Background: The established recommendations and guidelines regarding ideal measurements for an attractive face are mostly based on data gathered among Caucasian population. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perception of 3-dimensional facial attractiveness and golden ratio, neoclassical canons, ‘ideal’ ratios and ‘ideal’ angles in Hong Kong Chinese. Methods: Thirty 3-D photographs (15 males and 15 females) were shown to 101 laypersons and 60 patients seeking orthognathic treatment. The photographs were rated based on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) from 0 (very unattractive) to 100 (very attractive). Results: More than half of the measurements (42/77) in females and thirty-two measurements in males were found to be significantly different from the ideal target value (p < 0.05) upon the comparison of the attractive faces with golden ratio, neoclassical canons, ‘ideal’ ratios and ‘ideal’ angles. Meanwhile, correlation tests between VAS scores and the parameters detected significant results (p < 0.05) in only six ratios, eight angles, one neoclassical canon and one proportion. Conclusions Despite several renowned ‘ideal’ parameters of attractive faces that have been recommended in the literature, only a few of them were found to be significantly correlated with attractive faces in Hong Kong Chinese.

INTRODUCTIONThe level of participation is an important factor influencing rehabilitation outcome. However, few studies have evaluated rehabilitation participation and its clinical predictors in patients with stroke. This study aimed to establish the level of participation in patients with stroke undergoing inpatient rehabilitation, and define the clinical predictors for participation.

METHODSThis was a prospective observational study of first-time patients with stroke admitted to a rehabilitation centre over a 12-month period. The primary outcome measure was the level of rehabilitation participation as measured on the Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Participation Scale (PRPS). PRPS measurements were made one week after admission and one week before planned discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. Other outcome measures evaluated were the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Elderly Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire (ECAQ), Centre for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Lubben Social Network Scale-Revised, and Multidimensional Health Questionnaire.

RESULTSA total of 122 patients with stroke were studied. The mean PRPS score on admission was relatively high at 4.30 ± 0.90, and this improved to 4.65 ± 0.79 before planned discharge (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, the mean PRPS score on admission was predicted by FIM, EACQ and FSS scores on admission, but not by variables such as age, gender, depression, social support, or health attitudes and beliefs.

CONCLUSIONPatients with lower levels of participation were more likely to be functionally dependent, cognitively impaired and have more fatigue. We suggest that in addition to cognition, fatigue should be routinely screened in patients with stroke undergoing rehabilitation.

Cognition ; physiology ; Disability Evaluation ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inpatients ; Length of Stay ; trends ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; methods ; Patient Compliance ; statistics & numerical data ; Prospective Studies ; Recovery of Function ; physiology ; Rehabilitation Centers ; statistics & numerical data ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Stroke ; epidemiology ; physiopathology ; Stroke Rehabilitation ; Treatment Outcome