Case identification of non-traumatic brain injury in youth using linked population data.

Background: Population-level administrative data provides a cost-effective means of monitoring health outcomes and service needs of clinical populations. This study aimed to present a method for case identification of non-traumatic brain injury in population-level data and to examine the association with sociodemographic factors.

Methods: An estimated resident population of youth aged 0-24 years was constructed using population-level datasets within the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure.

Age at first exposure to antibiotics and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood.

Rationale: Viral illnesses in children are common and are frequently treated with antibiotic medication. Antibiotics reduce the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota, leading to poor developmental outcomes.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between age at first exposure to antibiotics and cognitive and behavioural development at 4.

A randomized trial of probiotic supplementation in nurses to reduce stress and viral illness.

Animal studies demonstrate how the gut microbiota influence psychological health and immunity to viral infections through their actions along multiple dynamic pathways in the body. Considerable interest exists in probiotics to reduce stress and illness symptoms through beneficial effects in the gut, but translating pre-clinical evidence from animal models into humans remains challenging. We conducted a large trial in nurses working during the 2020 COVID19 pandemic year to establish whether daily ingestion of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 reduced perceived stress and the number of days participants reported symptoms of a viral illness.

Probiotics for Reduction of Examination Stress in Students (PRESS) study: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001.

Background: Studies suggest that bioactive compounds such as probiotics may positively influence psychological health. This study aimed to determine whether supplementation with the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 reduced stress and improve psychological wellbeing in university students sitting examinations.

Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 483 undergraduate students received either the probiotic L.

Improvement in the psychological health of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Nurses are a critical component of any healthcare system. The novel coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an increased workload for nurses and heightened stress.

Aims: To assess the psychological health over time of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the factors associated with stress, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing.

Neuropsychological assessment of paediatric brain tumour survivors: Factors associated with assessment.

Aim: Paediatric brain tumour survivors are at increased risk of neurocognitive deficits that affect their education. The aim of this study was to assess the proportion of brain tumour survivors who historically received a neuropsychological assessment and examine the demographic and treatment-related variables associated with neuropsychological assessment. A further aim was to determine the number and treatment profile of brain tumour survivors who would benefit from neuropsychological assessment.

Factor structure of the SDQ and longitudinal associations from pre-school to pre-teen in New Zealand.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a cohort of New Zealand children followed from birth to the age of eleven. The study also aimed to assess the stability of the child data in relation to behavioural outcomes during this period.

Methods: Children in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study were assessed at approximately 3½, 7 and 11 years of age.

Birth by caesarean section and educational achievement in adolescents.

Background: Birth by caesarean section has been shown to alter the composition of the early infant gut microbiota and postulated to influence cognitive outcomes via the gut-brain axis.

Aims: To determine whether birth by caesarean section is associated with secondary school educational achievement.

Methods: Whole-population administrative data were used from anonymised individual level linkage of birth records to educational and health information from the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI).

Behavioral Outcomes in Children With an Orofacial Cleft in a National Study in New Zealand.

Objective: To determine whether children with an orofacial cleft have higher levels of behavioral problems than the general population and whether this differs by cleft phenotype.

Design: A cohort of children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) born in New Zealand from January 1, 2000.

Setting: Cleft clinics in New Zealand participating in a larger outcomes study between 2014 and 2017.

Quality of Life Using General Population Validated Questionnaires in Children With Cleft Lip and/or Palate in New Zealand.

Objective: To determine the level of quality of life (QoL) in children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) and whether this differs by cleft phenotype.

Design: A cohort of children with CL/P born in New Zealand.

Setting: A nationwide study of children born with CL/P and having primary surgery in New Zealand.

Physical Activity, Sleep, Body Mass Index, and Associated Risk of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Childhood.

Objective: Cross-sectional data indicate that physical activity, longer sleep duration, and normal body weight are associated with better mental health in childhood. It is less clear whether these factors protect against future emotional and behavioral problems. We investigated whether physical activity, sleep duration, and body mass index (BMI) at the age of 7 years are associated with emotional and behavioral problems at the age of 11 years.

Early adolescent physical activity, sleep and symptoms of depression at 16 years of age.

Aim: To examine early adolescent physical activity and risk of later depressive symptoms at age 16 years in a prospective cohort study.

Methods: Participants were children and parents enrolled at birth of the child. Approximately half the children enrolled in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study were small for gestational age at birth (SGA ≤10th percentile for sex and gestation) and half were appropriate for gestational age (AGA >10th percentile).

Maternal stress during pregnancy and small for gestational age birthweight are not associated with telomere length at 11 years of age.

Background: Previous studies indicate that low birth weight and exposure to maternal stress during pregnancy may result in shortened telomeres in infants. Shorter telomere length has in turn been linked with accelerated ageing and with age-related diseases. This study aimed to investigate the association between pregnancy and birth factors and relative telomere length in offspring at 11 years of age.

Antibiotics in the first year of life and subsequent neurocognitive outcomes.

Aim: There may be a link between disruption to the gut microbiota in early life and later neurocognitive outcomes. We hypothesised that antibiotic use in early life is associated with a detrimental effect on later neurocognitive outcomes.

Methods: Eight hundred and seventy-one European mothers and their children enrolled in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study at birth.

The Probiotics in Pregnancy Study (PiP Study): rationale and design of a double-blind randomised controlled trial to improve maternal health during pregnancy and prevent infant eczema and allergy.

Background: Worldwide there is increasing interest in the manipulation of human gut microbiota by the use of probiotic supplements to modify or prevent a range of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Probiotic interventions administered during pregnancy and breastfeeding offer a unique opportunity to influence a range of important maternal and infant outcomes. The aim of the Probiotics in Pregnancy Study (PiP Study) is to assess if supplementation by the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 administered to women from early pregnancy and while breastfeeding can reduce the rates of infant eczema and atopic sensitisation at 1 year, and maternal gestational diabetes mellitus, bacterial vaginosis and Group B Streptococcal vaginal colonisation before birth, and depression and anxiety postpartum.

Maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with moderate to severe depression in 11-year-old children.

Aim: Maternal stress during pregnancy has been associated with negative outcomes in children. We examined the risk factors for symptoms of depression in 11-year-old children, including the interaction between birthweight and other variables.

Methods: We collected maternal, obstetric and demographic information from birth through to the age of 11.

Determinants of developmental delay in infants aged 12 months.

The aim of this study was to determine which demographic, maternal, obstetric and postnatal variables were associated with achievement of developmental milestones at the age of 12 months in term infants. Mothers and babies were enrolled in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study shortly after birth. All infants were full term (gestation >or= 37 weeks).