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Patsy Pui Hing CHAU
Patsy Pui Hing CHAU

BSocSc, PhD

Associate Professor
Chair, Knowledge Exchange and External Relations

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3917 6626

HKU SCHOLARS HUB
ORCID


Professor Patsy Chau is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Sau Po Centre on Ageing and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention under the Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong. She received her BSocSc(Stat) in 2000 and PhD in 2005 from the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science of The University of Hong Kong. Also, she is one of the CADENZA Fellows trained by the CADENZA Leadership Programme which nurtures future academic leaders in gerontology. She joined The University of Hong Kong as Research Assistant Professor for the project entitled CADENZA: A Jockey Club Initiative for Seniors in the Faculty of Social Sciences in 2007 and joined the School of Nursing as Assistant Professor in 2012. She has published over 170 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Age and Ageing, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, JMIR Aging, European Journal of Public Health, and Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Her research interests include applying statistics in the fields of gerontology, public health, and epidemiology. She is experienced in statistical analyses of large databases. She published a series of studies on the association between extreme weather and the well-being of older adults. These articles enrich the literature on the adverse effect of extreme weather in a city with subtropical climate; and the findings inform different prevention strategies in the region. Besides, she has been investigating trends, trajectories and associated factors of geriatric syndromes, such as frailty, to inform healthy ageing strategies.

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Funding Scheme Project Title Approved Amount (HK$)
Early Career Scheme (ECS) A study on acute myocardial infarction symptoms awareness and expected treatment seeking behaviour among older Chinese in Hong Kong 536,960
General Research Fund (GRF) Mediating and moderating role of health and social care utilisation in the association between social frailty and depression 1,589,000
Research Impact Fund
(Co-PI)		 Increasing the resilience to the health impacts of extreme weather on elderly people under future climate change 663,143
Research Impact Fund
(Co-PI)		 Increasing the resilience to the health impacts of extreme cold weather on the older population under future climate change 1,230,000
Health and Medical Research Fund The impact of climate change on elderly suicide deaths in Hong Kong and implications to suicide prevention 99,729
Health and Medical Research Fund Online group-based dual-task training to improve cognitive function of community-dwelling older adults: A feasibility study 100,000
Health and Medical Research Fund Dual-task training to prevent cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults: a pilot pragmatic randomised controlled trial 214,200

 

  1. Chau PH*, Yu TLT, Hu Y, Palmeiro Silva YK, Gilder E, Cole M, Ngunyulu R, Lin CC. Preparedness of nurses for climate change: questionnaire development and preliminary validation. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances. 2025; 8: 100337. Available from: doi: 10.1016/j.ijnsa.2025.100337
  2. Chau PH*, Cheung DST, Kwok JYY, Chan WC, Yu DSF. Online group-based dual-task training to improve cognitive function of community-dwelling older adults: Randomized controlled feasibility study. JMIR Aging. 2025; 8: e67267. Available from: doi: 10.2196/67267
  3. Chen Z, Ho M, Chau PH*. Gender-specific moderating role of abdominal obesity in the relationship between handgrip strength and cognitive impairment. Clinical Nutrition. 2023; 42(12): 2546-2553. Available from:  doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2023.10.027
  4. Qian XX, Chau PH*, Fong DYT, Ho M, Woo J. Post-hospital falls among the older population: The temporal pattern in risk and healthcare burden. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2023; 24(10): 1478-1483.e2. Available from: doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2023.07.014
  5. Chau PH*, Lau KK, Qian XX, Luo H, Woo J. Visits to the accident and emergency department in hot season of a city with subtropical climate: association with heat stress and related meteorological variables. International Journal of Biometeorology. 2022; 66(10): 1955-1971. Available from: doi: 10.1007/s00484-022-02332-z
  6. Huang J, Choi EPH, Chau PH*. The impact of unmet needs for assistance with activities of daily living on the self-rated health and life satisfaction of Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Aging & Mental Health. 2023; 27(4): 803-810. Available from:  doi: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2045563
  7. Chen Z, Ho M, Chau PH*. Handgrip strength asymmetry is associated with the risk of neurodegenerative disorders among Chinese older adults. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. 2022; 13(2): 1013-1023. Available from: doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12933
  8. Chen Z, Ho M, Chau PH*. Prevalence, incidence, and associated factors of possible sarcopenia in community-dwelling Chinese older adults: A population-based longitudinal study. Frontiers in Medicine. 2022; 8: 769708. Available from: doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.769708
  9. Qian XX, Chen Z, Fong DYT, Ho M, Chau PH*. Post-hospital falls incidence and risk factors among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Age and Ageing. 2021; afab209.  Available from: doi: 10.1093/ageing/afab209
  10. Chau PH*, Kwok YYJ, Chan MKM, Kwan KYD, Wong KL, Tang YH, Chau KLP, Lau SWM, Yiu YYY, Kwong MYF, Lai WTT, Leung MK. Feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of virtual reality training for older adults and people with disabilities: Single-arm pre-post study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2021; 23(5): e27640. Available from: doi: 10.2196/27640
  11. Qian XX, Chau PH*, Kwan CW, Lou VW, Leung AYM, Ho M, Fong DYT, Chi I. Seasonal pattern of single falls and recurrent falls amongst community-dwelling older adults first applying for long-term care services in Hong Kong. Age and Ageing. 2019; 49(1): 125-129. Available from: doi: 10.1093/ageing/afz139
  12. Chau PH*, Moe G, Lee SY, Woo J, Leung AY, Chow CM, Kong C, Lo WT, Yuen MH, Zerwic J. Low level of knowledge of heart attack symptoms and inappropriate anticipated treatment-seeking behaviour among older Chinese: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2018; 72(7): 645-52. Available from: doi:10.1136/jech-2017-210157
  13. Chau PH*, Woo J. The trends in excess mortality in winter vs. summer in a sub-tropical city and its association with extreme climate conditions. PloS One. 2015 May 20;10(5):e0126774. Available from: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126774
  14. Chau PH*, Wong M, Woo J. Challenge to long term care for the elderly: cold weather impacts institutional population more than community-dwelling population. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2012; 13(9): 788-93. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2012.08.007
  15. Chau PH*, Chan KC, Woo J. Hot weather warnings might help to reduce elderly mortality in Hong Kong. International Journal of Biometeorology. 2009; 53: 461-468. Available from: doi: 10.1007/s00484-009-0232-5
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