Psychometric Properties of Chinese Version of Work and Social Adjustment Scale for Outpatients With Common Mental Disorders: Classical Test Theory and Rasch Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the work and social adjustment scale (CWSAS) in outpatients with common mental disorders, and to evaluate the correlations of CWSAS with Physical Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), World Health Organization Five Well-being Index (WHO-5), and Chinese version of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (CPSS-10). METHODS: Forward and backward translations of the CWSAS was performed. Between October 2018 and March 2020, 252 outpatients with a common mental disorder who had a job or a job plan were recruited from two psychiatric centres in Hong Kong. Participants were asked to complete the CWSAS, PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-5, and CPSS-10. Classical test theory and Rasch analysis were undertaken to determine the psychometric properties of the CWSAS and its correlations with other tools. RESULTS: Principal component analysis revealed that the CWSAS was a one-factor structure and showed adequate convergent and discriminant validities, internal consistency, item-total correlation, and inter-item correlation. There was a significant group difference in terms of employment status. CPSS-10 and PHQ-9 were predictors for CWSAS score. The CWSAS was a distinct factor among other outcome measures. Rasch analysis indicated that the CWSAS was well-targeted and unidimensional. The CWSAS had an adequate person separation index, item separation index, person reliability, and item reliability. No categorical disordering was found, whereas inadequate adjacent threshold distance was reported. The item of ability to work indicated a noticeable differential item functioning in employment status and main source of finance. CONCLUSION: The CWSAS is psychometrically appropriate to measure functional outcomes in outpatients with common mental disorders.

Onset of significant GH dependence of serum IGF-I and IGF-binding protein 3 concentrations in early life.

Forty-eight normal full-term Chinese babies (25 boys and 23 girls) were followed up every 2 mo in the first year and every 3 mo during the second year of life for anthropometric measurements. Blood samples were taken at birth and at 6, 10, 12, and 18 mo after birth for serum GH-binding protein, IGF-I, and IGF-binding protein 3 analysis. Onset of the childhood phase of growth in the infants was determined from the growth data plotted on Infancy-Childhood-Puberty growth charts. The serum GH-binding protein concentrations were low in cord blood but rose significantly at 6 mo, with slower rises in late infancy and early childhood. However, a significant rise in serum IGF-I and IGF-binding protein 3 levels was only observed from 10 mo of life onward. The change in IGF-I between birth and 6 mo was significantly correlated with length gain (r(2) = 0.35, p < 0.05) and body mass index gain (r(2) = 0.41, p < 0.01) during the same period. The 34 infants with onset of childhood phase of growth between 6 and 10 mo had a higher mean serum IGF-I value at 10 mo (8.8 +/- 5.8 nM versus 4.9 +/- 3.1 nM; p < 0.05) and higher length velocity between 10 and 12 mo (16.3 +/- 4.7 cm/y versus 8.8 +/- 4.3 cm/y; p < 0.001) compared with the 14 infants with a later onset after 10 mo of age. A significant correlation between a change in serum IGF-I and IGF-binding protein 3 levels was observed during the three 6-mo periods between birth and 18 mo, but a significant correlation between a change in serum GH-binding protein and a change in serum IGF-I or IGF-binding protein 3 levels was only seen between 12 and 18 mo of age. The multiple regression analysis (r(2) = 0.43, p = 0.0002) revealed that the change in serum GH-binding protein and IGF-I concentrations between 6 and 12 mo of age and the age of onset of childhood phase of growth could explain 43% of the length gain between 6 and 12 mo of age in our babies. The results of our study support the hypothesis that the onset of the childhood phase of growth is associated with the onset of significant GH action on growth.

The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants.

Because human activities impact the timing, location, and degree of pollutant exposure, they play a key role in explaining exposure variation. This fact has motivated the collection of activity pattern data for their specific use in exposure assessments. The largest of these recent efforts is the National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS), a 2-year probability-based telephone survey (n=9386) of exposure-related human activities in the United States (U.S.) sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The primary purpose of NHAPS was to provide comprehensive and current exposure information over broad geographical and temporal scales, particularly for use in probabilistic population exposure models. NHAPS was conducted on a virtually daily basis from late September 1992 through September 1994 by the University of Maryland's Survey Research Center using a computer-assisted telephone interview instrument (CATI) to collect 24-h retrospective diaries and answers to a number of personal and exposure-related questions from each respondent. The resulting diary records contain beginning and ending times for each distinct combination of location and activity occurring on the diary day (i.e., each microenvironment). Between 340 and 1713 respondents of all ages were interviewed in each of the 10 EPA regions across the 48 contiguous states. Interviews were completed in 63% of the households contacted. NHAPS respondents reported spending an average of 87% of their time in enclosed buildings and about 6% of their time in enclosed vehicles. These proportions are fairly constant across the various regions of the U.S. and Canada and for the California population between the late 1980s, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) sponsored a state-wide activity pattern study, and the mid-1990s, when NHAPS was conducted. However, the number of people exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in California seems to have decreased over the same time period, where exposure is determined by the reported time spent with a smoker. In both California and the entire nation, the most time spent exposed to ETS was reported to take place in residential locations.

Body mass index is different in normal Chinese and Caucasian infants.

Body mass index (BMI) is one of the anthropometric measurements for assessing nutritional status, body composition and adiposity in children. Racial differences in BMI between black and white children and adolescents have been shown in several studies. The aim of this study was to determine whether an ethnic difference in BMI exists between Chinese and Caucasian children in the first two years of life. The BMI of Chinese and Caucasian infants was compared so as to assess the usefulness of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth reference data in the assessment of nutritional status of Chinese children. Mean weight, length and BMI were compared between six cohorts of Chinese children and five cohorts of Caucasian children together with the NCHS growth reference data. The changes in the mean BMI curves during the first two years of life in the two ethnic groups were entirely different but the different cohorts in the same ethnic groups displayed a similar pattern of change with age. The difference in change in BMI in the Chinese cohorts was related to the difference in change in their mean weight as compared to the NCHS weight-for-age reference data. In contrast, the change in mean length of the well-nourished Hong Kong Chinese children in the present study followed the mean NCHS height-for-age values. The results of this study suggest that linear growth would be better for the assessment of health and nutrition in infancy and early childhood. If BMI and weight-for-height standards were to be used then an ethnic group-specific and population based reference data set should be used.