Preparing linked population data for research: cohort study of prisoner perinatal health outcomes.

Background: A study of pregnancy outcomes related to pregnancy in prison in New South Wales, Australia, designed a two stage linkage to add maternal history of incarceration and serious mental health morbidity, neonatal hospital admission and infant congenital anomaly diagnosis to birth data. Linkage was performed by a dedicated state-wide data linkage authority. This paper describes use of the linked data to determine pregnancy prison exposure pregnancy for a representative population of mothers.

Palliative care, Version 1.2014. Featured updates to the NCCN Guidelines.

The NCCN Guidelines for Palliative Care provide interdisciplinary recommendations on palliative care for patients with cancer. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the NCCN panel's discussions and guideline updates from 2013 and 2014. These include modifications/additions to palliative care screening and assessment protocols, new considerations for discussing the benefits and risks of anticancer therapy, and approaches to advance care planning.

Pregnancy, prison and perinatal outcomes in New South Wales, Australia: a retrospective cohort study using linked health data.

Background: Studies from the United States and the United Kingdom have found that imprisoned women are less likely to experience poorer maternal and perinatal outcomes than other disadvantaged women. This population-based study used both community controls and women with a history of incarceration as a control group, to investigate whether imprisoned pregnant women in New South Wales, Australia, have improved maternal and perinatal outcomes.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using probabilistic record linkage of routinely collected data from health and corrective services in New South Wales, Australia.

Trends in HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C prevalence among Australian prisoners - 2004, 2007, 2010.

Objective: To report the prevalence of markers for HIV infection, hepatitis B and hepatitis C among Australian prison entrants.

Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted over 2-week periods in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

Setting: Reception prisons in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Adult cancer pain.

Pain is a common symptom associated with cancer and its treatment. Pain management is an important aspect of oncologic care, and unrelieved pain significantly comprises overall quality of life. These NCCN Guidelines list the principles of management and acknowledge the range of complex decisions faced in the management oncologic pain.

Distress management.

The integration of psychosocial care into the routine care of all patients with cancer is increasingly being recognized as the new standard of care. These NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Distress Management discuss the identification and treatment of psychosocial problems in patients with cancer. They are intended to assist oncology teams identify patients who require referral to psychosocial resources and to give oncology teams guidance on interventions for patients with mild distress to ensure that all patients with distress are recognized and treated.

Palliative care.

These guidelines were developed and updated by an interdisciplinary group of experts based on clinical experience and available scientific evidence. The goal of these guidelines is to help patients with cancer experience the best quality of life possible throughout the illness trajectory by providing guidance for the primary oncology team for symptom screening, assessment, palliative care interventions, reassessment, and afterdeath care. Palliative care should be initiated by the primary oncology team and augmented by collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of palliative care experts.

Establishment of a successful assessment and treatment service for Australian prison inmates with chronic hepatitis C.

Objective: To evaluate the assessment and treatment outcomes of a prison hepatitis service.

Design And Setting: A retrospective, observational cohort study of prison inmates who attended hepatitis clinics from 1996 to 2005 at correctional centres in New South Wales.

Patients: Inmates who attended the clinics, including a nested case-control series of patients who received antiviral treatment and age- and sex-matched patients who did not receive treatment.

Health-state utilities in a prisoner population: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Health-state utilities for prisoners have not been described.

Methods: We used data from a 1996 cross-sectional survey of Australian prisoners (n = 734). Respondent-level SF-36 data was transformed into utility scores by both the SF-6D and Nichol's method.

Management of chronic pain in cancer survivors.

Chronic pain is a frequent complication of cancer and its treatments and is often underreported, underdiagnosed, and undertreated. Pain in cancer survivors is caused by residual tissue damage from the cancer and/or the cancer therapy. This pain can be divided into 3 pathophysiologic categories: somatic, visceral, and neuropathic.

Managing pain from advanced cancer in the palliative care setting.

Managing complex pain at the end of life is an essential aspect of palliative care. Such care is best guided by a comprehensive evaluation of the physiologic sources of pain to determine appropriate analgesia. Using the case of Mrs.

Prevalence of Mantoux positivity and annual risk of infection for tuberculosis in New South Wales prisoners, 1996 and 2001.

Objectives: This study compares the prevalence of Mantoux positivity among prisoners in NSW in 1996 and 2001 and examines factors associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Design: Cross-sectional random samples of prisoners, including a longitudinal cohort of prisoners screened in both 1996 and 2001.

Setting: 29 correctional centres.