Publications by authors named "Melinda Gray"

Introduction: Personalised Asthma Action Plans (AAPs) are a cornerstone of paediatric asthma management. We aimed to assess parental knowledge and perceptions of the use of AAPs in managing their child's asthma.

Methods: In 2023 we conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess knowledge and perceptions of AAPs in parents/caregivers of children aged 0-17 years with asthma who had an AAP and attended respiratory clinics at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.

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Background: Asthma is the leading source of unscheduled hospitalisation in Australian children, with a high burden placed upon children, their parents/families, and the healthcare system. In Australia, there are widening disparities in paediatric asthma care including inequitable access to comprehensive ongoing and planned asthma care for children.

Methods: The Asthma Care from Home Project is a comprehensive virtually enabled asthma model of care that aims to a.

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Purpose: Earlier coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic reports did not implicate increased disease burden in asthmatics while subsequent findings have been inconsistent. To date, the impact of COVID-19 on childhood asthma remains undetermined and is further complicated with ongoing emergence of new variants. This study aimed to investigate association between asthma and COVID-19 for children in New South Wales (NSW), Australia and compare its differences across four major outbreaks from alpha, delta and omicron variants/subvariants.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network developed the Asthma Follow up Integrated Care Initiative in 2016 to reduce pediatric asthma-related emergency department visits and hospital admissions by 50% through coordinated care.
  • The initiative involved a two-phase implementation where care coordinators worked with families to ensure better asthma management, including follow-up GP visits and educational resources.
  • Results showed a significant reduction in emergency department visits (43% in Phase I, 41% in Phase II) and hospital admissions (not fully detailed) within 6 and 12 months after enrollment in the program.
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Public health measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic have altered health care for chronic conditions. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric asthma, the most common chronic respiratory cause of childhood hospitalisation, in Australia, remains unknown. In a multicentre study, we examined the impact of three waves of COVID-19 on paediatric asthma in New South Wales Australia.

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Objective: To investigate the validity and home use of a personal ultrasonic spirometer.

Methods: Supervised spirometry was performed using laboratory equipment and a personal ultrasonic spirometer. In addition, the ability of children to perform acceptable spirometry during supervised telehealth appointments at home was assessed.

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Purpose: To evaluate potential variation in care management pathways following hospital discharge for children with asthma in New South Wales, Australia.

Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in emergency departments (EDs) and paediatric units of public hospitals with more than five paediatric beds within New South Wales, Australia, between July 2018 and March 2019. Nursing and medical staff in EDs and paediatric units who had cared for children aged under 18 years with asthma in the preceding 12 months were invited to participate in this study.

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Objective: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of comprehensive community-based interventions with ≥ 2 components in improving asthma outcomes in children.

Methods: A systematic search of Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Cochrane Library and hand search of reference collections were conducted to identify any research articles published in English between 2000 and 2019. All studies reporting community-based asthma interventions with ≥ 2 components (e.

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Objective: To develop and validate a prediction risk score for identification of children at risk of developing life-threatening asthma (LTA).

Methods: Our study utilized existing medical records and retrospective analysis to develop and validate a risk score. The study population included children aged 2-17 years, admitted with a primary diagnosis of asthma, to Sydney Children's Hospital between 2011-2016.

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To investigate the effectiveness of technology enabled learning in improving asthma first aid knowledge and self-confidence in providing asthma first aid to children in staff within a school setting. A prospective randomized parallel study using a pre and post test design was conducted across Metropolitan schools of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. School staff in selected schools were randomly assigned to receive first aid asthma management training via a self-directed multimedia eBook learning resource or standard face-to-face training.

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