Metabolic bariatric surgery generates substantial, sustained weight loss and health improvement in a real-world setting.

Background: To determine if the positive outcomes from clinical trials regarding the safety and efficacy of metabolic bariatric surgery are reproducible at a national level.

Methods: A longitudinal registry-based observation study with data collected from all persons undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery in Australia from 28 February 2012-31 December 2021 including data from 122,567 index patients who underwent 134,625 completed bariatric procedures.

Main Outcomes And Measures: Defined adverse outcomes at 90-days (unplanned readmission, intensive care admission and re-operation; death), annual change in weight (percent total body weight loss (TBWL)), diabetes treatment and need for re-operation.

Bivalent Omicron BA.1 vaccine booster increases memory B cell breadth and neutralising antibodies against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Background: Current literature informs us that bivalent vaccines will generate a broader serum neutralizing antibody response to multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, but studies on how this breadth relates to the memory B cell (MBC) and T cell responses are sparse. This study compared breadth of neutralising antibody, and memory B and T cell responses to monovalent or a bivalent ancestral/Omicron BA.1 COVID-19 booster vaccine.

Association of Weight Status and Waist Circumference with Physical Activity in people with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and healthy controls.

Background: Individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) often suffer from obesity and do limited Physical Activity (PA). PA has many beneficial effects on a variety of somatic and mental variables and it should be strengthened among people with mental disorders. The relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), and PA in this population is poorly understood, with a lack of precise PA assessment.

Patient and healthcare practitioner evaluation of patient-reported outcomes in bariatric surgery - a modified Delphi study.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes are an important emerging metric increasingly utilised in clinical, research and registry settings. These outcomes, while vital, are underutilised and require refinement for the specific patient population of those undergoing bariatric surgery. This study aimed to investigate and compare how pre-surgical patients, post-surgical patients, and healthcare practitioners evaluate patient-reported outcomes of bariatric surgery to identify outcomes that are considered most important.

Young children's choices and thoughts about pro-social behaviour towards others with overweight.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate weight bias within young children's pro-social choices between characters who differed in body size.

Methods: Seventy-six children aged 4-6 years read stories asking them to choose who they would first help, share with, comfort, and steal from, between a healthy weight and child with overweight. They also selected the one character they would most like to play with.

Mpox vaccination routes: prevalence, correlates and adverse effects of subcutaneous versus intradermal vaccination at a mass vaccination clinic in Sydney, Australia.

The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Mpox Vaccination Clinic opened in response to the 2022 multicountry mpox outbreak. A total of 9500 vaccinations were administered intradermally and subcutaneously during the first 16 weeks of clinic operation. The rate of adverse events was 0.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of recruitment strategies in a large diabetes prevention trial conducted across two sites in Sydney, Australia.

Background: Diabetes prevention trials require large samples and community-based recruitment, which can be protracted and expensive. We analysed the cost-effectiveness of recruitment strategies used in a randomised placebo-controlled supplement trial in adults with prediabetes and overweight or obesity conducted in Sydney, Australia.

Methods: Recruitment strategies included advertising through local radio stations and newspapers, television news coverage, online advertising and editorials, advertising in and referral from primary care settings, university- and hospital-based advertising, and attending or hosting local events.

A single blinded, phase IV, adaptive randomised control trial to evaluate the safety of coadministration of seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines (The FluVID study).

Objectives: We evaluated the frequency of moderate and severe adverse events following coadministration of seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV) versus placebo with COVID-19 vaccines among adults to support practice guidelines.

Methods: FluVID is a participant-blinded, phase IV, randomised control trial. On the same day as the participant's scheduled COVID-19 vaccine, participants were randomised to receive SIV or saline placebo; those assigned placebo at visit one then received SIV a week later, and vice versa.

Barriers to progression through Australian obesity management pathways: Survey data from the ACTION-IO study.

Background And Objectives: Our previous work uncovered a nine-year delay, from when Australian people with obesity (PwO) first began struggling with excess weight and first discussed weight with a healthcare professional (HCP). In this study we explore barriers to having an obesity consultation, making and discussing the diagnosis of obesity and arranging a management plan, including a follow-up appointment.

Method: Australian PwO (n = 1000) and HCPs (n = 200; 50% general practitioners [GPs]), completed the Awareness, Care & Treatment In Obesity Management - An International Observation (ACTION-IO) online survey.

Economic preferences and obesity: Evidence from a clinical lab-in-field study.

Many studies which describe the relationship between obesity and economic preference rely on healthy, clinically-irrelevant populations. Instead, we study economic decision-making of a clinically-relevant population of 299 people with obesity who participated in a 6-months Randomized Controlled Trial in two Sydney-based hospitals to prevent diabetes onset. To elicit preferences, we use incentive-compatible experimental tasks that participants completed during their medical screening examination.

Changes in Prediabetes Status Among Adults During a 6-Month Randomized Placebo-controlled Supplement Trial With Nutrition and Lifestyle Counselling and 6-Month Follow-up.

Objectives: In this work, we present an exploratory within-trial analysis of the changing prevalence of prediabetes in response to nutrition and lifestyle counselling provided as part of a randomized placebo-controlled supplement trial with follow-up. We aimed to identify factors associated with changing glycemia status.

Methods: Participants (n=401) in this clinical trial were adults with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m and prediabetes (defined by the American Diabetes Association as a fasting plasma glucose [FPG] of 5.

A Qualitative Process Evaluation of Participant Experiences in a Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial to Reduce Indulgent Foods and Beverages.

There is a growing interest in the effects of ultra-processed/energy-dense nutrient-poor foods on health outcomes, and few interventions to reduce their consumption have been tested. We tested a simple intervention to help people reduce the indulgences they consume (energy-dense nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods). Herein, we report the qualitative findings to understand how participants reduced their consumption by exploring intervention fidelity and the factors affecting consumption.

Bariatric Surgery Efficiency, Safety and Health Outcomes in Government Versus Privately Funded Hospitals.

Purpose: This study aims to determine if the hospital efficiency, safety and health outcomes are equal in patients who receive bariatric surgery in government-funded hospitals (GFH) versus privately funded hospitals (PFH).

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective observational study of prospectively maintained data from the Australia and New Zealand Bariatric Surgery Registry of 14,862 procedures (2134 GFH and 12,728 PFH) from 33 hospitals (8 GFH and 25 PFH) performed in Victoria, Australia, between January 1st, 2015, and December 31st, 2020. Outcome measures included the difference in efficacy (weight loss, diabetes remission), safety (defined adverse event and complications) and efficiency (hospital length of stay) between the two health systems.

The Efficacy of Exercise Training for Cutaneous Microvascular Reactivity in the Foot in People with Diabetes and Obesity: Secondary Analyses from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

It is unclear if cutaneous microvascular dysfunction associated with diabetes and obesity can be ameliorated with exercise. We investigated the effect of 12-weeks of exercise training on cutaneous microvascular reactivity in the foot. Thirty-three inactive adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity (55% male, 56.

Modelling vaccination capacity at mass vaccination hubs and general practice clinics: a simulation study.

Background: COVID-19 mass vaccination programs place an additional burden on healthcare services. We aim to model the queueing process at vaccination sites to inform service delivery.

Methods: We use stochastic queue network models to simulate queue dynamics in larger mass vaccination hubs and smaller general practice (GP) clinics.

Surgeon Engagement with Patient-Reported Measures in Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Bariatric Practices.

Purpose: Patient-reported measures are an important emerging metric in outcome monitoring; however, they remain ill-defined and underutilized in bariatric clinical practice. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of patient-reported measures employed in bariatric practices across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, including barriers to their implementation and to what extent clinicians are receptive to their use.

Methods: An online survey was distributed to all bariatric surgeons actively contributing to the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Bariatric Surgery Registry (n = 176).

Patients with treated indolent lymphomas immunized with BNT162b2 have reduced anti-spike neutralizing IgG to SARS-CoV-2 variants, but preserved antigen-specific T cell responses.

Patients with indolent lymphoma undertaking recurrent or continuous B cell suppression are at risk of severe COVID-19. Patients and healthy controls (HC; N = 13) received two doses of BNT162b2: follicular lymphoma (FL; N = 35) who were treatment naïve (TN; N = 11) or received immunochemotherapy (ICT; N = 23) and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM; N = 37) including TN (N = 9), ICT (N = 14), or treated with Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi; N = 12). Anti-spike immunoglobulin G (IgG) was determined by a high-sensitivity flow-cytometric assay, in addition to live-virus neutralization.

Neural Response to Low Energy and High Energy Foods in Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder: A Functional MRI Study.

Objective: Bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) are eating disorders (EDs) characterized by recurrent binge eating (BE) episodes. Overlap exists between ED diagnostic groups, with BE episodes presenting one clinical feature that occurs transdiagnostically. Neuroimaging of the responses of those with BN and BED to disorder-specific stimuli, such as food, is not extensively investigated.

Single-gene long-read sequencing illuminates Escherichia coli strain dynamics in the human intestinal microbiome.

Gut microbiome is of major interest due to its close relationship to health and disease. Bacteria usually vary in gene content, leading to functional variations within species, so resolution higher than species-level methods is needed for ecological and clinical relevance. We design a protocol to identify strains in selected species with high discrimination and in high numbers by amplicon sequencing of the flagellin gene.

Effect of a smartphone application (Perx) on medication adherence and clinical outcomes: a 12-month randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether the Perx app improves medication adherence and clinical outcomes over 12 months compared with standard care in patients requiring polypharmacy.

Design: Randomised controlled trial with 12-month follow-up.

Setting: Outpatient clinics in three tertiary hospitals in Sydney, Australia.