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Renal myth busters : Indigenous people are the least compliant with treatment

- Wellard, Sally, Blong, Anne

Clinical significance of individual GAD symptoms in later life

- Miloyan, Beyon, Pachana, Nancy

  • Authors: Miloyan, Beyon , Pachana, Nancy
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology Vol. 29, no. 2 (2016), p. 92-98
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  • Description: Background: There are age-related differences in the manifestation of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms and their associated impact on psychosocial and functional status. However, it remains unclear whether specific symptoms (or symptom patterns) are of comparable clinical significance across different functional domains. Methods: A sample of 865 self-reported worriers (aged 60 years and older) who endorsed GAD screening questions in the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, were derived from Wave 1 of the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. Results: Being easily fatigued was significantly associated with occupational disability and a functional disability variable (restricting usual activity in any way). Irritability was significantly associated with social friction (arguments with friends, family, or colleagues) and a functional disability variable (found was unable to do something wanted to do), and poor self-perceived health was also associated with the same functional disability variable. Excessive worry, despite being among the least reported symptoms, was significantly associated with distress. Conclusions: These findings suggest that individual GAD symptoms are differentially associated with aspects of clinical significance relevant to daily life, such as social, occupational, and functional ability. The differential impact of individual symptoms on functional status may be diluted when using symptom sum scores. A nuanced approach to assessing the clinical significance of individual GAD symptoms in older adults may be fruitful for efforts aimed at early detection and treatment. © 2015 SAGE Publications.

Preventing musculoskeletal injuries among recreational adult volleyball players : Design of a randomised prospective controlled trial

- Gouttebarge, Vincent, Zwerver, Johannes, Verhagen, Evert

  • Authors: Gouttebarge, Vincent , Zwerver, Johannes , Verhagen, Evert
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders Vol. 18, no. 1 (2017), p. 1-6
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  • Description: Background: Both acute and overuse injuries are common among recreational volleyball players, especially finger/wrist, ankle, shoulder and knee injuries. Consequently, an intervention ('VolleyVeilig') was developed to prevent or reduce the occurrence of finger/wrist, shoulder, knee and ankle injuries among recreational volleyball players. This article describes the design of a study evaluating the effectiveness of the developed intervention on the one-season occurrence of finger/wrist, shoulder, knee and ankle injuries among recreational adult volleyball players. Methods: A randomized prospective controlled trial with a follow-up period of one volleyball season will be conducted. Participants will be healthy recreational adult volleyball players (18 years of age or older) practicing volleyball (training and/or match) at least twice a week. The intervention ('VolleyVeilig') consists of a warm-up program based on more than 50 distinct exercises (with different variations and levels). The effect of the intervention programme on the occurrence of injuries will be compared to volleyball as usual. Outcome measures will be incidence of acute injury (expressed as number of injuries per 1000 h of play) and prevalence of overuse injuries (expressed as percentage). Discussion: This study will be one of the first randomized prospective controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention on the occurrence of both acute and overuse injuries among recreational adult volleyball players. Outcome of this study could possibly lead to the nationwide implementation of the intervention in all volleyball clubs in The Netherlands, ultimately resulting in less injuries. Trial registration: Dutch Trial Registration NTR6202, registered February 1st 2017. Protocol: Version 3, February 2017. © 2017 The Author(s).

Phenotype, genotype, and worldwide genetic penetrance of LRRK2-associated Parkinson's disease

- Healy, Daniel, Falchi, Mario, O'Sullivan, Sean, Bonifati, Vincenzo, Durr, Alexandra, Bressman, Susan, Brice, Alexis, Aasly, Jan, Zabetian, Cyrus, Goldwurm, Stefano, Ferreira, Joaquim, Tolosa, Eduardo, Kay, Denise, Klein, Christine, Williams, David, Marras, Connie, Lang, Anthony, Wszolek, Zbigniew, Berciano, Jose, Schapira, Anthony, Lynch, Timothy, Bhatia, Kailash, Gasser, Thomas, Lees, Andrew, Wood, Nicholas

  • Authors: Healy, Daniel , Falchi, Mario , O'Sullivan, Sean , Bonifati, Vincenzo , Durr, Alexandra , Bressman, Susan , Brice, Alexis , Aasly, Jan , Zabetian, Cyrus , Goldwurm, Stefano , Ferreira, Joaquim , Tolosa, Eduardo , Kay, Denise , Klein, Christine , Williams, David , Marras, Connie , Lang, Anthony , Wszolek, Zbigniew , Berciano, Jose , Schapira, Anthony , Lynch, Timothy , Bhatia, Kailash , Gasser, Thomas , Lees, Andrew , Wood, Nicholas
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: The Lancet Neurology Vol. 7, no. 7 (2008), p. 583-590
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  • Description: Background Mutations in LRRK2, the gene that encodes leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, are a cause of Parkinson's disease (PD). The International LRRK2 Consortium was established to answer three key clinical questions: can LRRK2-associated PD be distinguished from idiopathic PD; which mutations in LRRK2 are pathogenic; and what is the age-specific cumulative risk of PD for individuals who inherit or are at risk of inheriting a deleterious mutation in LRRK2? Methods Researchers from 21 centres across the world collaborated on this study. The frequency of the common LRRK2 Gly2019Ser mutation was estimated on the basis of data from 24 populations worldwide, and the penetrance of the mutation was defined in 1045 people with mutations in LRRK2 from 133 families. The LRRK2 phenotype was defined on the basis of 59 motor and non-motor symptoms in 356 patients with LRRK2-associated PD and compared with the symptoms of 543 patients with pathologically proven idiopathic PD. Findings Six mutations met the consortium's criteria for being proven pathogenic. The frequency of the common LRRK2 Gly2019Ser mutation was 1% of patients with sporadic PD and 4% of patients with hereditary PD; the frequency was highest in the middle east and higher in southern Europe than in northern Europe. The risk of PD for a person who inherits the LRRK2 Gly2019Ser mutation was 28% at age 59 years, 51% at 69 years, and 74% at 79 years. The motor symptoms (eg, disease severity, rate of progression, occurrence of falls, and dyskinesia) and non-motor symptoms (eg, cognition and olfaction) of LRRK2-associated PD were more benign than those of idiopathic PD. Interpretation Mutations in LRRK2 are a clinically relevant cause of PD that merit testing in patients with hereditary PD and in subgroups of patients with PD. However, this knowledge should be applied with caution in the diagnosis and counselling of patients.

How healthy is Australian sport?

- Eime, Rochelle, Harvey, Jack

  • Authors: Eime, Rochelle , Harvey, Jack
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australasian Epidemiologist Vol. 22, no. 1 (2015), p. 9-10
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  • Description: Behavioural epidemiology in health promotion has been defined as having five phases: establishing links between behaviours and health; developing measures of the behaviour; identifying influences on the behaviour; evaluating interventions to change the behaviour; and translating the research into practice. This article outlines some recent developments in the application of behavioural epidemiology to the issue of sport participation in Australia and its consequential health benefits.

The y chromosome : A blueprint for men's health?

- Maan, Akhlaq, Eales, James, Akbarov, Artur, Rowland, Joshua, Xu, Xiaoguang, Jobling, Mark, Charchar, Fadi, Tomaszewski, Maciej

  • Authors: Maan, Akhlaq , Eales, James , Akbarov, Artur , Rowland, Joshua , Xu, Xiaoguang , Jobling, Mark , Charchar, Fadi , Tomaszewski, Maciej
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: European Journal of Human Genetics Vol. 25, no. 11 (2017), p. 1181-1188
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  • Description: The Y chromosome has long been considered a genetic wasteland' on a trajectory to completely disappear from the human genome. The perception of its physiological function was restricted to sex determination and spermatogenesis. These views have been challenged in recent times with the identification of multiple ubiquitously expressed Y-chromosome genes and the discovery of several unexpected associations between the Y chromosome, immune system and complex polygenic traits. The collected evidence suggests that the Y chromosome influences immune and inflammatory responses in men, translating into genetically programmed susceptibility to diseases with a strong immune component. Phylogenetic studies reveal that carriers of a common European lineage of the Y chromosome (haplogroup I) possess increased risk of coronary artery disease. This occurs amidst upregulation of inflammation and suppression of adaptive immunity in this Y lineage, as well as inferior outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus infection. From structural analysis and experimental data, the UTY (Ubiquitously Transcribed Tetratricopeptide Repeat Containing, Y-Linked) gene is emerging as a promising candidate underlying the associations between Y-chromosome variants and the immunity-driven susceptibility to complex disease. This review synthesises the recent structural, experimental and clinical insights into the human Y chromosome in the context of men's susceptibility to disease (with a particular emphasis on cardiovascular disease) and provides an overview of the paradigm shift in the perception of the Y chromosome. © 2017 The Author(s).

Epidemiology of scalds in vulnerable groups in New South Wales, Australia, 1998/1999 to 2002/2003

- Boufous, Soufiane, Finch, Caroline

  • Authors: Boufous, Soufiane , Finch, Caroline
  • Date: 2005
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Burn Care & Research Vol. 26, no. 4 (2005), p. 320-326
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  • 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: 2003005000

Predictors of transformation to myelodysplasia/acute myelogenous leukemia (MDS/AML) in severe congenital neutropenia (CN)

- Boxer, Laurence, Bolyard, Audrey, Newburger, Peter, Bonilla, Mary Ann, Kannourakis, George, Dror, Yigal, Link, Daniel, Alter, Blanche, Rosenberg, Philip, Dale, David

Online pathways for dementia care

- Ollerenshaw, Alison

  • Authors: Ollerenshaw, Alison
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Family Physician Vol. 44, no. 7 (2015), p. 510-513
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  • Description: Background: Dementia is one of the fastest growing diseases in Australia. General practitioners (GPs) are at the forefront of dementia diagnosis and management. However, the disease is complex and this can prevent timely diagnosis. A recent initiative in the Grampians region, Victoria, is addressing some of these challenges through a comprehensive, intuitive, online tool. Objective: The aim of this article is to describe the process of developing and reasons for implementing the Dementia Pathways Tool, in the Grampians region, Victoria. Discussion: Designed in collaboration with GPs and practice nurses, the Dementia Pathways Tool promotes awareness of the first signs of dementia. It offers an informed approach to diagnosis, referral and ongoing management of people with the symptoms of dementia. This Tool provides practitioners - irrespective of their practice location - with access to an intuitive, online web-based repository of information. The Tool is publicly available and therefore accessible to all practitioners and the general public. Initial indications from statistics of the website are positive, but an evaluation will help inform the potential for broader applications of this Tool in the future. © The Royal Australian College of General practitioners 2015.

The role of NFkB in T-lymphocyte development and function

- Valle, Elisha de, Lie, Laurensius, Gugasyan, Raffi, Berzins, Stuart

Thigh enlargement and the art of misdirection

- Broadhead, Matthew, Babazadeh, Sina, O'Brien, Brendan, Choong, Peter

Report of the 3rd annual International Society of Hypertension New Investigator Symposium.

- Burger, Dylan, Veerabhadrappa, Praveen, Charchar, Fadi, Schutte, Aletta, Tomaszewski, Maciej

Can community-based childhood obesity prevention programs reduce the socioeconomic status (SES) gradient with body mass index (BMI)?

- Sanigorski, Andrea, Bell, Colin, Kremer, Peter, Swinburn, Boyd

Psychosocial adjustment in newly diagnosed prostate cancer

- Love, Anthony, Scealy, Marita, Bloch, Sidney, Duchesne, Gillian, Couper, Jeremy, MacVean, Michelle, Costello, Anthony, Kissane, David

  • Authors: Love, Anthony , Scealy, Marita , Bloch, Sidney , Duchesne, Gillian , Couper, Jeremy , MacVean, Michelle , Costello, Anthony , Kissane, David
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 42, no. 5 (2008), p. 423-429
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  • Description: Objective: To examine the psychological and social adjustment of men with early or advanced stage prostate cancer and to compare them with a matched group of cancer-free community volunteers. Methods: A longitudinal observational study in which 367 men recently diagnosed with early (n =211) or advanced stage (n = 156), prostate cancer were compared to 169 cancer-free men from the community, of similar age and residential area, using self-report measures of psychosocial adjustment. Results: On the mental health subscales of the Short-Form 36-item Health Survey, men with advanced disease had lower vitality and social functioning than the other two groups, and lower mental health scores than the comparison group. Both patient groups had lower role-emotional scores than the comparison group. With regard to the Brief Symptom Inventory, the advanced disease group had higher somatization scores, and lower interpersonal sensitivity and paranoid ideation scores than the early stage group and the community comparison group. In terms of psychiatric morbidity, there were higher rates of anxiety disorders but not depressive disorders in both patient groups although overall diagnosis rates were low. No differences were found in terms of couple or family functioning. Conclusions: There is impairment in psychosocial function in men with prostate cancer, particularly those with advanced disease, but no increase in the rate of formal psychiatric disorder or adverse effects on the couples and families. This suggests directions for psychosocial interventions with these patient groups

Post sedation recovery of day procedure patients : Effect of Aldrete's assessment instrument on first stage recovery

- Deans, Cecil, Flynn, Jill

Clonal origins of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor strains, Papua New Guinea, 2009-2011

- Horwood, Paul, Collins, Deirdre, Jonduo, Marinjho, Rosewell, Alexander, Dutta, Samir, Dagina, Rosheila, Ropa, Berry, Siba, Peter, Greenhill, Andrew

Do GPs use electronic mental health resources? A qualitative study

- Austin, David, Pier, Ciaran, Mitchell, Joanna, Schattner, Peter, Wade, Victoria, Pierce, David, Klein, Britt

  • Authors: Austin, David , Pier, Ciaran , Mitchell, Joanna , Schattner, Peter , Wade, Victoria , Pierce, David , Klein, Britt
  • Date: 2006
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Family Physician Vol. 35, no. 5 (2006), p. 365-366
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  • Description: BACKGROUND: The Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care (BOMHC) initiative encourages general practitioners to use electronic mental health resources (EMHRs) during consultation with patients requiring psychological assistance. However, there is little data on GPs' acceptance and use of EMHRs. METHOD: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 27 GPs to determine their attitude toward EMHRs, and their use during consultation with patients. RESULTS: Few GPs reported frequently using EMHRs in consultation. Identified barriers to use included lack of familiarity with information technology, and insufficient knowledge of available resources. Identified advantages of electronic resources included high patient acceptance, time efficiency, and improved quality of information. DISCUSSION: General practitioners recognise several advantages of utilising electronic resources for managing patients with mental illness. However, GPs are not sufficiently familiar with electronic resources to use them effectively. This could be overcome by education.

Genes, genetic diseases and the environment

- Mosse, Jennifer, Craft, Judy

Integrating renal and palliative care project : A nurse-led initiative

- Smith, Vicky, Potts, Carita, Wellard, Sally, Penney, Wendy

  • Authors: Smith, Vicky , Potts, Carita , Wellard, Sally , Penney, Wendy
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Renal Society of Australasia Journal Vol. 11, no. 1 (2015), p. 35-40
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  • Description: Renal nurses working in dialysis settings in Australian regional and rural locations face challenges in facilitating advance care planning (ACP) and providing quality physical and psychological symptom care at the end of life (EOL) for a growing population of older and sicker people with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Following concerns raised by patients, families, renal and palliative care nurses early in 2009 in one regional setting, gaps in service delivery were identified. These identified gaps were supported by an emerging literature that identified the need for integrated, palliative, supportive care earlier in the disease trajectory. This care, provided on a needs basis, incorporates ACP, and identifies and addresses complex symptom and psychological issues to improve quality of life (QOL) and planning EOL care for patients and their families/carers. This approach to care, now called renal supportive care, is in varying stages of implementation across Australia for all renal patients, predominantly in metropolitan centres. With limited financial resources, a successful multi-professional collaboration and coordinated approach was established in January 2009 in Ballarat, a large regional setting in Victoria. An implementation framework was developed, addressing the continuum of care from pre-dialysis to withdrawal/cessation from renal replacement therapy (RRT), with an integrated palliative supportive approach during active treatment or EOL care. This project has provided a step forward in improving confidence and responsibility for palliative care by renal nurses working in dialysis settings, helping them to address the challenges faced in evaluating symptom burden, facilitating ACP and delivery of quality EOL care for patients, their families and carers with ESKD.

Development, feasibility and usability of an online psychological intervention for men with prostate cancer : My road ahead

- Wootten, Addie, Abbott, Jo-Anne, Chisholm, Katherine, Austin, David, Klein, Britt, McCabe, Marita, Murphy, Declan, Costello, Anthony

  • Authors: Wootten, Addie , Abbott, Jo-Anne , Chisholm, Katherine , Austin, David , Klein, Britt , McCabe, Marita , Murphy, Declan , Costello, Anthony
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Internet Interventions Vol. 1, no. 4 (2014), p. 188-195
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  • Description: Men with prostate cancer are not routinely offered psychosocial support despite strong evidence that being diagnosed with prostate cancer poses significant quality of life concerns and places the patient at elevated risk of developing a range of mental health disorders. The objective of this study was to develop an online psychological intervention for men with prostate cancer and to pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Development of the intervention involved a multidisciplinary collaboration, adapting face-to-face and group intervention strategies for an online format. The full online intervention and moderated forum were pilot tested with 64 participants who were recruited from urology practices in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. After consenting to participate and creating a personal account in the online programme, participants completed baseline demographic questionnaires. Participants were provided access to the programme for 6-12. weeks. After completing the programme participants completed an online survey to assess intervention and forum utilisation and satisfaction, as well as suggest intervention refinements following their use of the intervention. Patient satisfaction was calculated using mean responses to the satisfaction questionnaire. The intervention was received positively with 47.82% of participants highly satisfied with the programme, and 78.26% said they would recommend it to a friend. Participants' qualitative feedback indicated good acceptability of the online intervention. A number of technical and participant engagement issues were identified and changes recommended as a result of the feasibility testing. © 2014 .