Wendy Wing Tak Lam

The University of Hong Kong | HKU · School of Public Health

Promoting high vaccine uptake is a primary public health policy in mitigating the profound impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic requires a dynamic evaluation of factors that are associated with COVID-19 vaccination uptake to inform a strategic plan on vaccination programmes. Using real-time population-based data that...

Background: High COVID-19 vaccination uptake rates across all age groups are important for achieving herd immunity. However, age disparity in vaccination acceptance was consistently identified. Objective: Taking cues from tenets of socioemotional selectivity theory, this study examined how the contextual and psychosocial factors contributed to a...

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, 3 million deaths were attributable to high sodium intake and low intake of whole grains. With the rapid evolution of the food industry, we hypothesize that dietary intake of sodium has increased and that dietary intake of whole grains or fibers has decreased because of easier access to highly process...

As animals benefit from improved chronic disease care, more pet-parents and veterinarians face issues of late life and terminal care. Management of life limiting disease commonly considers the timing of euthanasia, often overlooking the role of supportive palliative care. Necessary communications between vet and pet-parents are rarely emphasized. H...

This study aimed to gain insight from mothers who were successful in breastfeeding maintenance to develop interventions for promoting breastfeeding maintenance. Following the phenomenological framework, this qualitative study recruited mothers who had maintained breastfeeding for at least 4 months for in-depth interviews. A total of 30 in-depth int...

Socially disadvantaged individuals and communities consistently showed lower COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. We aimed to examine the psychological mechanisms that could explain such vaccination disparities. This study used data from serial population-based surveys conducted since the COVID-19 vaccination programme being launched in Hong Kong (N =...

Introduction Patient Decision Aid (PDA) is a tool to prompt shared decision-making. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a PDA on Chinese primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients. Methods All subjects were randomized into control and PDA group. The questionnaires, including 1) Glaucoma knowledge; 2) 8-item Morisky medication adher...

Study objectives: To examine the trajectories of sleep disturbance in cancer survivors during the first two years post-treatment and to investigate whether psychological, cognitive and physical factors differentiate trajectories. Methods: A total of 623 Chinese cancer survivors of diverse cancer types participated in a 2-year-long prospective st...

Introduction Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a prevalent and frequently debilitating response to a cancer diagnosis, affecting a substantial proportion of cancer survivors. Approximately 30% of local Hong Kong Chinese cancer survivors in a recent survey reportedly experienced persistent high FCR over the first-year post-surgery. This was associa...

PurposeThis international study aimed to compare healthcare professionals’ perspectives on the unmet needs of their cancer patients with those of family caregivers and to investigate the degree to which patients’ age group moderates the associations.Methods Healthcare professionals involved in the care for cancer patients and their family caregiver...

Background: We aimed to conduct a narrative synthesis of components and indicators of community vulnerability to a pandemic and discuss their interrelationships from an ecological perspective. Methods: We searched from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus (updated to November 2021) for studies focusing on community vulnerability...

Objectives To determine the association of palliative care for progressive neurologic diseases with patient- and caregiver-centered outcomes. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies, including pilot studies. Setting and Participants Adults with progressive neurologic diseases (deme...

OBJECTIVES Older adults have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 vaccines are effective for reducing mortality and severe complications, vaccine hesitancy remains a substantial concern particularly among older adults. This was a qualitative study to explore how Chinese older adults reached a decision to delay o...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) fundamentally weakens societal foundations economically and in health care. The development of well-considered policies against AMR is important. However, in many places, AMR policy implementation remains elusive. This study aims to identify enablers and deterrents as well as processes and conditions in AMR policy adv...

Objective: Cancer patients and their family caregivers have reported various needs that are not met. Recognition of the unmet needs by healthcare professionals may be a first step to adequately and systematically addressing them. Thus, the International Psycho-Oncology Society Survivorship Online Survey was developed to measure healthcare professi...

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common clinical diagnosis for which empirical antibiotics are used in veterinary medicine. For veterinarians, the description of canine and feline antibiograms can help with making prudent use decisions and guideline formulation. For public health officers and epidemiologists, a urinary antibiogram overview helps...

Dietary factors show different effects on genetically diverse populations. Scientific research uses gene-environment interaction models to study the effects of dietary factors on genetically diverse populations for lung cancer risk. However, previous study designs have not investigated the degree of type I error inflation and, in some instances, ha...

Against the backdrop of universal healthcare coverage and pre-existing policies on antimicrobial use, China has adopted a state-governed, multi-level, top-down policy governance approach around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) National Action Plan (NAP). The Plan relies on tightening control over antimicrobial prescription and use in human and animal...

e16222 Background: Recently, immunotherapy has played a crucial role in treating liver cancer, one of the major cancers that contributes to global cancer burden. Overall survival (OS) is widely applied in cancer trials to evaluate the treatment effects of new therapies. However, it requires more patients and longer follow-up time comparing with pro...

Background Older adults have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 vaccines are effective for reducing mortality and severe complications, vaccine hesitancy remains a substantial concern particularly among older adults. Objective This was a qualitative study to explore the psychological and contextual factors th...

Background Older adults have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 vaccines are effective for reducing mortality and severe complications, vaccine hesitancy remains a substantial concern particularly among older adults. Objective This was a qualitative study to explore the psychological and contextual factors th...

Objective: Care for fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is considered the most common unmet need among cancer survivors. Yet the prevalence of FCR and predisposing factors remain inconclusive. To support targeted care, we provide a comprehensive overview of the prevalence and severity of FCR among cancer survivors and patients, as measured using the s...

Objectives Working-age cancer patients face barriers to resuming work after treatment completion. Those resuming work contend with reduced productivity arising from persisting residual symptoms. Existing studies of return to work (RTW) after cancer diagnosis were done predominantly in Western countries. Given that employment and RTW in cancer survi...

Vaccine hesitancy can be heightened due to increasing negative reports about vaccines. Emphasizing the social benefits of vaccination may shift individual attention from individual to social benefit of vaccination and hence promote prosocial vaccination. In six rounds of a population-based survey conducted over one major community epidemic of coron...

Background Type-D (distressed) personality has not been prospectively explored for its association with psychosocial distress symptoms in breast cancer patients. Objective The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that Type-D personality can be associated with psychosocial distress variables in cancer over a 2-point period (6 month-fol...

Objectives: To investigate the association between alcohol use and depression among university students in Hong Kong, their stress-coping methods, and their knowledge and perception of the effects of alcohol on health. Methods: 345 full-time undergraduate students from The University of Hong Kong were invited to complete a questionnaire to asses...

Monitoring community psychological and behavioural responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is important for informing policy making and risk communication to sustain public compliance with challenging precautionary behaviours and mitigating the psychological impacts. Monthly telephone-based cross-sectional surveys in January–April 2020 and...

Background How antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risk is communicated in news media can shape public understanding and the engagement of different sectors with AMR. This study examined online news media attention for AMR risk and analyzed how AMR risk was communicated using a global sample of English and Chinese news articles. Methods A total of 16,2...

This was a mixed-methods study comprising a questionnaire-based survey, a qualitative study, and analysis of school newsletters to evaluate elementary school staff’s acceptability, delivery challenges and communication about school-located influenza vaccination program (SIVP) in Hong Kong. We found that school staff with lower intention to implemen...

Objective: To explore the role of personality traits in moderating the relation between COVID-19 risk perception and treatment adherence, and between risk perception and psychosocial distress in patients diagnosed with cancer. Methods: An online survey (n= 1281) was conducted worldwide in seven countries (Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain,...

We constructed a coronavirus disease community vulnerability index using micro district-level socioeconomic and demographic data and analyzed its correlations with case counts across the 3 pandemic waves in Hong Kong, China. We found that districts with greater vulnerability reported more cases in the third wave when widespread community outbreaks...

Background: Monitoring community psychological and behavioural responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is important for informing policy making and risk communication to sustain public compliance with challenging precautionary behaviours and mitigating the psychological impacts. Methods: Monthly telephone surveys in January-April 2020 and...

Objective To explore the dietary practices and decision-making process among Chinese breast cancer (BCA) survivors Methods Using a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study involved individual semi-structured interviews with 30 BCA survivors. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Results Most of the part...

Introduction: Post-traumatic Symptoms (PTSS) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been reported to affect a quite significant proportion of cancer patients. No study has examined the relationship between serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and cancer, including Gene-Environment interactions between this polymor...

Objectives Inconsistent findings have been reported on the link between dietary carbohydrates and lung cancer. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the role of dietary carbohydrates on lung cancer risk. Materials and methods The prospective study is based on the PLCO trial, which recruited 113,096 eligible participants across the United Sta...

Psycho-Oncology, 4th edition, follows the publication of Psycho-Oncology, 3rd edition in 2015. This is the latest in the series of textbooks which have defined the field of psycho-oncology. William Breitbart, MD, serves as the new senior editor along with associate editors Phyllis N. Butow, PhD, MPH, of the University of Sydney; Paul B. Jacobsen, P...

Objectives A sample of women with persistent distress following breast cancer (BC) previously exhibited attentional bias (AB) away from supraliminally presented cancer-or threat-related information, responses consistent with avoidance coping, and showed negative interpretation bias. Here, we attempt to characterize the nature of supraliminal AB and...

Radiomics is a newly emerging field that involves the extraction of massive quantitative features from biomedical images by using data-characterization algorithms. Distinctive imaging features identified from biomedical images can be used for prognosis and therapeutic response prediction, and they can provide a noninvasive approach for personalized...

Individuals with cancer and their families assume responsibility for management of cancer as an acute and chronic disease. Yet, cancer lags other chronic diseases in its provision of proactive self-management support (SMS) in routine 'everyday' care leaving this population vulnerable to worse health status, long-term disability and poorer survival....

Objectives Inconsistent findings have been reported on the link between dietary carbohydrates and lung cancer incidence. We comprehensively evaluated the associations of dietary carbohydrates, fibers and their food sources with lung cancer in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. Methods The study included 113,096 eligible participants recruited to the...

Background Effective risk communication about the outbreak of a newly emerging infectious disease in the early stage is critical for managing public anxiety and promoting behavioral compliance. China has experienced the unprecedented epidemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an era when social media has fundamentally transformed information...

BACKGROUND Effective risk communication about the outbreak of a newly emerging infectious disease in the early stage is critical for managing public anxiety and promoting behavioral compliance. China has experienced the unprecedented epidemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an era when social media has fundamentally transformed information...

Background: Seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) coverage among young children remains low worldwide. Mobile social networking apps such as WhatsApp Messenger are promising tools for health interventions. Objective: This was a preliminary study to test the effectiveness and parental acceptability of a social networking intervention that sends we...

Background: Despite the wide use of the Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34), the measurement invariance of the SCNS-SF34 across the main groups-gender and age-which might be of interest in the application of the instrument has never been confirmed. To provide an accurate assessment tool to evaluate the unmet needs of...

Background Hong Kong's construction industry currently faces a manpower crisis. Blue-collar workers are a disadvantaged group and suffer higher levels of chronic diseases, for example, cancer, than the wider population. Cancer risk factors are likely to cluster together. We documented prevalence of cancer-associated lifestyle risk behaviors and the...

Objective: This longitudinal study mapped distinct trajectories of Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) over 12 months among patients with breast (BC) or colorectal (CRC) cancer, and examined if metacognition, indirectly via attentional bias, intrusive thoughts and avoidance (hallmarks of cognitive attentional syndrome; CAS) predicted FCR trajectory me...

BACKGROUND Seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) coverage among young children remains low worldwide. Mobile social-networking applications such as WhatsApp Messenger are promising tools for health interventions. OBJECTIVE This was a preliminary study to test the effectiveness and parental acceptability of social-networking intervention that sends...

Objective: To explore influences on post-diagnosis dietary decision-making in colorectal cancer survivors (CRC) for future intervention development. Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 CRC survivors. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for grounded theory analysis. Results: Most CRC survivors...

Objectives: To assess the relative effects of altering different factors (attributes) related to adults' decision for influenza vaccination choice, and whether priming modifies these relative effects. Methods: Chinese adults were randomly allocated to either a control condition (non-risk related video), or one of the three health risk-priming co...

We developed and tested the acceptability and utility of a novel HPV vaccination decision aid (DA) among Chinese young women aged 18–26 years and parents of adolescent girls aged 9–17 years. From March to May 2016, a total of 101 parents plus 109 young women completed baseline surveys assessing their HPV vaccination knowledge, decision self-efficac...

The bacteriophage (phage) component of the skin microbiome in patients with psoriasis has not been systematically explored. The purpose of this study is to investigate phage and bacterial components of the skin microbiome in patients with psoriasis and in healthy family controls. Lesional skin swabs of four different locations (elbow, forearm, knee...

Objective Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) represents a chronic burden for many cancer survivors. We determined FCR prevalence and potential correlates, specifically metacognitive styles and neuroticism among Chinese cancer survivors with breast or colorectal cancer. Methods This study included 285 Chinese patients with breast (N = 173) and colorec...

Addressing prevention of psychosomatic illness can approach the topic from the detailed study of proximal psychophysiological and brain sciences, or it can address the wider contextual factors and distal influences: This chapter addresses primarily the latter. In reviewing the impacts of social, developmental and environmental influences that have...

Objective: To explore trajectories of public psycho-behavioural responses over one influenza A(H7N9) epidemic wave, and examine the interplays among social norm influence, disease worry and protective behaviours. Methods: Participants were 464 adults who completed the baseline and at least two follow-up assessments on their H7N9-related Perceive...

Background Leventhal's commonsense model implies illness perceptions influence illness outcomes. This study examined illness perceptions among head and neck cancer survivors, and whether these predicted subsequent psychological distress. Methods A total of 124 survivors of head and neck cancer (87% nasopharyngeal carcinoma; NPC) completed measures...

Radiomics is a newly emerging field that involves the extraction of a large number of quantitative features from biomedical images through the use of data-characterization algorithms. Radiomics provides a noninvasive approach for personalized therapy decision by identifying distinctive imaging features for predicting prognosis and therapeutic respo...

Background The present study (1) examined patient satisfaction with care over the first year following the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer and (2) tested if unmet health system and information needs, physical symptom distress, and psychological distress predicted patient satisfaction. Methods Prospective study of 213 Chinese women with advanced...

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), usually a self-limiting illness for young children, could cause a significant burden for parents because it can take up to 1–2 weeks for a sick child to recover. We conducted a two-wave longitudinal study over one summer peak season (May–July 2014) of HFMD to examine parents’ HFMD-related risk perceptions and p...

Objective: To examine if bias in attention to and interpretation of cancer-related stimuli differentiates women with persistent psychological distress from those with low/transient distress following breast cancer. Methods: 140 women classified in a prior longitudinal study as having low(n=73) or persistent high(n=67) distress completed two modi...

Background A patient decision aid (PDA) is a tool for shared decision making (SDM), which emphasises patient empowerment. It is useful in chronic diseases and when there are multiple, no best single treatment option. Although SDM is prevalent in Western countries, its use is limited in Chinese societies, where the adoption of a paternalistic approa...

This review summarizes published meta-analysis outcomes on the associations between meat intakes and burden of diseases. A novel assessment process was developed, combining selected Cochrane Review measures, AMSTAR checklist, and other quality measures identified by authors during preliminary phases of the review process. Meat intakes have been fou...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination uptake among Chinese adolescent girls remains extremely low. This two-year longitudinal study examined theoretical predictors of adolescent girls' HPV vaccination uptake using an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Between February and November 2014, a random sample of 1996 (response rate 60%) Hong Kon...

Background Poultry farmers are at high-risk from avian influenza A/H7N9 infection due to sustained occupational exposures to live poultry. This study examined factors associated with poultry farmers’ adoption of personal protective behaviours (PPBs) based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Methods Totally, 297 poultry farmers in three cities o...