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Numerous studies have examined the effects of weather on emergency ambulance service (EAS) demand. Given Taipei’s unique physical and social environments, empirical evidence collected from other regions may not be applicable. Collecting more information about the characteristics of vulnerable groups and the effects of weather could help the EAS managing authority in formulating cost-effective EAS policies. This study aims to look at the effects of weather on EAS demand in Taipei and to make a comparison with Hong Kong, which is also an Asian city and has a similar cultural context. The study analyzed over 370,000 EAS usage records from the Taipei City Fire Department. These records were aggregated into time series data according to patients’ characteristics and then regressed on meteorological data via multivariate forward regression. The effect size differences of the variance explained by different groups of EAS users’ regression models were compared. Afterward, the results of the regression analysis from Taipei were compared with those from a Hong Kong study. Elderly and critical patients in both cities showed significantly more sensitivity to weather than other patients. Further analysis showed that non-trauma cases were related to weather in Taipei. Although both cities had similar results, the Taipei study clearly showed that elderly and critical patients were more sensitive to weather than other patient subgroups. Health education programs should focus on the vulnerable groups identified in this study in order to increase their awareness and help them protect themselves before the onset of adverse weather conditions. By generating results that are directly applicable to Taipei, the formulation of inappropriate EAS policies can be prevented.
Ho Ting Wong; Jen-Jia Lin. The effects of weather on daily emergency ambulance service demand in Taipei: a comparison with Hong Kong. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 2020, 141, 321 -330.
AMA StyleHo Ting Wong, Jen-Jia Lin. The effects of weather on daily emergency ambulance service demand in Taipei: a comparison with Hong Kong. Theoretical and Applied Climatology. 2020; 141 (1-2):321-330.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHo Ting Wong; Jen-Jia Lin. 2020. "The effects of weather on daily emergency ambulance service demand in Taipei: a comparison with Hong Kong." Theoretical and Applied Climatology 141, no. 1-2: 321-330.
Urinary problems are common among aging men, but there is a paucity of research efforts to understand the psychosocial aspects of the illness. This study aims to understand how common and distressing urinary problems are for newly retired men in Hong Kong and to test the associations between mental health, self-stigma of seeking help, fatigue, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and distress due to urinary problems. To assess this, 139 out of 200 members of a retired men’s social club (mean age 63.5) were successfully interviewed. Two-fifths of the participants felt distressed due to their urinary problems and one-third of the participants had been troubled by urinary incontinence or nocturia in the past six months. Yet the majority of the participants (55%) did not seek help from any medical profession. The group who were distressed by urinary problems showed significantly poorer mental health, reported more fatigue symptoms, were less satisfied with their sexual relationships and overall self-esteem, and were less able to stop unpleasant thoughts or to get social support than the non-distressed group. Cultural perceptions of masculinity and decreased sexual vigor might have affected participants’ willingness to seek help at an early stage. Targeted health education, mutual support groups, and sensitively designed services at the community level are suggested to address these physical and mental health issues.
Marcus Yu Lung Chiu; Ho Ting Wong; Xue Yang. Distress Due to Urinary Problems and Psychosocial Correlates among Retired Men in Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 2533 .
AMA StyleMarcus Yu Lung Chiu, Ho Ting Wong, Xue Yang. Distress Due to Urinary Problems and Psychosocial Correlates among Retired Men in Hong Kong. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (7):2533.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarcus Yu Lung Chiu; Ho Ting Wong; Xue Yang. 2020. "Distress Due to Urinary Problems and Psychosocial Correlates among Retired Men in Hong Kong." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 7: 2533.
Factor analysis has been widely used as an item-reduction method, while Rasch Analysis is also beginning to gain some popularity in scale development, with a different perspective and assumptions. In view of the lack of a comparative study, this study reports the comparative use of both strategies in reducing a newly developed inventory based on the conceptual framework of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Consensus Statement on the recovery of people with psychosis. The effectiveness of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Rasch Analysis (RA) is assessed against the criteria of the number of items reduced, and the percentage of variance is explained for health-related quality of life measures (WHOQOL-BREF). The SAMHSA Recovery Inventory for Chinese (SAMHSA-RIC) was shortened by CFA and RA from 111 to 72 and 41 items respectively. The percentage of variance explained by the RA shortened SAMHSA-RIC is higher than the CFA shortened SAMHSA-RIC (81.3 % vs 78.4 %). Evidence suggests that RA appears to be a viable option, in addition to, if not in replacement of, CFA.
M.Y.L. Chiu; H.T. Wong; W.W.N. Ho. A comparative study of confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch Analysis as item reduction strategies for SAMHSA recovery inventory for Chinese (SAMHSA-RIC). The European Journal of Psychiatry 2020, 34, 74 -81.
AMA StyleM.Y.L. Chiu, H.T. Wong, W.W.N. Ho. A comparative study of confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch Analysis as item reduction strategies for SAMHSA recovery inventory for Chinese (SAMHSA-RIC). The European Journal of Psychiatry. 2020; 34 (2):74-81.
Chicago/Turabian StyleM.Y.L. Chiu; H.T. Wong; W.W.N. Ho. 2020. "A comparative study of confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch Analysis as item reduction strategies for SAMHSA recovery inventory for Chinese (SAMHSA-RIC)." The European Journal of Psychiatry 34, no. 2: 74-81.
Dengue has long been a public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. In 2015, a dengue outbreak occurred in Taiwan, where 43,784 cases were reported. This study aims to assess the impact of dengue on Southern Taiwan’s economic growth according to the economic growth model-based regression approach recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Herein, annual data from Southern Taiwan on the number of dengue cases, income growth, and demographics from 2010–2015 were analyzed. The percentage of reduction of the average income per capita in 2015 due to the dengue outbreak was estimated. Dengue was determined to have a negative linear economic impact on Southern Taiwan’s economic growth. In particular, a reduction of 0.26% in the average income per capita was estimated in Southern Taiwan due to the 2015 outbreak. If the model is applied alongside other dengue outbreak forecast models, then the forecast for economic reduction due to a future dengue outbreak may also be estimated. Prevention and recovery policies may subsequently be decided upon based on not only the number of dengue cases but also the degree of economic burden resulting from an outbreak.
Chien-Yuan Sher; Ho Ting Wong; Yu-Chun Lin. The Impact of Dengue on Economic Growth: The Case of Southern Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 750 .
AMA StyleChien-Yuan Sher, Ho Ting Wong, Yu-Chun Lin. The Impact of Dengue on Economic Growth: The Case of Southern Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (3):750.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChien-Yuan Sher; Ho Ting Wong; Yu-Chun Lin. 2020. "The Impact of Dengue on Economic Growth: The Case of Southern Taiwan." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 3: 750.
The issue of an aging population has long been considered a critical problem for many countries because the elderly are generally considered one of the most vulnerable groups in society and are especially at risk during a disaster. Unfortunately, there are different aspects closely related to this issue that are being neglected. In this review study, the Disaster Risk and Age Index, which was developed by HelpAge International based on the framework of the well-developed INFORM Disaster Risk Index, was used to summarize the situation regarding disasters for the 39 countries in Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on the elderly. The index dimensional and categorical scoring and ranking of the Asia-Pacific countries were compared and analyzed. The heterogeneous distribution of the index's dimension and category scores revealed the strengths and weaknesses of different countries and the areas that could be improved. The result showed that for a country to have a high overall index ranking, it is not necessary to have outstanding scores in all three index dimensions. Moreover, it is also interesting to note that the high overall index ranking countries are not necessarily well-developed countries; small island states can also have a high overall index ranking. All of these findings demonstrate that even small and less developed countries can have a high overall index ranking if focus policies are formulated based on weak but improvable areas.
Ho Ting Wong; Cheuk Wing Chau; Yingqi Guo; Sonia Ming Jiu Chiou. Disaster risk and elderly in the Asia-Pacific region. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2019, 41, 101278 .
AMA StyleHo Ting Wong, Cheuk Wing Chau, Yingqi Guo, Sonia Ming Jiu Chiou. Disaster risk and elderly in the Asia-Pacific region. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 2019; 41 ():101278.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHo Ting Wong; Cheuk Wing Chau; Yingqi Guo; Sonia Ming Jiu Chiou. 2019. "Disaster risk and elderly in the Asia-Pacific region." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 41, no. : 101278.
This study aims to assess rural–urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service (EAS) demand and misuse in New Taipei City. Identifying the predictors of EAS demand will help the EAS service managing authority in formulating focused policies to maintain service quality. Over 160,000 electronic EAS usage records were used with a negative binomial regression model to assess rural–urban differences in the predictors of EAS demand and misuse. The factors of 1) ln-transformed population density, 2) percentage of residents who completed up to junior high school education, 3) accessibility of hospitals without an emergency room, and 4) accessibility of EAS were found to be predictors of EAS demand in rural areas, whereas only the factor of percentage of people aged above 65 was found to predict EAS demand in urban areas. For EAS misuse, only the factor of percentage of low-income households was found to be a predictor in rural areas, whereas no predictor was found in the urban areas. Results showed that the factors predicting EAS demand and misuse in rural areas were more complicated compared to urban areas and, therefore, formulating EAS policies for rural areas based on the results of urban studies may not be appropriate.
Ho Ting Wong; Teng-Kang Lin; Jen-Jia Lin. Identifying rural–urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service demand and misuse. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 2019, 118, 324 -331.
AMA StyleHo Ting Wong, Teng-Kang Lin, Jen-Jia Lin. Identifying rural–urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service demand and misuse. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association. 2019; 118 (1):324-331.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHo Ting Wong; Teng-Kang Lin; Jen-Jia Lin. 2019. "Identifying rural–urban differences in the predictors of emergency ambulance service demand and misuse." Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 118, no. 1: 324-331.
It is becoming popular to use biometeorological indexes to study the effects of weather on human health. Most of the biometeorological indexes were developed decades ago and only applicable to certain locations because of different climate types. Merely using standard biometeorological indexes to replace typical weather factors in biometeorological studies of different locations may not be an ideal research direction. This research is aimed at assessing the difference of statistical power between using standard biometeorological indexes and typical weather factors on describing the effects of extreme weather conditions on daily ambulance demands in Hong Kong. Results showed that net effective temperature and apparent temperature did not perform better than typical weather factors in describing daily ambulance demands in this study. The maximum adj-R2 improvement was only 0.08, whereas the maximum adj-R2 deterioration was 0.07. In this study, biometeorological indexes did not perform better than typical weather factors, possibly due to the differences of built environments and lifestyles in different locations and eras. Regarding built environments, the original parameters for calculating the index values may not be applicable to Hong Kong as buildings in Hong Kong are extremely dense and most are equipped with air conditioners. Regarding lifestyles, the parameters, which were set decades ago, may be outdated and not suitable to modern lifestyles as using hand-held electrical fans on the street to help reduce heat stress are popular. Hence, it is ideal to have tailor-made updated location-specific biometeorological indexes to study the effects of weather on human health.
Ho Ting Wong; Jinfeng Wang; Qian Yin; Si Chen; Poh Chin Lai. The potential benefits of location-specific biometeorological indexes. International Journal of Biometeorology 2017, 61, 1695 -1698.
AMA StyleHo Ting Wong, Jinfeng Wang, Qian Yin, Si Chen, Poh Chin Lai. The potential benefits of location-specific biometeorological indexes. International Journal of Biometeorology. 2017; 61 (9):1695-1698.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHo Ting Wong; Jinfeng Wang; Qian Yin; Si Chen; Poh Chin Lai. 2017. "The potential benefits of location-specific biometeorological indexes." International Journal of Biometeorology 61, no. 9: 1695-1698.
The rapid development of technology has made enormous volumes of data available and achievable anytime and anywhere around the world. Data scientists call this change a data era and have introduced the term “Big Data”, which has drawn the attention of nursing scholars. Nevertheless, the concept of Big Data is quite fuzzy and there is no agreement on its definition among researchers of different disciplines. Without a clear consensus on this issue, nursing scholars who are relatively new to the concept may consider Big Data to be merely a dataset of a bigger size. Having a suitable definition for nurse researchers in their context of research and practice is essential for the advancement of nursing research. In view of the need for a better understanding on what Big Data is, the aim in this paper is to explore and discuss the concept. Furthermore, an example of a Big Data research study on disaster nursing preparedness involving six million patient records is used for discussion. The example demonstrates that a Big Data analysis can be conducted from many more perspectives than would be possible in traditional sampling, and is superior to traditional sampling. Experience gained from the process of using Big Data in this study will shed light on future opportunities for conducting evidence-based nursing research to achieve competence in disaster nursing.
Ho Ting Wong; Vico Chung Lim Chiang; Kup Sze Choi; Alice Yuen Loke. The Need for a Definition of Big Data for Nursing Science: A Case Study of Disaster Preparedness. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2016, 13, 1015 .
AMA StyleHo Ting Wong, Vico Chung Lim Chiang, Kup Sze Choi, Alice Yuen Loke. The Need for a Definition of Big Data for Nursing Science: A Case Study of Disaster Preparedness. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2016; 13 (10):1015.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHo Ting Wong; Vico Chung Lim Chiang; Kup Sze Choi; Alice Yuen Loke. 2016. "The Need for a Definition of Big Data for Nursing Science: A Case Study of Disaster Preparedness." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 13, no. 10: 1015.
Internet addiction (IA) among adolescents has become a global health problem, and public awareness of it is increasing. Many IA risk factors relate to parents and the family environment. This study examined the relationship between IA and parenting approaches and family functionality. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 2021 secondary students to identify the prevalence of IA and to explore the association between adolescent IA and familial variables, including parents’ marital status, family income, family conflict, family functionality, and parenting approaches. The results revealed that 25.3 % of the adolescent respondents exhibited IA, and logistic regression positively predicted the IA of adolescents from divorced families, low-income families, families in which family conflict existed, and severely dysfunctional families. Interestingly, adolescents with restricted Internet use were almost 1.9 times more likely to have IA than those whose use was not restricted. Internet addiction is common among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong, and family-based prevention strategies should be aligned with the risk factors of IA.
Cynthia Sau Ting Wu; Ho Ting Wong; Kin Fai Yu; Ka Wing Fok; Sheung Man Yeung; Cheuk Ho Lam; Ka Man Liu. Parenting approaches, family functionality, and internet addiction among Hong Kong adolescents. BMC Pediatrics 2016, 16, 1 -10.
AMA StyleCynthia Sau Ting Wu, Ho Ting Wong, Kin Fai Yu, Ka Wing Fok, Sheung Man Yeung, Cheuk Ho Lam, Ka Man Liu. Parenting approaches, family functionality, and internet addiction among Hong Kong adolescents. BMC Pediatrics. 2016; 16 (1):1-10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCynthia Sau Ting Wu; Ho Ting Wong; Kin Fai Yu; Ka Wing Fok; Sheung Man Yeung; Cheuk Ho Lam; Ka Man Liu. 2016. "Parenting approaches, family functionality, and internet addiction among Hong Kong adolescents." BMC Pediatrics 16, no. 1: 1-10.