Self-efficacy has been consistently found to be a protective factor against psychological distress and disorders in the literature. However, little research is done on the moderating effect of self-efficacy on depressive symptoms in the context of chronic pain. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine if pain self-efficacy attenuated the direct relationship between pain intensity and depressive symptoms, as well as their indirect relationship through reducing the extent of catastrophizing when feeling pain (moderated mediation). 664 community-dwelling Chinese older adults aged 60–95 years who reported chronic pain for at least three months were recruited from social centers. They completed a battery of questionnaires on chronic pain, pain self-efficacy, catastrophizing, and depressive symptoms in individual face-to-face interviews. Controlling for age, gender, education, self-rated health, number of chronic diseases, pain disability, and pain self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing was found to partially mediate the connection between pain intensity and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the relationship between pain intensity and depressive symptoms was moderated by pain self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was also found to moderate the relationship between pain intensity and catastrophizing and the moderated mediation effect was confirmed using bootstrap analysis. The results suggested that with increasing levels of self-efficacy, pain intensity’s direct effect on depressive symptoms and its indirect effect on depressive symptoms via catastrophizing were both reduced in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that pain self-efficacy is a significant protective factor that contributes to psychological resilience in chronic pain patients by attenuating the relationship of pain intensity to both catastrophizing and depressive symptoms.

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Background: Given a shortage of construction workers, it is important to develop strategies to avoid early retirement caused by cardiovascular diseases in Hong Kong. Objectives: (1) to describe the cardiovascular health of construction workers in Hong Kong, (2) to examine the demographic differences in cardiovascular health, and (3) to examine the association between health behaviors and cardiovascular health factors. Methods: 626 registered construction workers were included in the analysis. Blood chemistry, blood pressure, weight, and height were measured. Face-to-face questionnaire interviews for health behaviors were conducted. Results: Approximately two-thirds of the construction workers achieved only three out of the seven “ideal” cardiovascular health metrics. The younger, more educated, and female subjects had better cardiovascular health scores than the older, less educated, and male counterparts. Fish and seafood consumption was associated with (1) ideal weight status and (2) ideal cholesterol level, whereas less soft drink consumption was associated with ideal cholesterol level. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the importance of promoting cardiovascular health in the construction industry. This study provided some insights for future interventions, which should include increasing fish and seafood intake, decreasing soft drink consumption, and enhancing the health literacy amongst older, less educated, and male construction workers.

Objectives: 1) To describe the cardiovascular health of the construction workers in Hong Kong, 2) to examine the demographic differences in cardiovascular health, and 3) to examine the association between modifiable lifestyle behaviors and cardiovascular conditions. Methods: 626 registered construction workers were included in the analysis. Blood chemistry, blood pressure, weight and height were measured. Face-to-face questionnaire interview was conducted. T-tests and One-way ANOVAs were used to compare the cardiovascular health score, cardiovascular outcomes, and lifestyle behaviors by demographic characteristics. Logistic regressions were performed to assess the cardiovascular outcomes by lifestyle behaviors. Results: Two-thirds of the construction workers failed to achieve three out of the seven “ideal” cardiovascular health indicators. The younger, more educated, and female subjects had better cardiovascular health scores than their counterparts. The ideal fish and seafood consumption was associated with 1) ideal weight status and 2) ideal cholesterol level, whereas less soft drink consumption was associated with ideal cholesterol level. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the importance of promoting cardiovascular health in the construction industry. This study provided insights for future interventions, which should include increasing fish and seafood intake, decreasing soft drink consumption, and enhancing the health literacy amongst older, less educated, and male construction workers.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate development of the non-invasive blood glucose measurement of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The results showed that NIR spectroscopy might obtain glucose concentration of up to 200% difference under a same environmental condition with two months apart due to time and machine drifts. These effects can restrict the development of the non-invasive blood glucose measurement. Partial least square (PLS) regression was used, which showed advantage over using simple absorbance for glucose concentration. Non-invasive blood glucose measurement of health subjects (non-diabetics) was also investigated. The results showed that R correlation coefficient of prediction (Rp) was 0.48 and root mean square of prediction (rmsep) was 1.34 mmol/l. The error was mainly due to the physiological effect of different subjects.