Biomedical subjects

Kai-Kuen Leung

Publications and source records attributed to Kai-Kuen Leung.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Social support and family functioning on psychological symptoms in elderly Chinese.

The purpose of this study was to extend our knowledge about how social support and family functioning affect mental health, and to examine the buffering effects of support in the presence of health stressors. A random cluster sample of 507 elderly community people were surveyed with a structured questionnaire, which included the depression and anxiety subscale of the Chinese version of Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale (FEICS), Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), and the Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale (KADL). Results revealed that women had more anxiety symptoms than men (mean=3.49; 95% CI: 3.02-3.95 versus mean=2.56; 95% CI: 2.27-2.85). Emotional support was more important than instrumental support for psychological symptoms. Family emotional involvement was inversely correlated to depression (r=-0.19) and anxiety (r=-0.22), while criticism was positively correlated to depression (r=0.29) and anxiety (r=0.31). Multivariate analysis revealed that women, impaired cognitive function, urban residents with chronic diseases, less emotional support, and more criticism from the family were associated with more depressive and anxiety symptoms. Family involvement had buffering effects on psychological symptoms for people with cognitive impairment and medical diseases. Our results imply that elderly people with mental symptoms and chronic medical diseases benefit more from family involvement.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Factors affecting students' evaluation in a community service-learning program.

A community service-learning curriculum was established to give students opportunities to understand the interrelationship between family and community health, the differences between community and hospital medicine, and to be able to identify and solve community health problems. Students were divided into small groups to participate in community health works such as home visits etc. under supervision. This study was designed to evaluate the community service-learning program and to understand how students' attitude and learning activities affected students' satisfaction. The results revealed that most medical students had a positive attitude towards social service and citizenship but were conservative towards taking the role to serve people in the community. Students had achieved what they were required to learn especially the training in communication skills and ability to identify social issues. Students' attitude towards social service did not affect their opinions on the quality of the program and subjective rating on their achievement. The quality of the program was related to the quality of learning rated by the students.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2006

Anatomy instruction in medical schools: connecting the past and the future.

Anatomy curriculum has changed dramatically around the world since the 1960s. These changes include the reduction of course hours, the abandonment of cadaver dissection, the use of problem-based learning, application of other teaching modalities such as prosected specimens, models, radiographic images, computer simulations, and the introduction of humanity and death education. This article discusses the controversies in anatomy curriculum in Western countries, including the rationale for those changes, and the opinions of the objections.

Anatomy↗

PubMed2006

The influence of awareness of terminal condition on spiritual well-being in terminal cancer patients.

We developed a Spirituality Transcendence Measure (STM) and studied whether awareness of terminal illness affects spiritual well-being in terminal cancer patients. Three sources of spiritual transcendence--the situational, the moral and biographical, and the religious aspect--were assessed in the STM. Cronbach's alpha of the STM was 0.95, and the principle axis factor analysis extracted only one factor. Thirty-seven terminal cancer patients with male predominance (59.5%) were studied. Awareness of terminal illness was associated with a higher total STM score (Z = -2.21, P = 0.027), along with the individual scores for each of the three transcendences (Z = -2.39, P = 0.017; Z = -2.71, P = 0.007; and Z = -1.96, P = 0.050). Acceptance of death was associated with a higher situational score (Z = 2.01, P = 0.046) and a higher religious score (Z = -2.27, P = 0.023). Announcement of testament was associated with a higher situational score (Z = -2.30, P = 0.021). We conclude that awareness of terminal illness is associated with spiritual well-being. Telling the complete truth is necessary even when dealing with terminal conditions.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Students' evaluation on a two-stage anatomy curriculum.

This study evaluated students' perspectives of the two-stage anatomy course, which is designed to retain the time-honored tradition of cadaver dissection and to include innovative components into anatomy education. A total of 94 sixth-year medical students completed a questionnaire survey at the end of the second stage anatomy course. The results showed that more than half of the students were satisfied with the two-stage anatomy course. Students found that cadaver dissection was most helpful in learning anatomy. The two-stage anatomy course can enhance understanding and memory of anatomical knowledge. However, students disagreed on whether or not the two-stage course can reduce the burden of learning or that the parallel study of anatomy and the 'Life and Death' course could change their attitude toward death more effectively. National Licensing Examination revealed no obvious change after the implementation of the new anatomy course. Traditional and innovative components in anatomy curriculum could coexist in harmony. We provided an alternative for those who wanted to retain cadaver dissection in a reformed curriculum. Further study is needed to evaluate the adequacy of anatomy knowledge and student performance in the long run.

Anatomy↗

PubMed2005

The development and validation of a dementia behavior disturbance inventory.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an instrument that measures observable problematic behaviors in patients with dementia. METHODOLOGY: We used focus group interviews to identify the problematic behaviors of patients with dementia. Eighty-two behaviors grouped into 12 domains were generated from the data collected from five different focus groups. After conducting a content validation process, a 72-item Dementia Behavior Disturbance Inventory (DBDI) rated by a frequency and a disturbance scale was formed. The DBDI was administered to 200 institutionalized elderly patients with dementia by formal caregivers for psychometric evaluation. RESULTS: Inter-item correlation of items in each domain was performed for item reduction. Forty-eight items remained after this procedure. Exploratory factor analysis obtained nine factors that explained 59.2% and 59.6% of the total variance in the frequency and disturbance scales, respectively. Cronbach's alpha of the entire 48-item frequency and disturbance scales was 0.88 and 0.91, respectively. Most of the factors had acceptable internal consistency reliability. Test-re-test reliability coefficients of the frequency and disturbance scales were 0.78 and 0.64, respectively. The DBDI was weakly but positively related to functions of daily activities and ambulation. CONCLUSION: The DBDI demonstrates promising psychometrical properties as an instrument to assess problematic behaviors in elderly people with dementia.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

The use of focus groups in evaluating quality of life components among elderly Chinese people.

In Taiwan, to measure the quality of life (QOL) of elderly Chinese, one must rely on instruments developed in other Chinese or Western populations and not specifically for the elderly. The purpose of this study is to understand the components of QOL for elderly Chinese from Taiwan living in residential homes or in their communities. Forty-four elderly men and women divided into six focus groups were interviewed on video tape and the resultant recording was analyzed qualitatively by six independent researchers. The study yielded 15 QOL domains grouped into six dimensions: physical health (physical well-being, impact of illness, medical care), psychological health (mood states, life attitude and retrospection, philosophy of living, self-efficacy), social function (connectedness, exercise and leisure activities, social activities and services), living environment (living environment and arrangements, institutional factors), economic status, and religion and death (religion, death). For elderly Chinese in Taiwan, positive and negative life domains are equally important in the perception of life quality; person-environment interaction is a major consideration in the evaluation of QOL; family ties are an important component of QOL; traditional Chinese beliefs exert a positive influence on perceived QOL; and social functioning and vitality have a different meaning in Chinese compared to Western cultures.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2003

Development of a teaching style inventory for tutor evaluation in problem-based learning.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a self-rating instrument to assess teaching styles among tutors in problem-based learning (PBL). METHODS: The development of the teaching style inventory (TSI) was based theoretically on four types of teaching behaviours: the assertive, suggestive, collaborative and facilitative styles, as proposed by Bibace et al. A 35-item questionnaire was generated and evaluated for content validity by a group of experienced tutors. The questionnaire was mailed to 196 tutors at the National Taiwan University College of Medicine. The results were submitted for item analysis, internal consistency testing and exploratory factor analysis. Longterm test-retest reliability was assessed by a sample of 50 tutors after a 6-month interval. RESULTS: Finally, 118 tutors returned the questionnaires. In the item reduction process, seven items were excluded due to low interscale correlation. Principle component factoring yielded a three-factor solution that accounted for 48.5% of the total variance. Internal consistency coefficients of the four hypothetical domains ranged from 0.73 to 0.83. All domains correlated to each other as expected. Assertive and facilitative styles, which are theoretically opposite teaching styles, showed a negative correlation with each other. Most of the items of each hypothetical domain correlated better with their own domain than with other domains. Longterm test-retest correlations of the four domains ranged from 0.54 to 0.81. CONCLUSION: The TSI demonstrated high internal consistency reliability, acceptable longterm test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Further psychometric testing should focus on applicability to other populations, predictive validity and short-term test-retest reliability. This instrument can be used by programme directors for the recruitment of tutors and can also be used to increase the self-awareness of tutors.

Adult↗