Sleep patterns among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians: A South Australian descriptive exploratory study.

Aim: Irregularities with sleep patterns and behaviours are commonly observed in Australia, but there is lack of information regarding sleep patterns among Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander adults. This study explores sleep patterns in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander adults, comparing it with non-Indigenous Australian adults in addition to investigating any potential effects on daytime behaviour.

Methods: A total of 730 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples aged 18 years and above were included in the study.

Canadian Association of Radiologists Pediatric Imaging Referral Guideline.

The Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) Pediatric Expert Panel is made up of pediatric physicians from the disciplines of radiology, emergency medicine, endocrinology, gastroenterology, general surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, respirology, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology, urology, a patient advisor, and an epidemiologist/guideline methodologist. After developing a list of 50 clinical/diagnostic scenarios, a rapid scoping review was undertaken to identify systematically produced referral guidelines that provide recommendations for one or more of these clinical/diagnostic scenarios. Recommendations from 32 guidelines and contextualization criteria in the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) for guidelines framework were used to develop 133 recommendation statements across the 50 scenarios.

Ten-year health impact, economic impact and return on investment of the South African molecular diagnostics programme for HIV, tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2.

Introduction: To ensure there is adequate investment into diagnostics, an understanding of the magnitude of impact and return on investment is necessary. We, therefore, sought to understand the health and economic impacts of the molecular diagnostic programme in South Africa, to deepen the understanding of the broad value of diagnostics and guide future healthcare investments.

Methods: We calculated the 10-year (where data were available) total cost and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted associated with molecular testing for tuberculosis diagnosis (2013-2022), HIV viral load monitoring (2013-2022), early infant diagnosis of HIV infection (2013-2022) and SARS-CoV-2 testing (2020-2022), based on the actual number of molecular tests conducted in South Africa for the respective time periods.

Exploring the Perspectives of Older Adults Living With HIV on Virtual Care: Qualitative Study.

Background: As the population of individuals with HIV ages rapidly due to advancements in antiretroviral therapy, virtual care has become an increasingly vital component in managing their complex health needs. However, little is known about perceptions of virtual care among older adults living with HIV.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the perceptions of older adults living with HIV regarding virtual care.

Oral health inequities over time among older adults of different racial/ethnic backgrounds: a comparative decomposition analysis across Australia and the United States.

Background: Although the prevalence of poor oral health among older populations in Australia and the United States is higher, the contribution of ethnicity status is unknown. We aimed to estimate the contribution of social inequalities in oral health among older populations in Australia and the United States.

Methods: Cross-sectional study design using data from Australia's National Survey of Adult Oral Health (NSAOH 2004-06 and 2017-18) and the United States' National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003-04 and 2011-16).

Characterising healthy Australian oral microbiomes for 'super donor' selection.

Objectives: Among healthy people, we understand very little about the sociodemographic, lifestyle, and dental hygiene behaviours that shape their oral microbiota. This study investigates how sociodemographic, lifestyle and dental hygiene behaviours shape oral microbiota diversity and composition in an Australian population to better inform healthy oral microbiota donors for Oral Microbiota Transplantation (OMT).

Methods: The study comprised 93 healthy adults who underwent comprehensive oral examinations and questionnaires to assess their health status.

"It's Everybody's and It's Nobody's Responsibility": Stakeholder Perspectives on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equity at the Nexus of Chronic Kidney Disease and Oral Health.

Introduction: The effects of racism, oppression, and colonization in Australia are reflected in the inequitable experience of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Despite having the highest incidence of CKD, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the lowest rate of kidney transplant, with poor oral health commonly being an obstacle to receiving a transplant. This research reflects the exploratory phase of a larger project aimed at maximizing oral health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with CKD in Australia through the provision of culturally secure dental care.

Remoteness-attributable financial inequality in dental service utilization in Australian older adults: A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition.

Objective: Oral health is often overlooked in ageing health issues, despite its impact on overall health and quality of life. Older Australians, especially those in rural and remote areas, face difficulties accessing oral health services. The aim of the study was to investigate the factors that contribute to financial barriers to accessing dental services among the ageing population in Australia in relation to their residential location.

A Review and Economic Analysis of the Dapivirine Vaginal Ring as HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for Women, to Inform South African Public-Sector Guidelines.

Background: South Africa has a high HIV incidence and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is available as public-sector standard of care. Access to alternative prevention methods for women may further reduce HIV acquisition.

Setting: South African public sector.

A Novel Small Form-Factor Handheld Optical Coherence Tomography Probe for Oral Soft Tissue Imaging.

Tissue imaging is crucial in oral cancer diagnostics. Imaging techniques such as X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and computed tomography (CT) enable the visualization and analysis of tissues, aiding in the detection and diagnosis of cancers. A significant amount of research has been conducted on designing OCT probes for tissue imaging, but most probes are either heavy, bulky and require external mounting or are lightweight but straight.

Perspectives of patients, dental professionals, and stakeholders on the use of silver diamine fluoride for the management of dental caries: A qualitative systematic review.

Objectives: This qualitative systematic review and meta-aggregation aimed to synthesise evidence regarding perceptions of patients, practitioners, and stakeholders on the use of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) for the management of dental caries.

Data: This review was reported in alignment with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023390301) and the Joanna Briggs Systematic Reviews register.

Sources: References were retrieved from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EMBASE using a pre-established search strategy.

Triple Jeopardy in Oral Health: Additive Effects of Immigrant Status, Education, and Neighborhood.

Purpose: To estimate the additive effects of parent's nativity status/language spoken at country of birth, education, and area-level socioeconomic status (SES) on untreated dental caries among children aged 5 to 9 y in Australia.

Methods: Cross-sectional population-based data were obtained from the 2014 National Child Oral Health Study (N = 12,140). Indicators of social position used to explore additive effects on dental caries included nativity status, language, university degree, and neighborhood socioeconomic level.

Social Inequities in Access to Dental Care in Australian Adults over Time.

Introduction: Social inequities in dental caries are reflected by both inequities in the social structures that contribute to disease severity and inequities in the provision of dental care. This study aimed to describe social differentials in the dental caries experience among Australian adults across a 13-y period and to examine if the highest magnitude of oral health inequities persisted across dental caries prevalence (decayed teeth [DT]) or its management (missing teeth [MT], filled teeth [FT]).

Methods: Data were from 2 population-based cross-sectional surveys of Australian adult oral health conducted in 2004-2006 (National Survey of Adult Oral Health-1 [NSAOH-1], n = 5,505) and 2017-2018 (NSAOH-2, n = 5,022).

A cost-effectiveness analysis of South Africa's COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in South Africa beginning in February 2021. In this study we retrospectively assessed the cost-effectiveness of the vaccination programme in its first two years of implementation.

Method: We modelled the costs, expressed in 2021 US$, and health outcomes of the COVID-19 vaccination programme compared to a no vaccination programme scenario.

Conceptualising the relationships between food sovereignty, food security and oral health among global Indigenous Communities: a scoping review.

Objective: Invasive colonial influences and continuing neoliberal policies have a detrimental impact on Land, health, food and culture for Indigenous Communities. Food security and sovereignty have significant impacts on Indigenous well-being and, specifically, oral health. Aspects relating to food security, such as availability of nutritious foods, are a common risk factor of oral diseases.

On the trail of a critically endangered fungus: A world-first application of wildlife detection dogs to fungal conservation.

Plant and animal conservation have benefited from the assistance of wildlife detection dogs (WDDs) since 1890, but their application to fungal conservation has not been trialed. In a world-first, we tested the effectiveness of WDDs and human surveyors when searching for experimentally outplanted fungi in natural habitat. We focused on a critically endangered fungus from Australia, and showed that a WDD outperformed a human surveyor: our WDD detected a greater proportion of targets, had a faster time to first discovery, and had fewer false negatives.

Effect of sleep on oral health: A scoping review.

Sleep is a vital biological process that facilitates numerous vital functions integral to mental and physical restoration of the body. Sleep deprivation or poor sleep quality not only affects physical health but may also affect oral health. This scoping review aims to collate existing evidence related to the impact of sleep duration and/or quality on oral health.

Clear aligner therapy informed consent forms: A quality and readability evaluation.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the quality and readability of content contained within clear aligner therapy (CAT) informed consent forms.

Methods: CAT informed consent forms were identified via an online search. The presence of details related to CAT-related processes, risks, benefits and alternatives in each form was recorded.

Comparing the Clique Percolation algorithm to other overlapping community detection algorithms in psychological networks: A Monte Carlo simulation study.

In psychological networks, one limitation of the most used community detection algorithms is that they can only assign each node (symptom) to a unique community, without being able to identify overlapping symptoms. The clique percolation (CP) is an algorithm that identifies overlapping symptoms but its performance has not been evaluated in psychological networks. In this study, we compare the CP with model parameters chosen based on fuzzy modularity (CPMod) with two other alternatives, the ratio of the two largest communities (CPRat), and entropy (CPEnt).

Poor Self-Rated Sleep Quality and Quantity Associated with Poor Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Indigenous Australian Adults.

Background: Indigenous Australians score worse on both sleep and oral health. This study aimed to evaluate sleep quality and quantity associated with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among Indigenous Australian adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 728 Indigenous Australian adults aged 18+ years was conducted.