Description:
This work was supported by a grant from the National Health & Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC, Project grant 1065714) and in part by the Victorian Government’s OIS Program. Investigators were supported by NHMRC/National Heart Foundation (NHF) Postdoctoral Fellowships (NHMRC APP1091688 to KLJ, NHMRC APP1052659 and NHF PF12M6785 and 101185 to FZM) and NHMRC Research Fellowships (APP1042492 to GWL and APP1002186 to GAH).
Description:
This study was supported by The Nurse Maude Association, Christchurch, New Zealand, a community‐based nursing service in New Zealand. We acknowledge the contribution of the following Nurse Maude Association staff: Mary‐Anne Stone (MPH), Senior Manager of Research, Innovation and Aged Residential Care. Cathy Hammond (MA–Clinical Nursing), Clinical Nurse Specialist – Specialist Wound Service. Denise Brankin (RN, PGDipHSc), Service Manager, Specialty Nursing Services. Gill Coe (BA), Research Officer.creative
Description:
Objective: To identify studies that report three-dimensional (3D) biomechanical analysis of jump-landing tasks in relation to athletes with current patellar tendinopathy (PT), and/or asymptomatic with history of PT or patellar tendon abnormality (PTA) on diagnostic imaging. Methods: Five electronic databases were searched. Included articles were required to: (1) investigate the 3D biomechanics of a jump-landing task; (2) be cross-sectional or longitudinal in design; and (3) include participants that had symptomatic PT, were asymptomatic with a history of PT, asymptomatic with PTA on diagnostic imaging and/or asymptomatic with an unknown pathology or PT history. Results: Thirty-seven statistically significant jump-landing variables were associated with PT, history of PT and/or PTA. The only consistent variable that could be replicated between studies was knee flexion angle at initial foot-ground contact (IC) and an altered hip flexion/extension strategy during a horizontal land phase of a vertical stop-jump. Conclusion: Isolated vertical landings or take-offs alone may not be sensitive enough to identify key jump-landing variables associated with PT, thus clinicians and researchers should incorporate a whole jump-landing task with a horizontal landing component. Sagital plane hip and knee kinematics in a horizontal landing phase appear to provide the most valuable information for evaluating those with PT. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Description:
Trauma registries, like disease registries, provide an important analysis tool to assess the management of patient care. Trauma registries are well established and relatively common in the USA and have been used to change legislation, promote trauma prevention and to evaluate trauma system effectiveness. In Australia, the first truly statewide trauma registry was established in Victoria in 2001 with an estimated capture of 1700 major trauma cases annually. The Victorian State Trauma Registry, managed by the Victorian State Trauma Outcomes Registry and Monitoring (VSTORM) group, was established in response to a ministerial review of trauma and emergency services undertaken in 1997 to advise the Victorian Government on a best practice model of trauma service provision that was responsive to the particular needs of critically ill trauma patients. This taskforce recommended the establishment of a new system of care for major trauma patients in Victoria and a statewide trauma registry to monitor this new system. The development of the Victorian state trauma registry has shown that there are certain issues that must be resolved for successful implementation of any system-wide registry. This paper describes the issues faced by VSTORM in developing, implementing and maintaining a statewide trauma registry.
Description:
Background: With medical advances since the 1990s, a growing proportion of patients are living for many years with prostate cancer (PCA) and the consequences of its treatment. Objective: The authors investigated the experience of being diagnosed with cancer and the effects of its treatment on patients' partners. Method: The authors conducted an observational, longitudinal study of 103 couples facing the diagnosis of either localized (potentially curable) or metastatic (incurable) PCA at Time 1 and then 6 months later (Time 2). Results: At both Time 1 and Time 2, psychological distress, marital satisfaction, and family functioning were measured in patients and partners; coping was measured in partners only. Partner maladaptive coping patterns of avoidance and self-blame at Time 1 predicted greater partner psychological distress at Time 2, as did "wishful thinking" at Time 2. Discussion: Psychosocial interventions designed to promote adaptive coping in couples facing PCA warrant systematic study. (Psychosomatics 2009; 50: 375-382)
Description:
Objective: This study provides normative and clinical levels of problem behaviours from a large community sample of Australian early primary school children. Method: From a large community sample (n = 1928) of children aged 5 to 10 years (mean = 7.70, SD = 0.89) normative data are provided using the teacher-reported version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). A response rate of 88% ensures the data are representative. Results: Mean scores on total difficulties between this Australian sample and UK norms were comparable. Some differences in the clinical cut-off scores are evident in the Australian sample, and adjusted clinical cut-offs are provided. Australian teacher reports of problem behaviour revealed lower clinical levels of emotional problems. Boys had significantly greater problems than girls on the Conduct, Hyperactivity, Peer and Prosocial scales. Overall, 5.3% of boys had scores in the clinical range on four of the five subscales. Comparisons of the factor structure revealed that for boys the Peer scale has two interpretations, with two items loading with Conduct problems and associated with greater problem behaviours. For girls, conduct problems are more strongly associated with poorer prosocial skills. Conclusions: Teachers are able provide valuable predictive information on externalizing behaviours. Australian normative comparisons reveal minor variations in teacher interpretation of items. The present data is representative of the Australian community and should be used to assess behaviour difficulties in early primary school children. Future studies on older age children are required to understand the developmental progression of problem behaviours in the community.
Description:
In this study, the recently introduced International Classification of Disease, 10th revision, code for hot tap water scalds was used to examine the epidemiology of these cases and other scalds injuries in children younger than 5 years of age and adults aged 65 years and older. Although the trunk was the most common area in which scalds occurred, young children were more likely to sustain head and neck scalds (15%, 95% confidence interval 10.8-18.3) because of hot tap water than older people (2%, 95% confidence interval 0.2-4.4). Hospital separation rates for hot water scalds decreased significantly during the study period in both boys ([chi]2 = 15.6, df = 1, P < .001) and girls ([chi]2 = 5.6, df = 1, P < .001) who were younger than 5 years of age, which might be attributable to the introduction of new standards regulating the provision of hot tap water to various buildings. The severity of scalds cases did not seem to be correlated with the length of hospital stay, which remained unchanged in both age groups.
Description:
The epidemiology and trends in wrist fracture admissions to public and private acute hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, between July 1993 and June 2003 were examined using routinely collected hospital separations statistics. During the study period, the number of hospital separations for wrist fractures increased by 71% in men, an average yearly increase of 6.5%, and by 43% in women, an average yearly increase of 3.9%. A modest, but significant, increase in age-specific and age-standardised hospitalisation rates for wrist fractures was also observed. Whilst the majority of wrist fractures were due to falls, the proportion of falls-related wrist fractures decreased significantly over time. This decrease was more pronounced in males and was accompanied by a rise in the proportion of wrist fractures resulting from high energy mechanisms such as transport, violence and machinery-related incidents. The difference in hospitalised wrist fracture rates between men and women could not be explained solely on the basis of the role played by osteoporosis, indicating the need for more research to improve our understanding of the underlying factors of this type of fracture in older people.