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Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between ocular surface disease (OSD) and functional status among elderly population over 60 years old in Hong Kong. Methods: Chinese subjects above 60 years old were recruited from the Ophthalmology clinic in Hong Kong West Cluster. Subjects demographic and questionnaires to evaluate the functional status were used to correlate with OSD objectively with clinical examination to assess the meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), corneal staining, Schirmer's test and tear break-up time (TBUT); and subjectively with ocular surface disease index (OSDI). Results: Twenty-eight patients were recruited, with a mean age of 71.5 ± 6.8 years. There was good correlation between the findings of the two eyes for bilateral measurements. Corneal staining was present in 75% of the subjects, while 92.9% of them had positive MGD grading. TBUT was reduced in 85.7% of the subjects. There is a negative association between MGD grading and Barthel index (r = −0.55, p<.01), indicating worse activities of daily living is related to worse MGD. OSDI is negatively associated with Schirmer's test (r = −0.49, p<.01). A negative correlation is also found between TBUT value and corneal staining (r = −0.58, p<.01). Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of OSD among our subjects. Lower Barthel index (indicating worse Lawton's instrumental activities of daily living) is associated with worse MGD grading. In elderly with poor functional status, care should be taken to manage their OSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the prevalence of myopia in primary school children in Hong Kong, and the risk factors for myopia development. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: Subjective refraction and axial length were measured in all participants. Structured questionnaire was completed by the parents to assess risk factors of myopia. Results: A total of 1396 children (491 boys) from Grade 1 to Grade 6 from 4 primary schools in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong participated. All participants underwent non-cycloplegic refraction. The overall prevalence of myopia (spherical equivalent, SE ≤ -0.5 diopter [D]) was 37.7%, which significantly increased with age, from 13.3% at grade 1 to 54.7% at grade 6. The prevalence of moderate myopia (-3.0D < SE < -6.0D) increased from 1.6% at grade 1 to 18.2% at grade 6 and the prevalence of high myopia (SE < = -6.0 D and/or AL ≥ 26.5 mm) increased from 0.94% (7/747) in grade 1-3 students to 1.85% (12/649) in grade 4-6 students. Among the students with myopia, only 23.6% of the parents knew their children had refractive errors and only 19.8% of the children wore glasses. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed myopia development was significantly associated with older age (OR = 1.36, P = 0.008), better academic ranking in class in the preceding semester (OR = 1.01, P = 0.02) and absence of routine eye check (OR = 2.70, P = 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of myopia in primary school students in Hong Kong is high. There is a low level of awareness of refractive errors among parents, and high proportion of under-correction, resulting in suboptimal vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To identify the risk factors for poor eye drop application technique in treatment-naïve subjects and to assess if patient education can benefit these subjects. Methods. Chinese subjects above 60 years were recruited. Questionnaires, including Barthel index; Lawton's instrumental activities of daily living (ADL); Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses, and Loss of Weight (FRAIL) scale; and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), were used to correlate with eye drop application technique (before and after patient education) using Spearman correlation analysis. A multiple linear regression was conducted to determine the predictors of successful administration technique and the improvement of technique after education. Results. The data from 26 subjects (mean age 72) were analyzed. Eye drop instillation technique score improved from 5.42 at baseline to 7.33 after clear instructions. FRAIL score was an independent predictor of baseline score (p=0.003), as well as the improvement after patient education (p=0.012). Age, sex, education level, visual acuity, Barthel index, MoCA, and ADL score were not correlated with eye drop instillation technique, before nor after patient education. Discussion. In patients with poor functional status as reflected by FRAIL score, eye drop application is prone to be ineffective. Education with step-by-step instructions could effectively improve the success of eye drop application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as an alternative fuel is increasingly used in mainland China, few reports are however available about emissions from LPG-fueled vehicles. In this study, 26 LPG-fueled taxis in Guangzhou, south China were tested using a chassis dynamometer to obtain their emission factors of nitrogen oxides (NO x) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under idle and cruising (10–60 km h−1) modes. The emission factors of NO x on average increased with speed from 4.13 g kg-fuel−1 at idling to 71.1 g kg-fuel−1 at 60 km h−1 at a slope of 10.6 g kg-fuel−1 per 10 km h−1 increase in speed. Alkanes were the most abundant (71.9%) among the VOCs in the exhaust, followed by alkenes (25.2%), ethyne (2.7%), and aromatic species (0.2%). Emission factors of VOCs at idling averaged 8.24 g kg-fuel−1, higher than that of 6.23–7.36 g kg-fuel−1 when cruising at 10–60 km h−1, but their ozone formation potentials (OFPs) were lower at idling (15.8 g kg-fuel−1) than under cruising (19.1–23.8 g kg-fuel−1) largely due to higher emission of more reactive alkenes under cruising mode. Emissions of both NOx and VOCs increased significantly with mileages. Measured emission factors of NO x and reactive VOCs in this study suggested that replacing the gasoline-powered taxis with the LPG-fueled taxis with LPG-gasoline bi-fuel engines and no efficient after-treatment devices would not benefit in reducing the emissions of ozone precursors, and strengthening the emission control for LPG vehicles with dedicated LPG engines and after-treatment converters, as did in Hong Kong, could further benefit in reducing the emission of photochemically active species when using LPG as alternative fuels. Image 1 • Emissions of NO x and VOCs from LPG taxis tested on a chassis dynamometer. • Emissions of NO x increased with cruising speeds by a slope of 1.1 g kg-fuel−1 per km hr−1. • Emission factors of VOCs were relatively stable with higher OFPs under cruising than idles. • LPG taxis with ineffective catalytic converters do not benefit reducing NO x and VOCs emissions. • Emissions of NO x were less impacted by mileage than that of VOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]