote rural community. The findings demonstrate knowledge improvement in areas of water and sanitation, food and nutrition, and disaster preparedness... read more

BACKGROUND:

Little is known about the relationship between Salmonella infection and meteorological parameters other than air temperature. This study aimed to explore associations of Salmonella hospitalizations with temperature, relative humidity (RH) and rainfall.

METHODS:

With negative binomial distribution assumed, time-series regression model adjusting for season and time trend were constructed employing distributed lag non-linear models and generalized additive models. Meteorological variables including mean temperature, RH, and daily total rainfall as well as... read more

Objectives: Accidental risks perception, knowledge and willingness to learn about emergency responses are critical elements in disaster risk reduction. Literature on the relevant topics for public transport safety is limited. The three main study objectives include exploring i) relationship between socio-demographic characteristics with risk perception and anxiety of users of urban public transport system, ii) if a major emergency incident affected confidence and increase anxiety of public transport utilization and iii) how previous first aid training might be associated with response... read more

Introduction: Menstrual health is a sensitive topic that causes gender discrimination and segregation. A focus group conducted in Sindupalchok, Nepal (April 2017) found some women had major knowledge gaps and misconceptions regarding menstrual hygiene practices. Objective: To assess programme effectiveness for addressing menstrual health knowledge gap, promote menstrual hygiene practice, and pain relief. Method: A 3 day health education intervention was conducted in January 2018. Knowledge about the menstruation cycle and period, menstruation-related hygiene practices, and pain alleviation... read more

Background: Web-based public health courses are becoming increasingly popular. “Public Health Principles in Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response” is a unique Web-based course in Hong Kong. This course aimed to fill a public health training gap by reaching out to postgraduates who are unable to access face-to-face learning.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to use a structured framework to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of a Web-based course according to Greenhalgh et al’s quality framework and the Donabedian model to make... read more

Objective How high temperature affects existing allergic conditions are unclear. This study examines the effects of high temperature on Hong Kong adult populations who have existing allergic symptoms. To explore the health outcomes of non-allergic symptoms, comparison was explored between adults with and without a history of allergic symptoms. Method Two week aster a health wave in 2017, a cross-sectional telephone survey study was conducted in Hong Kong. Socio-demographic information, history of allergic symptoms, non-allergic health symptoms, and self-reported changes of allergic... read more

Ma’an Qiao Village, a Dai and Yi ethnic minority-based community in Sichuan Province, China sustained complete infrastructure devastation during the 2008 Panzhihua earthquake. Health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) education intervention programs were implemented in 2010 and 2011. This serial cross-sectional survey study aimed to examine the immediate and long-term impacts of the Health-EDRM interventions in this remote rural community. The findings demonstrate knowledge improvement in areas of water and sanitation, food and nutrition, and disaster preparedness... read more

Objective: To understand the community‘s response to hot weather in terms of risk perception, awareness of warning signal and personal protective measure taken for heat planning suggestions. Method: A telephone survey was conducted 2 weeks after a heatwave in Hong Kong, August 2017, and 436 respondent (≥15 years) were included. Respondents were the follow-up sample of a previous cold wave study. Sociodemographic characteristics, risk perception, awareness of the issue of Very-Hot-Weather Warning and the uptake of personal protective measure during study during the study period were... read more

Background/Aim: As numerous climate change mitigation measures promote health as well as environmental benefits, it is imperative to assess their uptake in communities. A previous study in Hong Kong showed women and older people practiced health and environmental co-benefit behaviours more frequently. However, the attitude and awareness behind those behaviours have not been explored. This study examines the patterns and predictors among dietary-related co-benefit behaviours. Methods: We conducted a population-based random-digit dialling telephone survey for n=1000 Hong Kong residents in... read more

Background: Extreme temperatures are increasing due to climate change, however research of their impacts on health behaviour are rare. While cold winter temperatures have been identified as a barrier to physical activity, an increase of extremely hot temperatures due to climate change may also potentially affect frequency of physical activity. This study aims to estimate the change of self-reported frequency of outdoor physical activity (PA) during cold and heat waves in a sub-tropical urban population and identify its predictors. Methods: A prospective population-based cohort telephone... read more

The intersection of health and disaster risk reduction (DRR) has emerged in recent years as a field of critical inquiry. Health is recognized as an outcome and a goal of DRR, and the integration of both fields is essential to ensure the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) has emerged as an umbrella field that encompasses emergency and disaster medicine, DRR, humanitarian response, community health resilience, and health systems resilience. In September 2016, an international group of... read more

Objectives Little is known about pet-related injuries in Asian populations. This study primarily aimed to investigate the incidence rate of pet-related household injuries in Hong Kong, an urban Chinese setting.

Setting Cantonese-speaking non-institutionalised population of all ages in Hong Kong accessible by telephone land-line.

Participants A total of 43 542 telephone numbers were dialled and 6570 residents successfully completed the interviews.

Background: The Rana Plaza collapse was the global garment industry’s deadliest disaster: killing 1,134 and injuring over 2,500, the incident overwhelmed local capacity and caused great damage, destruction and human suffering. The rescue operation took three weeks, relying on a large portion of untrained and inexperienced volunteers. This incident had numerous long-term physical and mental health consequences for victims. This case study sought to understand how disaster preparedness levels of responders impacted health outcomes. Methods: A comprehensive literature review (including grey... read more

Objective To investigate the prevalence of cold related symptoms and its association with socio-economic factors Background: The impact of the temperature on human health has long been reported. Multi-city studies indicated that population in cities in lower latitude and with mild winter are more valuable to cold-weather. Previous studies were mainly focused on mortality and morbidity due to the availability of the data, while cold-related symptoms are however not well studied. It is important to enhance the understanding of prevalence of cold related symptoms and how it associates with... read more

Objectives: The study aims to identify important predictors on the adoption of various protective behaviors under cold spell in Hong Kong. Methods: This is a randomized population-based cross-sectional telephone survey study. The study was conducted three days after the coldest winter in the past 58 years in January 2016. Eligible participants are Cantonese speakers who are Hong Kong residents aged above 15. Basic demographic data, social-economic status (SES) and questions related to protective measures against cold spell were solicited. Descriptive analysis and stepwise multi-logistic... read more

Study/Objective: To review research trends and evidence in the field of health emergency and disaster risk management ﴾HEDRM﴿, and to provide recommendations for the field moving forward. Background: Health is recognised as an outcome and a goal of disaster risk reduction activities, acknowledged in international agreements such as the International Health Regulations ﴾2005﴿ and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction ﴾2015﴿. H‐EDRM has emerged as an umbrella field which encompasses emergency and disaster medicine, disaster risk reduction ﴾DRR﴿, humanitarian response and health... read more

Study/Objective: This study primarily aimed to investigate the relationship among different types of household injuries with sociodemographic attributes in Hong Kong, an urban Chinese setting. Background: Injury is a major global disease burden for the 21th century. However, there is little research about unintentional household injury, especially in Asian urban area. Methods: A cross‐sectional retrospective recall study was conducted in 2009 using a random telephone survey with a modified Chinese version of the World Health Organization Injury and Violence instrument. Ethics approval and... read more

Background: Previous research has shown winter peaks for both hospitalizations and mortality from HF, but few studies have examined the association between meteorological parameters and HF.
Methods: Daily HF admissions to Hong Kong public hospitals, which cover about 83% of total admissions, and daily HF deaths, were obtained for 2002–2011. Generalized additive (Poisson) regression models were used with daily HF admissions/mortality as outcomes and dailymean temperature, humidity, and wind speed as predictors, while controlling for pollutant levels, time trend, season, day of theweek... read more

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is an emerging enterovirus-induced infectious disease for which the environmental risk factors promoting disease circulation remain inconclusive. This study aims to quantify the association of daily weather variation with hospitalizations for HFMD in Hong Kong, a subtropical city in China. METHODS: A time series of daily counts of HFMD public hospital admissions from 2008 through 2011 in Hong Kong was regressed on daily mean temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and total rainfall, using a combination of negative... read more

Objectives: The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Cold Weather Warning in Hong Kong via evaluation whether such can enhance the adoption of protective measures against cold spell in the community. Methods: This is a randomized population-based cross-sectional telephone survey study. The study was conducted three days after the coldest winter in the past 58 years in January 2016. Eligible participants are Cantonese speakers who are Hong Kong residents aged above 15. Basic demographic data, social-economic status (SES) and questions related to protective measures against cold... read more

Objectives Globally, the effects of climate change pose significant threats to human health. Individual environmental actions are advocated to not only leave a lower carbon footprint, but also to improve health and even reduce daily life expenses. The objective of this study is to assess the community patterns of economical, health and environmental co-benefit behaviours among the Hong Kong public. Methods A randomised cross-sectional population-based telephone survey was conducted between January and February 2016, surveying Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents over age 15. Ethics... read more

Objectives: Some carbon-reducing behaviours are environmental-friendly and good for health. Such co-benefits are promoted since the millennium in Hong Kong (HK). This study aims to found out how the practice of these behaviours may have changed during the past decade in HK. Methods: This 2-stage sequential randomized cross-sectional and population-based telephone survey collected data in 2008 and 2016. Six kinds of behaviours (less electricity, less unnecessary package, less A/C, less meat, more walk/cycling, and more organic food) were investigated. The respondents self-reported their... read more

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. From studies across 15 Pacific island nations, a key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation sectors.

Background: Climate change has increased extreme temperature events. The study aims to examine the community risk awareness and perceptions of temperature warning system in subtropical city in Asia which is rarely studied. Design and data collection: A cross-sectional, self-administrated questionnaire survey on all incoming students of the Faculty of Medicine (both clinical and non-clinical) in the University was conducted in September 2015. Personal backgrounds, knowledge, attitudes and practices towards current extreme temperature warning systems were collected. Ethics approval and... read more

A better understanding of knowledge gaps and global civil societal learning patterns will support the building of “bottom up” disaster resilience through online global accessible education platforms. Through collaborative efforts between Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Oxford, a free-of-charge 18-hours online course titled Public Health Principles in Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response" was developed by CCOUC. Enrolled students may access all learning materials and activities online within each of the four time-study cohorts.

Background: Hong Kong is an urban Asian community connected to mainland China characterized by a very high population density. Since SARS epidemic in 2003, the city had experiences several major epidemic risks but how general community might react to the repeated infectious diseases health risks are not studied. In 2013, imported human H7N9 influenza infected cases from China have been reported. Our study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) concerning A/H7N9 among Hong Kong general population during the second wave of the pandemic preparedness Methods: A cross-... read more

BACKGROUND Since SARS epidemic in 2003, Hong Kong has experienced several major epidemic risks, but how general community might react to the repeated infectious diseases health risks have not been studied. In 2013, imported human H7N9 influenza infected cases from China were reported. Our study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) concerning A/H7N9 among Hong Kong general population regarding pandemic preparedness in early 2014. METHODS A cross-sectional, population-based telephone survey study was conducted among the Cantonese-speaking population aged over 15 years in... read more

Study/Objective The project aims to explore community disaster risk perception and to evaluate the impact of disaster preparedness health intervention in Yiminority community in China. Background LiangShan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is one of the disasterprone area in Sichuan province, China. Majority of people belongs to Yiminority and live in rural mountainous area with highly susceptible to multiple natural disasters. A major flood occurred on August 31st 2012 at Hongyan Village, LiangShan Prefecture and had affected 218,000 local residents with 13,300 households collapsed. A postflooding... read more

We conducted a cross-sectional population-based telephone survey between 15 and 28 February 2014 in Hong Kong during the second wave of influenza A/H7N9 outbreak to delineate the willingness of future A/H7N9 vaccine uptake and factors affecting their choices. We found half of the respondents were willing, which was independent of demographic factors. High anxiety level and a vaccine history were associated with willingness to uptake future A/H7N9 vaccine. Understanding the willingness of A/H7N9 influenza vaccine uptake in the community help policy makers to decide suitable strategies to... read more

Study/Objective To explore the capacity building strategy for disaster preparedness through building healthliterate village in rural China. Background Health risk literacy is an important asset for capacity building and a key attribute of the development of a healthy village, a similar project as the Healthy City programme initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1989. However, not much research has been conducted since then for developing health literate villages in rural settings in China. As such, a rural Chinese village is selected to explore the development of a health... read more

Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions affecting both children and adults. Examining the health effects of environmental triggers such as temperature variation may have implications for maintenance of asthma control and prevention. We hypothesized that large diurnal temperature range (DTR) might be a source of additional environmental stress and therefore a risk factor for asthma exacerbation. Daily meteorological data, air pollution concentrations and emergency hospital admissions for asthma from 2004 to 2011 in Hong Kong were collected. Poisson regression models were used to... read more

We conducted a population telephone survey in Hong Kong during the second wave of influenza A/H7N9 outbreak in 2014. Among the respondents, 50.5% of the respondents would like to accept A/H7N9 vaccination in future. Respondents had poor knowledge of A/H7N9 influenza and vaccines. More than 60% of respondents mixed up seasonal influenza this year and A/H7N9 influenza. Results show that socio-demographic factors were all independent of the vaccine uptake willingness while anxiety level and vaccine history were the main affecting factors. Vaccine promotion strategies may focus on influenza... read more

Short-term associations between both hot and cold ambient temperatures and higher mortality have been found worldwide. Few studies have examined these associations on longer time scales. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) were calculated for 1976-2012 for Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China, defining "annual" time periods in 2 ways: from May through April of the following year and from November through October. Annual frequency and severity of extreme temperatures were summarized by using a degree-days approach with extreme heat expressed as annual degree-days >29.3°C and... read more

Disaster preparedness is an important preventive strategy for protecting health and mitigating adverse health effects of unforeseen disasters. A multi-site based ethnic minority project (2009-2015) is set up to examine health and disaster preparedness related issues in remote, rural, disaster prone communities in China. The primary objective of this reported study is to examine if previous disaster experience significantly increases household disaster preparedness levels in remote villages in China. A cross-sectional, household survey was conducted in January 2011 in Gansu Province, in a... read more

Objectives: There is limited evidence on perceptions of disaster risk and household level preparedness among urban Asian communities. Hong Kong is characterized by high population density, and is susceptible to large-scale natural disasters and health crises such as typhoons, fires and infectious disease outbreaks. This research paper investigates the rates and predictors of urban community disaster risk perception, awareness and preparedness at individual and household levels. Methods: A randomized cross-sectional, population-based telephone survey study was conducted among the Cantonese-... read more

BACKGROUND The chronic health effects from exposure to ambient air pollution are still unclear. This study primarily aims to examine the relationship between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and respiratory morbidities in Chinese children. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,203 school children aged 8-10 in three districts with different air pollution levels in Hong Kong. Annual means for ambient PM10, SO2, NO2 and O3 in each district were used to estimate participants' individual exposure. Two questionnaires were used to collect children's respiratory... read more

This study aims to quantitatively summarize the association between night shift work and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), with special reference to the dose–response relationship with years of night shift work. We systematically searched all observational studies published in English on PubMed and Embase from 1971 to 2013. We extracted effect measures (relative risk, RR; or odd ratio, OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) from individual studies to generate pooled results using meta-analysis approach. Pooled RR was calculated using random- or fixed-effect model. Downs and Black scale... read more

Background: Six of the ten deadliest natural disasters, as measured by death toll, have occurred in China. First-aid knowledge and skills can be useful in treating injuries that commonly result from natural disasters. Yet there have been no studies examining first-aid as a potential means of disaster preparedness and/or emergency response in either Hong Kong or Mainland China. The present study focuses on the relationship between first-aid training and disaster preparedness within the general public community in Hong Kong. Methods: Cross sectional study was performed using a randomized,... read more

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake highlights some of the successes of government-led schemes to mitigate the impact of natural disasters. A stronger focus on individuals and local communities could reduce losses even further in the future.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and lung function among Chinese schoolchildren in Southern China (Hong Kong). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 3168 schoolchildren (aged 8-10 years) in 3 districts in Hong Kong. Annual means of ambient PM10 (particulate matter <10 µm), SO2, NO2 and O3 from 1996 to 2003 were used to estimate the individual exposure of the subjects. Children's lung function was measured for forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of... read more

The recent Super Typhoon Haiyan, the third category 5 typhoon to strike the Philippines since 2010, tore through Tacloban in the province of Leyte and affected about 13 million people; only 4 weeks after Super Typhoon Usagi affected more than 2.7 million people in southern China. With increasing numbers of disasters related to climate change (from 99 in 1980 to 269 in 2011), Asia is likely to be hit by more typhoons with stronger intensity in the coming decades......

Objectives Millions of children and adolescents in rural China are left behind as their parents move away for work. Little is known about the impact of parental migration on their smoking and self-efficacy. This study explores the associations among parental migration, self-efficacy and smoking. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among middle school students in Liangying Township, Guangdong, China. Socio-demographic and parental migration characteristics, as well as adolescent past 30-day smoking and self-efficacy level were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.... read more

Objective To explore the relationship between weather phenomena and pollution levels and daily hospital admissions (as an approximation to morbidity patterns) in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), China, in 1998–2009. Methods Generalized additive models and lag models were constructed with data from official sources on hospital admissions and on mean daily temperature, mean daily wind speed, mean relative humidity, daily total global solar radiation, total daily rainfall and daily pollution levels. Findings During the hot season, admissions increased by 4.5% for every increase... read more

研究证实受灾地区的当地居民是发生灾害时能够最早做出反应的潜在救援力量，可以在黄金时间内施以救助，从而有效地降低灾害招致的人员伤亡。因次，在易受灾灾区对当地居民进行普及教育，提供与灾害救援有关的基本知识和技能，可以最大的发挥这一潜力。Angus在1993年提出“八项急救的基本步骤”的建议，以期达到在社区居民中有效普及灾难教育的目的。以Angus的建议为框架，以5•12汶川大地震为例，本文总结了汶川大地震的经验和教训，探讨了社区健康工作者在灾害发生时应当扮演的角色，从而尽可能地降低灾害对人类生命和健康的影响。

目的：评估在少数民族地区进行灾害教育对居民防灾备灾知-信-行的改变。 方法：2011年-2012年3月期间，对甘肃省黄土高原上的大滩村（回族）和四川省金沙江马鞍桥村（傣族）的居民予以灾害教育，干预前、后、及之后10-14个月的随访期间用自制问卷，采用面对面调查方式收集研究参加者干预前后防灾备灾的知-信-行情况，同时收集个人及家庭等有关资料。统计分析使用SPSS 19.0统计软件包，显著性取值0.05，双侧检验。 结果：133个大滩村居民和110个马鞍桥村居民参加了研究，参与率分别为62.4%和43.1%。经过干预后，居民的防灾备灾知识、态度、信心等指标都有显著提高，然而10-14个月之后，除了马鞍桥村居民对灾前准备的重要性的态度、以及两村居民对如何紧急应对灾害知识的提高继续保持外，其他指标都有显著性回弹，但仍然高于干预前的水平。 结论：在容易遭受灾害影响、少数民族聚居的偏远农村推行适合的灾害教育可以有效地提高居民抗灾减灾的知识、态度和水平，从而降低灾害引致的伤亡和损失。为了避免“回弹”，定期的强化教育可能是有效的方法之一。

This study aimed to conduct a systematic review to sum up evidence of the associations between different aspects of night shift work and female breast cancer using a dose-response meta-analysis approach. We systematicly searched all cohort and case-control studies published in English on MEDLINE, Embase, PSYCInfo, APC Journal Club and Global Health, from January 1971 to May 2013. We extracted effect measures (relative risk, RR; odd ratio, OR; or hazard ratio, HR) from individual studies to generate pooled results using meta-analysis approaches. A log-linear dose-response regression model... read more

China has one of the countries with highest occurrence of disasters and disasters are disproportionately affecting rural area of China where ethnic minorities are inhibiting. Mixed methods of studies were conducted in rural Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Hainan province of China to understand the mental health impact and coping after natural disasters. Standardized quantitative questionnaires and over 20 focus groups were conducted among ethnic minority groups including Tai, Naxi, Li, Jiang and Hui affected by earthquake, flooding, mudslide, rain storm and snow storm. Validated psychological... read more

Background: Several studies from Europe and the United States have reported sharp drops in the incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) following the introduction of smoking bans for public places in various cities. In addition some studies have reported that daily AMI hospitalization rates are associated with meteorological conditions, particularly temperature. Hong Kong banned smoking in restaurants, workplaces and outdoor public areas in 2007 and in bars and karaokes in mid-2009. In this study we examine whether AMI hospitalization rates dropped following introduction of the... read more

Gaps in training have been identified from reviews of the experiences of prehospital medical personnel faced with previous disasters like the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. It would be useful to identify and develop standardised training and educational core competencies in pre-hospital disaster training adapted to the local situation and health system in China. This paper identified six areas of training needs for responders to enhance their effectiveness in disaster settings. Two levels of training for frontline first responders and disaster response managers may be the best approach to... read more

Background Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in China. With climate change, the Chinese communities will further increase their vulnerabilities to extreme weather events. In order to mitigate disaster risk, a better understanding of flood disaster profile and human health impact of floods in China will provide evidence to support the development of interventions to facilitate recovery of affected population in field setting. The study objective is to summarize update knowledge of health impact of floods in China. Flood assessing methodologies and mapping techniques will... read more

Background: Globally, China is the most natural disaster prone country and its remote area population faces the highest natural disaster risk. These communities are often characterized by ethnic minority based, in extreme poverty. In China, non-Han Chinese constitutes to 8.4% of her population and generally fare worse in economic status than the Han majority. Since 2009, the health education team from the School of Public Health has been to rural villages in China to deliver health education. Four key principles of site selection include: 1. geographic remoteness, 2. ethnic minority based... read more

Background: Disaster risk literacy refers to the ability to identify, understand, interpret and communicate disaster risk-related information. Whilst literature review indicates that health literacy is directly associated with health outcomes, there is currently a literature gap on the predictors of disaster health risk literacy and how risk literacy might be associated with the uptake of first aid trainings for better community disaster preparedness.

BACKGROUND Prior studies from around the world have indicated that very high temperatures tend to increase summertime mortality. However possible effect modification by urban micro heat islands has only been examined by a few studies in North America and Europe. This study examined whether daily mortality in micro heat island areas of Hong Kong was more sensitive to short term changes in meteorological conditions than in other areas. METHOD An urban heat island index (UHII) was calculated for each of Hong Kong's 248 geographical tertiary planning units (TPU). Daily counts of all natural... read more

Previous studies examining daily temperature and stroke incidence have given conflicting results. We undertook this retrospective study of all stroke admissions in those aged 35 years old and above to Hong Kong public hospitals from 1999 through 2006 in order to better understand the effects of meteorological conditions on stroke risk in a subtropical setting. We used Poisson Generalized Additive Models with daily hemorrhagic (HS) and ischemic stroke (IS) counts separately as outcomes, and daily mean temperature, humidity, solar radiation, rainfall, air pressure, pollutants, flu... read more

BACKGROUND Heatwaves are hot weather events, which breach regional or national thresholds, that last for several days. They are likely to occur with increasing frequency in some parts of the world. The potential consequences were illustrated in Europe in August 2003 when there were an estimated 30,000 excess deaths due to a heatwave. Electric fans might be used with the intention of reducing the adverse health effects of a heatwave. Fans do not cool the ambient air but can be used to draw in cooler air from outside when placed at an open window. The aim of the fans would be to increase... read more

Limited research has been conducted to understand the relationship between heat wave warnings with public awareness and behavioral changes in the Asian population. The Hong Kong Observatory introduced the “very hot weather warning” in 2000 to alert the public of heatstroke and sunburn in Hong Kong. However, the population's behavioral responses to these weather alerts is unclear. Moreover, the relationship between perceived health risks and behavioral changes has not been examined. The goal of this study is to examine the health risk perceptions and behavioral changes following public heat... read more

Psychological First Aid (PFA) has become the choice of mental health intervention and integration with the current disaster relief protocols during emergencies by the Institute of Medicine, NIMH and the WHO. It can be used during or immediately after disaster. People without mental health specialized training, including public health practitioners and emergency responders can learn and apply to everyone in need. Whilst being used extensively, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of PFA and its field applicability. A prospective randomized controlled study. 800 emergency medical... read more

Sleep disturbances are common symptoms during the immediate and long-term aftermath of exposure of traumatic events. While stress affects sleep in all age groups, due to differences in physiological, psychological, and socio-behavorial risk factors, the clinical management of pediatric patients with sleep disturbances post-disaster might be different. This study aims to systematically review scientific literature on the clinical management of pediatric sleep disturbances post-disaster and its clinical implication in developing countries. Methods: A keyword-based, systematic review was... read more

Speed and accuracy are major considerations in triage in emergency field settings. Traditional physical examination techniques often are limited in detecting the true nature and full extent of internal visceral injuries, for which delayed recognition and treatment may lead to catastrophic results. Ultrasound has a well-established role in the rapid initial assessment of intraabdominal pathologies, including trauma, and contemporary portable ultrasound machines are available for use in the field. This presentation will introduce the basic principles of diagnostic ultrasound and its use in... read more

Natural disasters cannot be prevented but their human impact can be mitigated. Effective medical and public health mitigation and responses require multidisciplinary efforts and appropriate training. Whilst Asia is currently ranked as the most natural disaster prone area globally, limited disaster medical and public health response training opportunities are available in the region. Our paper reports efforts to identify the training gaps and ways to fill them to prepare frontline practitioners and academic researchers in disaster and medical humanitarian emergency relief efforts in Asia.... read more

Although China has been known for its high frequency and human toll resulting from natural disasters, limited information is available to understand the human impact of its technological disasters (TD). This study provides a time trend analysis of the TD-induced injuries and fatalities since 1979 in mainland China. Through reviewing available academic literature and the examination of two public accessible databases, descriptive analysis of TD epidemiological profile in China was conducted by Emergency Events Database of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels... read more

In-flight medical emergencies are clinically challenging and may result in aircraft diversions, which are costly and inconvenient, or in-flight deaths. We provide an updated description of in-flight medical emergencies and systematically examine predictors of medical flight diversions and in-flight deaths......

BACKGROUND: This study investigated posttraumatic growth (PTG) and reduced suicidal ideation among Chinese adolescents at one month after the occurrence of the Sichuan Earthquake. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 3324 high school students in Chengdu, Sichuan. The revised Posttraumatic Growth Inventory for Children and the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale assessed PTG and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), respectively.

A devastating earthquake occurred on May 12, 2008 in Sichuan, China. This study investigated the prevalence and factors in association with psychological problems among secondary school students living in Chengdu (90 km away from the disaster epicenter) in June 2008. In a cross-sectional survey, 3,324 secondary students self-administered a structured questionnaire in classroom setting. Validated scales were used in this study. Among all respondents, 22.3% reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 22.6% were probable depression cases; 10.6% reported suicidal ideation; and 14.1% would... read more

In China, water resources are both inadequate and unevenly distributed. Professor Emily Chan and Professor Sian Griffiths from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, discuss the impact of water quantity, quality, cost and development on public health in China......

目的 探讨高温热浪对沿海城市每日居民死亡情况的影响,为预防与控制热浪对城市居民健康的不良影响提供科学依据.方法 采用半参数广义相加模型对我国某沿海城市中心城区2005-2007年日平均温度与每日居民死亡数之间关系进行研究,同时采用分布滞后模型探索夏季日平均温度对每日居民死亡数的滞后效应.结果 通过平滑2005-2007年某沿海城市中心区日全死因死亡数与日平均温度的关系,得出它们之间的关系近似呈"V"型.夏季日平均温度每升高1 ℃,相对危险度增加0.036(P＜0.01).在建立的半参数广义相加模型中,日平均温度与日死亡数线性关系特别显著(P＜0.001),通过逐步回归对温度迟滞项lag1、lag2、lag3进行筛选,得出lag3代入模型最有意义,线性关系特别显著(P＜0.001).通过分布滞后模型,获得lag0、lag1对全死因死亡率的影响最明显(P＜0.000 1).结论 高温热浪对城镇居民每日居民死亡人数产生不利的影响,为了应对热浪活动在全球范围内日趋频繁的威胁,应该根据沿海城市的地区特点,采取相应的有效预防措施,以减少热浪导致的健康危害作用,确保沿海城市居民的健康.

Injury is a major global disease burden for the twenty-first century. There are, however, few studies of unintentional household injury in Asian urban settings where living environments are characterized by extremely compact, high-living-density, multistory apartments. This study investigated the association between nonfatal unintentional household injuries with the resident's sociodemographic attributes and household characteristics in Hong Kong, the city with the world's highest population density. A cross-sectional retrospective recall study was conducted in May 2007 using a random... read more

AIMS: Limited published studies have examined patient characteristics and disease patterns served by mobile clinics in remote areas post natural disaster. By comparing users of a remote mountainous stationary clinic and a mobile helicopter outreach clinic in Neelam Valley, 4 months post Pakistan-Kashmir earthquake, this study aims to: (i) compare the demographic and disease profile of health service users, (ii) examine how acute and chronic disease patterns vary with clinical settings, and (iii) discuss the potential implications to mobile emergency clinical service planning acute phase of... read more

This study investigates the epidemiological characteristics of non-fatal unintentional household injuries in Hong Kong, the city with the world's highest population density. A population-based, cross-sectional, random telephone survey was conducted with a modified Chinese WHO injury and violence survey questionnarie in May 2007. Descriptive and univariate analysis was conducted to highlight the associated factors. The prevalence of all non-fatal unintentional home injuries in the preceding year was 40.2%. Contusion/crushing injuries, open wounds and burn-related scalds were the most... read more

Emily Y Y Chan took part in the relief effort after the Sichuan earthquake in May. She reports on the short-term needs of those affected and the medical and public-health challenges that will be faced by the Chinese population as rehabilitation and reconstruction continues......

Child public health is described by Kohler as “ …the organised efforts of society to develop healthy public health policies to promote child and young people’s health, to prevent disease in children and young people and to foster equity for children and young people, within a framework of sustainable development”. China has the second largest population under the age of 5 in the world and faces complex challenges resulting from legislation, such as the one child policy, as well as the problem of increasing inequity, as demonstrated by trends in infant mortality in urban and rural China.... read more

News stories about the contamination of milk with melamine in China first emerged on Sept 11, 2008, and the situation has since become an international health scare. Melamine (also known as tripolycyanamide) is an industrial chemical in the production of melamine resins, which are used in laminates, glues, adhesives, and plastics. When added to milk, melamine increases the nitrogen concentration, which suggests a false increase in protein concentration. Melamine has low oral acute toxicity but excessive exposure in animals causes renal stones. When consumed by human beings, babies and... read more

Media coverage and the outpouring of public generosity in response to disasters often pressure institutions or organisations to act immediately without clear evidence. While it is critical to respond quickly to save lives and prevent suffering, obtaining valid information on which to make evidence-based, appropriate, and relevant relief decisions is just as important. Developed countries have better technology and equipment to assist with postdisaster data collection, with satellite surveillance providing information on population density, crop growth, and even troop movement in conflict... read more