Worldwide, the incidence of motor neuron disease (MND) has been increasing steadily over recent decades. We reported a follow-up epidemiology study of MND in this locality. We identified the subjects from the computer database of the government hospital system between 1 January 1997 and 31 January 2002 by searching the ICD code starting from 335.xx. Every retrieved case or their records were reviewed and validated by neurologist(s) of the responsible regional hospitals which the patients attended. One hundred and twenty cases from seven regional hospitals (serving 48.05% of the HKSAR population) were identified, validated and confirmed to be MND or related diseases. Ninety-eight new cases were diagnosed during the study period. Average age of onset was 58.76 years; SD 14.12 (28-89) years. Male to female ratio was 1.72:1. Peak age of onset was 60-64 years without sex difference. The adjusted incidence rate was 0.60/100,000/year. The adjusted point prevalence at the prevalence date (31 January 2001) was 3.04/100,000. Despite the incidence and prevalence of MND among Hong Kong Chinese, it remained low compared to worldwide figures, and our data suggested a significant rise of MND or related disease in the last decade. A territory-wide prospective epidemiological study is indicated.

High‐dose methotrexate (>0.5 g/m2) is among the first‐line chemotherapeutic agents used in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and osteosarcoma in children. Despite rapid hydration, leucovorin rescue, and routine therapeutic drug monitoring, severe toxicity is not uncommon. This study aimed at developing population pharmacokinetic (popPK) models of high‐dose methotrexate for ALL and osteosarcoma and demonstrating the possibility and convenience of popPK model–based individual dose optimization using R and shiny, which is more accessible, efficient, and clinician‐friendly than NONMEM. The final data set consists of 36 ALL (354 observations) and 16 osteosarcoma (585 observations) patients. Covariate model building and parameter estimations were done using NONMEM and Perl‐speaks‐NONMEM. Diagnostic Plots and bootstrapping validated the models’ performance and stability. The dose optimizer developed based on the validated models can obtain identical individual parameter estimates as NONMEM. Compared to calling a NONMEM execution and reading its output, estimating individual parameters within R reduces the execution time from 8.7‐12.8 seconds to 0.4‐1.0 second. For each subject, the dose optimizer can recommend (1) an individualized optimal dose and (2) an individualized range of doses. For osteosarcoma, recommended optimal doses by the optimizer resemble the final doses at which the subjects were eventually stabilized. The dose optimizers developed demonstrated the potential to inform dose adjustments using a model‐based, convenient, and efficient tool for high‐dose methotrexate. Although the dose optimizer is not meant to replace clinical judgment, it provides the clinician with the individual pharmacokinetics perspective by recommending the (range of) optimal dose.

BackgroundWe aimed to study the epidemiology and risk factors, including exposure to emotional stress, for constipation in Indonesian children and adolescents of 10–17 year age group.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using a validated, self-administered questionnaire was conducted in randomly selected children and adolescents in nine state junior high schools from five districts of Jakarta. All of them were from urban areas. Constipation was defined as a diagnosis by using the Rome III criteria.ResultsOf 1796 children included in the analysis, 328 (18.3%; 95% CI 016–0.2) had constipation. Females and those residing in North Jakarta showed risks associated with constipation in school-age children and adolescents. Symptoms independently associated with constipation were abdominal pain (64% vs 43.3% of control) and straining (22.9% vs 6.3%). The prevalence of constipation was significantly higher in those with stressful life events such as father’s alcoholism (adjusted OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.27–2.89, P = 0.002), severe illness of a close family member (adjusted OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.12–2.80, P = 0.014), hospitalization of the child for another illness (adjusted OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.22–2.31, P < 0.001), being bullied at school (adjusted OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.01–2.76, P = 0.047) and loss of a parent’s job (adjusted OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.03–1.88, P = 0.034).ConclusionsConstipation in children and adolescent is a significant health problem, affecting almost 20% of Indonesian school-age children and adolescents. Common school and home related stressful life events appear to have predisposed these children to develop constipation.