Mortality risk among Autistic children and young people: A nationwide birth cohort study.

Existing literature indicates that Autistic people have shorter life expectancy, but little is known about the mortality risk among Autistic children and young people (0-24 years). We used a 15-year nationwide birth cohort study to estimate the mortality risk among Autistic children and young people in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The study included 895,707 children and 11,919 (1.

Identifying neurodevelopmental disabilities from nationalised preschool health check.

Objective: Models of psychometric screening to identify individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) have had limited success. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, routine developmental surveillance of preschool children is undertaken using the Before School Check (B4SC), which includes psychometric and physical health screening instruments. This study aimed to determine whether combining multiple screening measures could improve the prediction of NDDs.

Association Between High-Need Education-Based Funding and School Suspension Rates for Autistic Students in New Zealand.

Importance: Autistic students often experience poor educational outcomes that have implications for later life, including unemployment, interactions with the criminal justice system, increased risk for substance abuse, and low socioeconomic status. Improving educational outcomes is critical for ensuring that autistic young people can reach their potential.

Objective: To quantify differences in suspension rates between autistic and nonautistic students and to assess whether high-need education-based funding for autistic students is associated with reduced rates of school suspension.

Criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism: A national birth cohort study in New Zealand.

Sensationalist headlines and highly publicised criminal cases lead many in the public to believe that people with autism are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour. However, recent studies present an unresolved debate, and indicate this may not necessarily be the case. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism, and determine whether offence types differ between these groups.

Association of chronic pain with comorbidities and health care utilization: a retrospective cohort study using health administrative data.

Health administrative data provide a potentially robust information source regarding the substantial burden chronic pain exerts on individuals and the health care system. This study aimed to use health administrative data to estimate comorbidity prevalence and annual health care utilization associated with chronic pain in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Applying the validated Chronic Pain Algorithm to provincial Fee-for-Service Physician Claims File data (1999-2009) established the Chronic Pain (n = 184,580) and No Chronic Pain (n = 320,113) comparator groups.

Evidence-Based Decision Making 3: Health Technology Assessment.

This chapter begins with a brief introduction to health technology assessment (HTA). HTA is concerned with the systematic evaluation of the consequences of the adoption and use of new health technologies and to improve the evidence on existing technologies. The objective of mainstream HTA is to support evidence-based decision- and policy-making that encourage the uptake of efficient and effective health-care technologies.

Medication dispensing for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to New Zealand youth.

Aims: Global trends show an increase in medication dispensing for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young people over time. The current study aimed to examine whether similar trends were observed in New Zealand youth over the period of 2007/08 to 2016/17.

Methods: We estimated the prevalence in ADHD medication dispensing using national pharmaceutical data for each fiscal year from 2007/08 to 2016/17 in approximately 2.

Autism spectrum disorder/Takiwātanga: An Integrated Data Infrastructure-based approach to autism spectrum disorder research in New Zealand.

New Zealand has few estimates of the prevalence autism spectrum disorder and no national registry or data set to identify and track cases. This hinders the ability to make informed, evidence-based decisions relating to autism spectrum disorder. In this study, we utilised linked health and non-health data to develop a method for identifying cases of autism spectrum disorder among children and young people in New Zealand.

Case identification of mental health and related problems in children and young people using the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure.

Background: In a novel endeavour we aimed to develop a clinically relevant case identification method for use in research about the mental health of children and young people in New Zealand using the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI). The IDI is a linked individual-level database containing New Zealand government and survey microdata.

Methods: We drew on diagnostic and pharmaceutical information contained within five secondary care service use and medication dispensing datasets to identify probable cases of mental health and related problems.

Long-term opioid medication use before and after joint replacement surgery in New Zealand.

Aim: To describe the use of opioid analgesics over three years before and after total joint replacement surgery in New Zealand.

Method: We extracted information on all individuals undergoing publicly funded total hip or knee replacement surgery in New Zealand between June 2011 and December 2014, and linked data on opioid prescribing, from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure. We analysed monthly opioid use over the three years before and after surgery and the transition from pre-operative and/or immediate post-operative use to chronic post-operative use.

IDI trends in antidepressant dispensing to New Zealand children and young people between 2007/08 and 2015/16.

Aim: To examine trends in antidepressant dispensing to childred and young people in New Zealand aged 1-24 years between 2007/08 and 2015/16 using the national Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), and to determine whether these trends vary by age, sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation.

Methods: In a novel endeavour, data on antidepressant dispensing, age, sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic status were sourced from the IDI, a linked individual-level database containing New Zealand government and survey microdata.

Results: The total rate of dispensing of antidepressants to young people increased by 44% from 1,870 per 100,000 in 2007/08 to 2,694 per 100,000 in 2015/16.

Decomposing ethnic differences in body mass index and obesity rates among New Zealand pre-schoolers.

Objective: To determine the extent to which ethnic differences in BMI Z-scores and obesity rates could be explained by the differential distribution of demographic (e.g. age), familial (e.

How universal are universal preschool health checks? An observational study using routine data from New Zealand's B4 School Check.

Objectives: We aimed to estimate how many children were attending a universal preschool health screen and to identify characteristics associated with non-participation.

Design: Analysis of population-level linked administrative data.

Participants: Children were considered eligible for a B4 School Check for a given year if:(1) they were ever resident in New Zealand (NZ),(2) lived in NZ for at least 6 months during the reference year, (3) were alive at the end of the reference year, (4) either appeared in any hospital (including emergency) admissions, community pharmaceutical dispensing or general practitioner enrolment datasets during the reference year or (5) had a registered birth in NZ.

The Efficacy of Preschool Developmental Indicators as a Screen for Early Primary School-Based Literacy Interventions.

Literacy success lays the foundation for children's later educational, health, and well-being outcomes. Thus, early identification of literacy need is vital. Using data from New Zealand's national preschool health screening program for fiscal years 2010/2011-2014/2015, demographic and health variables from 255,090 children aged 4 years were related to whether they received a literacy intervention in early primary school.

Patterns of early primary school-based literacy interventions among Pacific children from a nationwide health screening programme of 4 year olds.

Literacy success is critical to unlocking a child's potential and enhancing their future wellbeing. Thus, the early identification and redressing of literacy needs is vital. Pacific children have, on average, the lowest literacy achievement levels in New Zealand.

The Effect of Empowerment and Self-Determination on Health Outcomes.

There remains a persistent gap in health outcomes between wealthy and poor countries. Basic measures such as life expectancy and infant and under-five mortality remain divergent, with preventable deaths being unacceptably high, despite significant efforts to reduce these disparities. We examine the impact of empowerment, measured by Freedom House's ratings of country's political rights and civil liberties, while controlling for per capita gross domestic product, secondary school enrollment, and income inequality, on national health outcomes.

The unseen high-cost users: children and youth with mental illness.

Often neglected from discussions of high-cost healthcare users are children and youth with mental health issues. But when considered from the perspective of all of the various public and community services they require, and their impact on families, these children should be considered in initiatives to improve care for frequent healthcare users. For children with mental illness, because of the fragmented services they receive, there are clear opportunities for gains in patient care through better clinical and social care integration, even without significant additional investments.

Trends of abnormal birthweight among full-term infants in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether any observed trends in birthweight are accompanied by changes in maternal sociodemographic characteristics, including age, marital status, and education.

Methods: We conducted a population-based study of term singletons born in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, between 1992 and 2005 (N = 66,638). Large-sample significance tests for two population proportions were used to test whether differences in mean birthweight, the proportion of low and high birthweight infants, and differences in maternal socio-demographic characteristics between 1992-95 and 2002-05 were statistically significant.