Using latent variable modelling to identify etiological heterogeneity in preterm delivery.

Aims: To identify a subgroup of mothers at high risk of preterm delivery, defined by empirical classes of multimorbidity and recurrence across three consecutive births.

Methods: The data were extracted from the perinatal data collection (PDC) of all inpatient live births (n = 435 912) occurring in the Australian state of Queensland between January 2009 and December 2015. Within this data, a total of 7714 primiparous mothers delivered three consecutive singleton live births (total births = 23 142), and comprise the sample for all analyses.

Exploring the relationships between pathogen-specific prenatal infections requiring inpatient admission and domains of offspring behaviour at age 5.

Background: Research exploring the relationship between prenatal infection and child behavioural outcomes would benefit from further studies utilising full-population samples with the scale to investigate specific infections and to employ robust designs. We tested the association among several common infections requiring inpatient admission during and after pregnancy with a range of childhood behavioural outcomes, to determine whether any negative impact was specific to the period of foetal development.

Methods: The sample included all mother-offspring pairs from the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) for whom the child commenced their first year of full-time schooling in 2009 (~age 5 years; n = 77,302 offspring), with records linked across four health administrative data sets including the NSW perinatal data collection (PDC), the NSW admitted patient data collection (APDC) and the NSW component of the 2009 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

Development and validation of a machine learning-based tool to predict autism among children.

Autism is a lifelong condition for which intervention must occur as early as possible to improve social functioning. Thus, there is great interest in improving our ability to diagnose autism as early as possible. We take a novel approach to this challenge by combining machine learning with maternal and infant health administrative data to construct a prediction model capable of predicting autism disorder (defined as ICD10 84.

Low-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and offspring attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate the available evidence on the association between low-to-moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and the development of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in the offspring.

Methods: We systematically reviewed and meta-analysed studies reporting an association between low and/or moderate PAE and offspring ADHD symptoms (attention and/or hyperactivity). Systematic searches were performed in EMBASE, Pubmed, Medline, and PsycINFO and reviewed from selected references.

Is low BMI associated with specific drug use among injecting drug users?

Body mass index (BMI) of a sample of people who regularly inject drugs (N = 781) was examined to gauge the impact of specific types of drug use. Cross-sectional interviews were undertaken in 2010 as part of a national monitoring program funded by the Australian Government. Latent class analysis identified three groups of drug users, with heroin users at 3.

Exploring the female specific risk to partial and full PTSD following physical assault.

Previous studies have shown that females are at an increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in response to physical assault compared with males. Our aims were to (a) test if this gender-specific risk generalised to subclinical levels of PTSD, (b) observe how this relationship was affected by including possible confounding factors, and (c) estimate how this trauma contributed to the overall prevalence of PTSD in females. Data came from an Australian birth cohort study (n = 2,547) based in Brisbane, Australia that commenced in 1981.

The association between lower birth weight and comorbid generalised anxiety and major depressive disorder.

Objective: Studies testing the association between birth weight and depression or anxiety have found inconsistent results and there has been a lack of research on the possible relationship between birth weight and comorbid anxiety and depression. We tested for an association between lower birth weight and major depression, generalised anxiety and comorbid generalised anxiety and major depression.

Method: Data was taken from 2113 mothers and their offspring participating in the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) birth cohort.

Pre-trauma verbal ability at five years of age and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in adult males and females.

Previous studies have shown that high cognitive ability, measured in childhood and prior to the experience of traumatic events, is protective of PTSD development. Our aim was to test if the association between pre-trauma verbal ability ascertained at 5 years with DSM-IV lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 21 years was subject to effect modification by gender, trauma type or prior behaviour problems. Using a prospective birth cohort of young Australians, we found that both trauma type and behaviour problems did not change the association between cognitive ability and PTSD.

The association between birth weight and anxiety disorders in young adults.

Recent evidence has linked birth weight to later behaviour/mental disorders, yet studies have hitherto neglected to investigate the relationship between birth weight and adult anxiety disorders. Prospectively collected data from 2210 mother/offspring pairs of the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) birth cohort was used to test for associations between birth weight z-score and four major groupings of DSM-IV anxiety disorders. Birth weight z-score was linearly and inversely associated with lifetime diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorders at 21 years, with those falling within the smallest birth weight quintile group at almost two-fold increased odds (OR=1.