The characteristics of and risk factors associated with incarcerated sex offenders in Taiwan.

This article presents the demographic characteristics of a sample of Taiwanese sex offenders, examines the rate of sexual recidivism in Taiwan, and describes which factors distinguish recidivists from non-recidivists. This article assesses the recidivism rate of a sample of 503 male sex offenders incarcerated from 1999 to 2004. The sample is divided into two groups: non-recidivists (88.7%) and recidivists (11.3%). The variables are categorized into demographic characteristics, criminal history, interpersonal relationships, and offending behaviors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggests that recidivism is significantly related to male victims, poor interactions with employers, verbal control (i.e., threats to or verbal control of victims), weapon control (threatening or controlling victims with weapons), and familiarity with victims. Furthermore, this article will establish a database for demographic characteristics and associated risk factors related to recidivism in incarcerated sex offenders in Taiwan. These data will be useful for preventing future sex crimes.

A comparison of quality of life and depression between female married immigrants and native married women in Taiwan.

BACKGROUNDS: Immigration to Taiwan is often connected with marriage, resulting in the presence of so-called married immigrants or foreign brides. AIMS: To compare the quality of life (QOL) and prevalence of depression between female married immigrants and native married women. METHODS: Trained assistants used the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36) and the disaster-related psychological screening test (DRPST) to interview 1,602 married women who were 16-50 years of age. Half (801) of the participants were female immigrants, whilst the remainder comprised the age-matched control group that consisted of 801 native married women. Participants who scored C2 (probable major depressive episode) on the DRPST were assessed according to DSM-IV criteria by a senior psychiatrist. The MOS SF-36 measures QOL and has two dimensions: the physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS). RESULTS: Married immigrants had a lower prevalence (3.5%) of major depressive episodes than native women (8.9%) in Taiwan. Variables such as an increased severity of psychosocial impact were the best predictors of a lower PCS and MCS. CONCLUSION: Compared to Taiwanese native married women, fewer married immigrants had stressful life events or depression, and they reported higher QOL. After controlling for putative confounding factors, the married immigrants still had better mental QOL and a lower prevalence rate of depression

Intake of vitamin A-rich foods and lung cancer risk in Taiwan: with special reference to garland chrysanthemum and sweet potato leaf consumption.

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the association between the consumption of local common foods that are rich in vitamin A and the risk of lung cancer in Taiwan. A total of 301 incident lung cancer cases, 602 hospital controls, and 602 neighborhood controls were recruited. The consumption of 13 food items and vitamin supplements was estimated by use of a food frequency questionnaire. The conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for lung cancer risk with each control group as reference by adjustment of covariates. A reduced risk for lung cancer was found to be associated with increased intakes of vitamin A, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene from 13 food items. More servings of vegetables (AOR for the highest versus the lowest quartile = 0.67-0.70, 95% CI = 0.42-1.08, (plinear trend )= 0.04), garland chrysanthemum (AOR for the highest versus the lowest tertile = 0.58-0.74, 95% CI = 0.37-1.14, (plinear trend )<= 0.04) and sweet potato leaves (AOR for the highest versus the lowest tertile = 0.43-0.65, 95% CI = 0.28-0.96, (plinear trend )<= 0.03) were associated with the reduced risk for lung cancer. In conclusion, higher consumption of vitamin A-rich vegetables, especially garland chrysanthemum and sweet potato leaves might provide potential protection from lung cancer.

The relationship between quality of life and posttraumatic stress disorder or major depression for firefighters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: The work of firefighters involves the risk of exposure to the harmful effects of toxic substances as well as the possibility of enormous emotional shock from disasters, which may result in psychiatric impairments and a lower quality of life. Therefore, we examined quality of life, prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, and the related risk factors for firefighters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. METHODS: This is a two-stage survey study. During the first stage, we used the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test (DRPST) to assess quality of life, probable PTSD, probable major depression, and the related risk factors for 410 firefighters. During the second stage, psychiatrists categorized these probable cases according to self-reported questionnaires against DSM-IV into PTSD or major depression group, subclinical group, and health group. All the data were analyzed with SPSS 10.0 Chinese version. RESULTS: The estimated current prevalence rates for major depression and PTSD were 5.4% (22/410) and 10.5% (43/410), respectively. The firefighters with estimated PTSD or major depression scored significantly lower on quality of life measures than subclinical PTSD/major depression and mentally healthy groups, which was evident in eight concepts and two domains of the SF-36. The major predictors of poor quality of life and PTSD/major depression were mental status, psychosocial stressors, or perceived physical condition. CONCLUSION: Firefighters have a higher estimated rate of PTSD, and the risk factors that affect quality of life and PTSD/major depression should encourage intervention from mental health professionals.

Epidemiologic psychiatric studies on post-disaster impact among Chi-Chi earthquake survivors in Yu-Chi, Taiwan.

The aim of the present study was to survey a cohort population for the risk factors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, and the prevalence of different psychiatric disorders at 6 months and 2 and 3 years after a major earthquake. The Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test (DRPST), part I, and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) were, respectively, administered by trained interviewers and psychiatrists in this community-interview program. The prevalence of PTSD decreased from 8.3% at 6 months to 4.2% at 3 years after the earthquake. Suicidality increased from 4.2% at 6 months and 5.6% at 2 years to 6.0% at 3 years after the earthquake; drug abuse/dependence increased from 2.3% at 6 months to 5.1% at 3 years after the disaster. The risk factors for PTSD and major depression in various post-disaster stages were determined. Earthquake survivors had a high percentage of psychiatric disorders in the first 2 years, and then the prevalence declined. Following the devastation caused by the Chi-Chi earthquake, it is important to focus on treating symptoms of major depression and PTSD and eliminating the risk factors for both of these disorders in survivors to avoid the increase in suicidality.

A survey of quality of life and depression for police officers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: The enormous job stress of police work may result in depression, which is highly correlated with work disability and poor quality of life. We investigated the quality of life, the probability of depression, and the related risk factors for police officers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. METHODS: We used the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) and the Disaster-Related Psychological Screening Test (DRPST) to assess the quality of life and prevalence of depression for 832 police officers in Kaohsiung. RESULTS: The estimated rate of probable major depression was 21.6% (180/832). Those with an educational level of university or above and nondepressed police officers had higher scores in every subscale for quality of life. Police officers older than 50 had higher scores in the mental aspects of quality of life. Family problems and job stress related to achievement, peer pressure about performance, and heavy workloads were predictive factors for depression. CONCLUSION: Police officers might have a higher estimated rate of depression than previously thought, and those with depression have a poorer quality of life.

Survey of quality of life and related risk factors for a Taiwanese village population 3 years post-earthquake.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate quality of life (QOL) and related risk factors in Taiwanese earthquake survivors diagnosed with different psychiatric disorders 3 years after the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. METHOD: This study was a population survey. Trained assistants used the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36) and questionnaires to interview 405 respondents (189 men and 216 women) aged 16 years or older, who had been exposed to the earthquake. Psychiatrists interviewed the same respondents using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, with an adjusted response rate of 70.2%. RESULTS: The prevalence range for psychiatric disorders in the earthquake survivors was 0.2-7.2% 3 years after the Chi-Chi earthquake, with rates for major depression (MD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of 6.4% and 4.4%, respectively. The QOL scores for the PTSD/MD group were lower than for the other two diagnostic groups, as determined by assessment of physical and mental aspects of functional integrity from MOS SF-36 scores. The predictors for poor QOL were age, female gender, economic problems, physical illness, subjective assessment of memory and social-activity decline and diagnosis of PTSD or MD. CONCLUSION: The QOL for earthquake survivors with psychiatric disorders, especially PTSD or MD, was inferior compared with the mentally healthy analogues, with contemporaneous decreases in mental and physical function scores across the QOL subscales. The persistence of long-term economic problems was one of many important factors affecting QOL.

The effect of education and clinical practice on knowledge enlightenment to and attitudes toward the use of analgesics for cancer pain among physicians and medical students.

BACKGROUND: Insufficient education and limited clinical practice on the part of physicians may contribute to the undertreatment of cancer pain in Taiwan. To address these concerns, a survey among physicians and fifth-year medical students relevant to cancer pain management (CPM) was carried out in a medical school and its principal teaching hospital. METHODS: A questionnaire on CPM was sent to 97 physicians and 78 fifth-year medical students (equivalent to the third-year medical students in the United States). The same questionnaire was delivered again to these 78 fifth-year medical students after they had completed a modified curriculum of anesthesiology with a 4-hour course on introduction to clinical pharmacology of CPM. RESULTS: The physicians knowledgeable on pain (physicians of anesthesiology, hematology-oncology, or radiation oncology), physicians unfamiliar with pain (outside of anesthesiology, hematology-oncology, or radiation oncology), and the 5th-yr medical students took similar negative attitudes (24-92%, 33-89%, and 23-94%) toward the optimal use of analgesics for CPM. As compared, the mean score on knowledge of prescribing opioids of pain-knowledgeable physicians was 3.60, the highest of all as against 2.61 of other physicians and 2.54 of 5th-yr medical students. On attitudes toward prescribing opioids, both pain-knowledgeable physicians and other physicians scored a higher means, respectively of 3.52 and 2.91 as opposed to 2.68 of 5th-yr medical students, the lowest of all. However, seniority or length of clinical practice did not improve knowledge or affect attitudes toward CPM. In addition, this 4-hour course did enable the 5th-yr medical students to take a more positive attitude toward and become more knowledgeable on CPM than pain-knowledgeable physicians, as a comparison was made. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of accumulation of clinical experience and seniority of clinical practice on CPM was limited among general physicians, except for clinical specialty on anesthesiology, hematology-oncology, or radiation oncology. In Taiwan, the knowledge of and positive attitude toward CPM could only be conveyed to physicians through undergraduate, post graduate or on-job education.