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The onset of the COVID-19 outbreak led to widespread adoption of mobility intervention policies, which were widely regarded as effective measures to control the spread of the virus. The initial pandemic wave, accompanied by the enforcement of mobility intervention policies, greatly changed human mobility patterns, especially cross-border mobility (CBM). This study investigates the impact of the first wave of the pandemic and related mobility intervention policies on the CBM of the senior population between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Based on anonymous mobile phone trajectory data from 17 million devices active in Shenzhen spanning December 2019 to May 2020, we consider the implementation of mobility intervention policies during different stages of pandemic in both cities. We adopt interrupted time series (ITS) analysis to explore the causal effects of different mobility intervention policies on the CBM of older people between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. We find that most mobility intervention policies have a significant abrupt or gradual effect on the CBM of older people, especially in the 60-64 age group. As these policies neglect the mobility needs and characteristics among the senior groups, such as visiting relatives or friends and seeking medical treatment across borders, we suggest that more coordinated and integrated policies and measures are required to address the CBM needs of older people in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, especially in the post-pandemic era., Competing Interests: YX were employed by Shenzhen Qianhai Construction & Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 He, Niu, Wei, Cai, Zhang, Xiao and Yin.)

Awareness of COVID-19 infection risk and oscillation patterns ('waves') may affect older people's mental health. Empirical data from populations experiencing multiple waves of community outbreaks can inform guidance for maintaining mental health. This study aims to investigate the effects of COVID-19 infection risk and oscillations on depression among community-dwelling older people in Hong Kong., A rolling cross-sectional telephone survey method was used. Screening for depression risk was conducted among 8,163 older people (age ≥ 60) using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) from February to August 2020. The relationships between PHQ-2, COVID-19 infection risk proxies - change in newly infected cases and effective reproductive number (R t ), and oscillations - stage of a 'wave' reported in the media, were analysed using correlation and regression., 8.4% of survey respondents screened positive for depression risk. Being female ( β = .08), having a pre-existing mental health issue ( β = .21), change in newly infected cases ( β = .05), and screening during the latency period before the media called out new waves ( β = .03), contributed to higher depression risk ( R 2 = .06, all p <.01)., While depression risk does not appear alarming in this sample, our results highlight that older people are sensitive to reporting of infection, particularly among those with existing mental health needs. Future public health communication should balance awareness of infection risks with mental health protection.

Background: The Hong Kong Brief Cognitive Test (HKBC), a brief instrument designed to screen for cognitive impairment in older adults, has been validated in Cantonese-speaking populations and has shown better performance than the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in detecting both mild and major neurocognitive disorder (NCD)., Objective: This study aimed to validate the HKBC for detecting patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a Mandarin-speaking Chinese population., Methods: Two hundred forty-eight patients with aMCI, 67 patients with mild AD and 306 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for this study and completed both the HKBC and the MMSE. The performance of the HKBC and MMSE in distinguishing patients with aMCI from HCs and distinguishing patients with AD from patients with aMCI was compared in the whole population and in age- and education-stratified subgroups., Results: The optimal HKBC cutoff score for distinguishing patients with aMCI from HCs was 23, and the optimal cutoff score for distinguishing patients with AD from patients with aMCI was 17. The HKBC significantly outperformed the MMSE at differentiating patients with aMCI from HCs in the whole population (z = 12.38, p < 0.01) and all subgroups stratified by age or education. Regarding the discrimination of patients with AD from patients with aMCI, the HKBC showed better performance than the MMSE in the oldest subgroup (z = 2.18, p = 0.03)., Conclusion: The HKBC is a sensitive and specific screening tool for detecting aMCI and AD in the Chinese population across age groups and educational levels.

The present study assessed the relationship between breakfast frequency and measures of obesity in Hong Kong Chinese children aged 9-18 years. A total of 11,570 children (50 % boys) underwent anthropometric measurements and completed a simple self-administered dietary behaviour questionnaire. Their parents completed a questionnaire providing demographic information. Breakfast frequency was assessed by a single question, 'How many days over the past week did you have breakfast?' Children were categorised into three groups: skippers (ate breakfast 0-2 times/week); semi-skippers (ate breakfast 3-4 times/week); non-skippers (ate breakfast 5-7 times/week), to assess all associated characteristics. Of the 3644 primary and 7926 secondary school students, 8 % (8·7 % of boys and 6·9 % of girls) and 14 % (14 % of boys and 15 % of girls), respectively, were breakfast skippers. The prevalence of obesity among breakfast skippers, semi-skippers and non-skippers was, respectively, 9·8, 10·6 and 3·8 % (P < 0·001) for primary school students and 3·9, 3·1 and 2·4 % (P < 0·001) for secondary school students. The 12 % of Hong Kong children aged 9-18 years who skipped breakfast had higher BMI, BMI z-scores and percentage of body fat (PBF) than their counterparts. The dose effects of breakfast frequency (unstandardised regression coefficient, P < 0·001) on BMI and PBF were, respectively, -0·125 kg/m2 and -0·219 % for boys and -0·165 kg/m2 and -0·353 % for girls, adjusting for physical activity per additional breakfast meal per week. Further study is recommended to elucidate whether regular breakfast consumption may have a role in the prevention of childhood obesity.

Objective: To establish reference standards for percentage body fat measured in Hong Kong Chinese children, by methods involving bioelectrical impedance analysis., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: Thirty-six randomly selected primary and secondary schools and a teaching hospital in Hong Kong., Participants: A total of 14 842 students randomly selected from the schools and two additional small convenience samples of subjects., Main Outcome Measures: Percentage body fat was measured with the Tanita Body Composition Analyzer (Model no. BF-522) and percentile curves were constructed using the LMS method. In one separate small sample of children, repeatability of the percentage body fat measurement was assessed at different times of the day by BF-522 bioelectrical impedance analysis. In another sample, assessment was by the BF-522 and two other models (BC-418 and BF-401) consecutively to test the agreement of percentage body fat values obtained by the three different models. RESULTS. The percentage body fat values and percentile curves are presented. From the age of 6 to 18 years, the percentage body fat remained fairly stable in boys, but increased steadily in girls. The mean difference in percentage body fat measured with BF-522 at different times of the day was around 1% (95% limits of agreement: -4% to +8%). The mean differences in readings obtained from the BC-418 and BF-522 devices were -3.5% and 1% in boys and girls, respectively. The 95% limits of agreement were particularly wide in boys (-15% to 8%)., Conclusions: Reference values for percentage body fat of Chinese children and adolescents are provided. Caution needs to be exercised however, given that readings obtained at different times of the day vary and data obtained by different makes and models of bioelectrical impedance analysis machines may not be interchangeable.