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Biomedical subjects

A H Pang

Publications and source records attributed to A H Pang.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Characteristics of dropouts from a child psychiatry clinic in Hong Kong.

There is, to date, no study on the pattern of dropping out from child and adolescent psychiatry clinics in a non-western setting. This study aims to investigate this phenomenon in Hong Kong. The database and medical charts of 235 new cases were reviewed 1 year after the initial assessments. The clinical, demographic and family data of the dropout and non-dropout groups were compared. An overall dropout rate of 27.2% was found. Boys and children with attention deficit hyperkinetic disorder and infantile autism were less likely to drop out. No interaction with gender was found. Compared with western literature, there are some important differences in the factors associated with dropping out of treatment. Our study highlights the importance of socio-cultural influences on the characteristics of clinic drop-outs.

Chi-Square Distribution↗
PubMed1997

Community psychiatry in Hong Kong.

Community psychiatry is well developed in many western countries. However, this psychiatric subspecialty has only recently been officially recognized and established in Hong Kong. This article describes the development and current scope of services. It illustrates how local psychiatrists have met the challenge of adopting a western service model to suit the local Chinese population, with its different socio-cultural value system.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1997

Dropping out from child psychiatric treatment: reasons and outcome.

This study explores the reasons underlying dropping out from a child psychiatric clinic in Hong Kong, and the outcome of these children. A reluctance to accept psychiatric help, or the possibility of being labelled as psychiatrically ill, and differences between the families and doctors in their perception of the presenting problems are common reasons given for dropping out. A substantial number of children who dropped out continued to have some degree of psychiatric morbidity two years later. These results highlight the need to increase the community's awareness of the nature of child psychiatry, and for doctors to be sensitive to the families' perception of the presenting problems so as to minimise the likelihood of dropping out.

Child↗
PubMed1997

Children's consent to psychiatric treatment: all or nothing?

An adolescent with a history of attempted suicide who refused to involve his father in the treatment plan is presented. Issues surrounding consent to psychiatric treatment in childhood are discussed and the assessment process outlined. Contributions by primary healthcare professionals are emphasised.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Psychotropic drug prescription in rehabilitation. A survey in Hong Kong.

Rational pharmacotherapy helping chronic psychiatric patients in the difficult process of reintegration into the community is an important prerequisite of successful rehabilitation. Results of a survey conducted at the opening of a rehabilitation facility in Hong Kong revealed a number of illogicalities in prescription patterns. Frequently encountered faulty treatment decisions incompatible with the recommendations of modern literature included polypharmacy, higher than necessary doses of anticholinergic antiparkinsonian agents and giving psychotropic drugs in inconveniently divided doses. With the newly emerging subspecialty of rehabilitation-community psychiatry in Hong Kong, it is expected that large numbers of chronically hospitalized patients will enter rehabilitation programmes. The present survey indicated that it is imperative to pay continued attention to their medication status.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

A prospective outcome study of patients missing regular psychiatric outpatient appointments.

This paper describes a prospective follow-up study of defaulters of regular psychiatric outpatient appointments in Hong Kong. To establish outcome, 258 patients were traced 6 months after their non-attendance at a follow-up clinic. Results showed that 50% returned while the rest dropped out of treatment. The clinical and demographic variables, including employment, marriage, being seen by faculty rather than resident staff, a past history of default and shorter length of contact at the clinic studied (within a year), were all significant in predicting drop-out. There was a trend for those who reattended to have received a telephone reminder, to be a student and to be single. Out of the 129 drop-out patients, 84 were traced, 23 were admitted to hospital and 5 died. There were no deaths and only 5 patients required hospitalisation among the attenders. We concluded that active reengagement of psychiatric outpatient defaulters is required.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Attempted suicide by Chinese elderly in Hong Kong.

There is little information on attempted suicide in the elderly, especially among Chinese populations. Fifty-five elderly with suicidal attempts seen in a psychiatric unit in Hong Kong over a 2 1/2 year period were studied. The risk of suicidal attempt remained high after age 75 and only declined after 85. In contrast to western societies, self-injury was more common than self-poisoning. About half of the patients suffered from a mood disorder but very few had dementia. At follow-up 1 1/2-4 years after the suicidal attempt, the rate of repetition was 3.6% and the rate of completed suicide was 5.5%.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed1996

Shoplifting and robbery in a fugue state.

The case of a 26-year-old Chinese woman with a history of benzodiazepine dependence and shoplifting who committed an act of robbery is presented. The various aetiological factors implicated in this complicated case are discussed in the light of the recent literature.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Querulous paranoia in Chinese patients: a cultural paradox.

OBJECTIVE: There has been no reported case of querulous paranoia from the Asian population. A prospective study was undertaken to identify patients with querulous paranoia in an outpatient clinic. METHOD: One thousand, five hundred and fifty-one new referrals to a university-affiliated psychiatric outpatient clinic in Hong Kong were screened for querulous paranoia during routine clinical work. RESULTS: Three patients with querulous paranoia (0.19%) were identified during 1 year. The case histories of these three patients are reported. CONCLUSION: Possible reasons for the low reporting rate are discussed and the importance of sociocultural traditions in the development and recognition of querulous paranoia is emphasised.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Case study: early-onset anorexia nervosa in a Chinese boy.

In this case study of early-onset anorexia nervosa in a male patient from Hong Kong, clinical features are outlined and compared with those of their Western counterparts. Implications of being the only son in a traditional Chinese family and the process of acculturation and cultural conflicts of growing up in a Western-oriented society are put forward as significant psychodynamic factors in the etiology of his illness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

An audit study of defaulters of regular psychiatric outpatient appointments in Hong Kong.

This paper describes an audit study of general psychiatric outpatient defaulters in Hong Kong. Defaulters were increased among those who were married, unemployed, housewives, seen within one year, receiving medications and previously admitted to hospital. Clinical diagnoses (ICD-10 Axis-1) of the F1, F2, F3 and F7 groups were also associated with increased defaulting behaviour. However, fewer defaulters were found among those who were aged below 19, single, employed, students, and had diagnostic groups of F4 and F9. These results added new information on the non-attendance behavioral pattern of Chinese patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Psychopathology of catatonic speech disorders and the dilemma of catatonia: a selective review.

OBJECTIVE: Over the past decade there has been an upsurge of interest in the prevalence, nosological position, treatment response and pathophysiology of catatonia. However, the psychopathology of catatonia has received only scant attention. Once the hallmark of catatonia, speech disorders--particularly logorrhoea, verbigeration and echolalia--seem to have been neglected in modern literature. The aims of the present paper are to outline the conceptual history of catatonic speech disorders and to follow their development in contemporary clinical research. METHOD: The English-language psychiatric literature for the last 60 years on logorrhoea, verbigeration and echolalia was searched through Medline and cross-referencing. Kahlbaum, Wernicke, Jaspers, Kraepelin, Bleuler, Kleist and Leonhard's oft cited classical texts supplemented the search. RESULTS: In contrast to classical psychopathological sources, very few recent papers were found on catatonic speech disorders. Current clinical research failed to incorporate the observations of traditional descriptive psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Modern catatonia research operates with simplified versions of psychopathological terms devised and refined by generations of classical writers.

Catatonia↗