Publications by authors named "Kevin Mcgeechan"

Objectives: To assess the impact of the transition from film to digital mammography in the Australian national breast cancer screening program.

Study Design: Retrospective linked population health data analysis (New South Wales Central Cancer Registry, BreastScreen NSW); interrupted time series analysis.

Setting: New South Wales, 2002-2016.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Film mammography has been replaced by digital mammography in breast screening programs globally. This led to a small increase in the rate of detection, but whether the detection of clinically important cancers increased is uncertain. We aimed to assess the impact on tumor characteristics of screen-detected and interval breast cancers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Digital mammography has replaced film mammography in breast-screening programs globally, including Australia. This led to an increase in the rate of detection, but whether there was increased detection of clinically important cancers is uncertain.

Methods: In this population-wide retrospective cohort study in New South Wales, Australia spanning 2004 to 2016 and including 4,631,656 screens, there were 22,965 cancers in women screened with film (n = 11,040) or digital mammography (n = 11,925).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study reviewed data on the mode of delivery of medical abortion care (via face-to-face or telehealth) at a Family Planning service during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; April 2020 to March 2022. This was considered over time, in the context of changing eligibility criteria for Medicare-rebated telehealth services as well as patient demographic data. The study demonstrated that when Medicare rebates for telehealth are available for all those requiring abortion care, telehealth contributes to care provision alongside face-to-face services, and is more likely to be utilised by people living in regional and remote areas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses requiring a whole of health approach. Routinely collected health administrative data has clinical utility in describing associations and predicting health outcome measures. This study aims to develop models to assess the clinical utility of health administrative data in adult eating disorder emergency presentations and length of stay.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Despite recommendations, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC), particularly IUDs, are not commonly offered as first-line options by general practitioners (GPs) in Australia, limiting women's access to these methods.
  • The study analyzed data from the Australian Contraceptives ChOice pRoject (ACCORd) involving 57 practices, highlighting that 37% of GPs had IUD training, but only 12% performed insertions, while the majority inserted contraceptive implants instead.
  • The findings suggest a need for increased GP training and the establishment of LARC rapid referral clinics to improve IUD access, as women often traveled long distances (up to 90km) for these services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A meta-analysis of 6 population-based studies was conducted to explore the link between hypertensive retinopathy and cardiovascular risk among individuals with hypertension.
  • The study followed 11,013 participants over 5-13 years, assessing incidents of coronary heart disease (CHD), strokes, and overall cardiovascular disease (CVD).
  • Results indicated that both mild and moderate forms of hypertensive retinopathy were associated with an increased risk of CVD, particularly mild hypertensive retinopathy which heightened the risk for both CVD and CHD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • High-grade glioma (HGG) is a serious illness that can make it really hard for family members who are taking care of the patients, causing them a lot of stress.
  • The study tested a special program called Care-IS, which included help like phone calls, home visits, and resources to support carers for up to a year.
  • The results showed that carers felt more prepared to take care of their loved ones, but they still felt just as stressed as before, suggesting more needs to be done to help them cope.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to establish and evaluate an online community of practice (called AusCAPPS Network) to enhance the provision of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and early medical abortion (EMA) in Australian primary care settings.
  • Key goals include certifying more general practitioners and pharmacists in EMA services, increasing prescription rates for LARC and EMA, and improving the knowledge and attitudes of primary care providers toward these services.
  • Evaluation methods include a stakeholder workshop, health service data analysis, online surveys, and interviews to assess changes in certification, prescription practices, and participant experiences, guided by established frameworks for effective implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This framework focuses on the importance of the consideration of the downstream intermediate and long-term health outcomes when a change to a screening program is introduced. The authors present a methodology for utilising the relationship between screen-detected and interval cancer rates to infer the benefits and harms associated with a change to the program. A review of the previous use of these measures in the literature is presented.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Access to postpartum contraception is critical for the health of the mother and subsequent pregnancies. However, the differential roles and responsibilities of maternity care providers in contraception discussions and provision are often unclear. Our study, part of a larger study on midwifery provision of contraceptive implants, presents the perspectives of hospital-based maternity clinicians.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Appropriate diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can improve some short-term outcomes in children and adolescents, but little is known about the association of a diagnosis with their quality of life (QOL).

Objective: To compare QOL in adolescents with and without an ADHD diagnosis.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study followed an emulated target trial design using prospective, observational data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a representative, population-based prospective cohort study with biennial data collection from 2006 to 2018 with 8 years of follow-up (ages 6-7 to 14-15 years).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Globally, ADHD diagnoses have increased substantially and there is concern that this trend does not necessarily reflect improved detection of cases but that overdiagnosis may be occurring. We directly compared ADHD diagnoses with ADHD-related behaviours and looked for changes across time among Australian children in a large, population-based prospective cohort study.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, including 4,699 children born 1999/2000 (cohort 1) and 4,425 children born 2003/2004 (cohort 2), followed from 4 to 13 years of age.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • LARC methods, such as IUDs and implants, are effective but not widely used in Australia, with the oral contraceptive pill (OC) being the most common option among women.
  • A study involving 621 women aged 18-49 used a discrete choice experiment to analyze preferences for LARC features, focusing on effectiveness, low side effects, and GP recommendations.
  • Results showed that women prefer contraceptives that are effective, safe, and endorsed by healthcare providers, highlighting the need for targeted information and discussions about LARC options.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Most Australian women prefer oral contraceptives over long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), leading to a study (ACCORd) that tested ways to improve LARC uptake among patients visiting general practitioners (GPs).
  • The study, conducted in 57 GP clinics in Melbourne, involved checking how well the intervention was implemented and gathering feedback from GPs and patients a year later, which highlighted the value of effectiveness-based contraceptive counseling (EBCC).
  • Key findings indicate that while GPs recognized the importance of promoting LARCs and appreciated quick referral options, some faced challenges like costs and training for certain procedures; overall, both GPs and patients found the ACCORd model effective and sustainable for improving access to LAR
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Genetic heart diseases (GHDs) can be clinically heterogeneous and pose an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a lifesaving therapy. Impacts on prospective and long-term psychological and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) after ICD implant in patients with GHDs are unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Australian Study of Health and Relationships is a large national population-representative survey of sexual behavior and attitudes conducted every decade. We describe experiences of sexual difficulties lasting at least a month among Australians surveyed in 2012-2013 and identify changes since the previous survey in 2001-2002. Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by 20,091 people aged 16-69 years (participation rate 66%) of whom 16,897 people had had sex with a partner in the previous year.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cesarean delivery rates continue to rise globally, the reasons for which are incompletely understood.

Objective: We aimed to characterize the attributable factors for the increasing cesarean delivery rates over a 30-year period within our health network.

Study Design: This was a planned observational cohort study across 2 hospitals (a large tertiary referral hospital and a metropolitan hospital) in Sydney, Australia using data from a previously published study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To determine the impact of test measurement variation on misclassification of prediabetes and diabetes in the US adult population.

Study Design And Setting: Data from adults with no prior diagnosis of diabetes in the 2015 to 2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to simulate populations of US adults eligible for screening. Estimates of measurement variation were applied to each simulated individual's true values to generate observed values for up to five repeated screens.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the Australian Contraceptive ChOice pRoject (ACCORd) by comparing its implementation costs and health outcomes to usual care (UC).
  • Over a 10-year period, while the ACCORd intervention resulted in higher costs per woman, it provided slightly better outcomes in terms of unintended pregnancies and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).
  • The findings suggested that, if used properly and with the estimated cost thresholds, the ACCORd intervention could be considered a cost-effective approach to improving contraceptive uptake in Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Repeat pregnancy in the first year after a birth is common. Many of these conceptions are unintended and may be prevented by providing access to contraception in the immediate postpartum period. Midwives in the hospital setting could potentially play a greater role in improving postnatal contraception information and provision.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Delivery of vaccination to adolescents via a school-based program provides an opportunity to promote their involvement in health decision-making, service provision, and self-efficacy (belief in one's ability to perform a certain behavior).

Objective: To examine the effect of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination education and logistical intervention on adolescent psychosocial outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this cluster randomized trial and process and qualitative evaluation, adolescents aged 12 to 13 years (first year of high school) were recruited at high schools in Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA) in 2013 and 2014.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background Reproductive coercion (RC) occurs when a person's autonomous decision-making regarding reproductive health is compromised by another. RC screening, that is, the use of routine, non-invasive screening questions asked of service users/clients, is one strategy that can be used to assess for RC. Routine screening for RC was implemented within Family Planning NSW clinical consultations in December 2018.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To enumerate pregnancy outcomes for a representative sample of women in Australia surveyed in 2012-2013 (primary aim) and compare these with women surveyed in 2001-2002 (secondary aim).

Methods: Computer-assisted telephone interviews with over 10,000 women aged 16-69 years (participation rate 68.4%).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF