The impacts of an mHealth intervention targeting parents on health service usage and out-of-pocket costs in the first 9 months of life: The Growing healthy app.

Mobile health (mHealth) interventions provide a low-cost, scalable approach to supporting parents with infant feeding advice with the potential to reduce health care visits and associated costs for infant feeding support. This Australian study examined the impact of the Growing healthy (GH) app on health service utilisation and out-of-pocket costs for families in the first 9 months of their infants life. A quasi-experimental study with a comparison group was conducted in 2015-2016 with an mHealth intervention group (GH app, n = 301) and a nonrandomized usual care group (n = 344).

Joint developmental trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems from mid-childhood to late adolescence and childhood risk factors: Findings from a prospective pre-birth cohort.

There is limited evidence on heterogenous co-developmental trajectories of internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) problems from childhood to adolescence and predictors of these joint trajectories. We utilized longitudinal data from Raine Study participants ( = 2393) to identify these joint trajectories from 5 to 17 years using parallel-process latent class growth analysis and analyze childhood individual and family risk factors predicting these joint trajectories using multinomial logistic regression. Five trajectory classes were identified: (Low-INT/Low-EXT, 29%), (Moderate-EXT/Low-INT, 26.

A randomised controlled trial of clinician supported vs self-help delivery of online cognitive behaviour therapy for Bulimia Nervosa.

High dropout rates and poor adherence associated with digital interventions have prompted research into modifications of these treatments to improve engagement and completion rates. This trial aimed to investigate the added benefit of clinician support when paired alongside a ten-session, online cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) self-help intervention for bulimia nervosa (BN). As part of a three-arm, phase II randomised controlled trial, 114 participants (16 years or over) with full or subthreshold BN were randomly assigned to complete the intervention in a self-help mode (with administrative researcher contact; n = 38), with adjunct clinician support (weekly 30-minute videoconferencing sessions; n = 37), or a no-treatment waitlist control (WLC; n = 39).

Health, social and economic implications of adolescent risk behaviours/states: protocol for Raine Study Gen2 cohort data linkage study.

Background: Risk-taking behaviours are a major contributor to youth morbidity and mortality. Vulnerability to these negative outcomes is constructed from individual behaviour including risk-taking, and from social context, ecological determinants, early life experience, developmental capacity and mental health, contributing to a state of higher risk. However, although risk-taking is part of normal adolescent development, there is no systematic way to distinguish young people with a high probability of serious adverse outcomes, hindering the capacity to screen and intervene.

Supported online cognitive behavioural therapy for bulimia nervosa: a study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Despite the availability of effective treatments for bulimia nervosa (BN), a number of barriers to accessibility exist. Examples include access to trained clinicians, the expense of treatment, geographical limitations, and personal limitations such as stigma regarding help seeking. Self-help interventions, delivered via a digital platform, have the potential to overcome treatment gaps by providing patients with standardised, evidence-based treatments that are easily accessible, cost-effective, and require minimal clinician support.

Effect of a smartphone application (Perx) on medication adherence and clinical outcomes: a 12-month randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether the Perx app improves medication adherence and clinical outcomes over 12 months compared with standard care in patients requiring polypharmacy.

Design: Randomised controlled trial with 12-month follow-up.

Setting: Outpatient clinics in three tertiary hospitals in Sydney, Australia.

A Mixed Methods Study to Explore the Effects of Program Design Elements and Participant Characteristics on Parents' Engagement With an mHealth Program to Promote Healthy Infant Feeding: The Growing Healthy Program.

Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have great potential to promote health. To increase consumer engagement in mHealth interventions it is necessary to address factors that influence the target demographic. The Growing healthy (GH) program is the first obesity prevention program delivered via a smartphone app and website offering evidence-based information on infant feeding from birth until 9 months of age.

The Population Cost-Effectiveness of Weight Watchers with General Practitioner Referral Compared with Standard Care.

Objective: This study aimed to assess population-level cost-effectiveness of the Weight Watchers (WW) program with doctor referral compared with standard care (SC) for Australian adults with overweight and obesity.

Methods: The target population was Australian adults ≥ 20 years old with BMI ≥ 27 kg/m , whose obesity status was subsequently modeled for 2015 to 2025. A microsimulation model (noncommunicable disease model [NCDMod]) was used to assess the incremental cost-effectiveness of WW compared with SC.

Impact of the Growing Healthy mHealth Program on Maternal Feeding Practices, Infant Food Preferences, and Satiety Responsiveness: Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: Infancy is an important life stage for obesity prevention efforts. Parents' infant feeding practices influence the development of infants' food preferences and eating behaviors and subsequently diet and weight. Mobile health (mHealth) may provide a feasible medium through which to deliver programs to promote healthy infant feeding as it allows low cost and easy access to tailored content.

Key Lessons and Impact of the Growing Healthy mHealth Program on Milk Feeding, Timing of Introduction of Solids, and Infant Growth: Quasi-Experimental Study.

Background: The first year of life is an important window to initiate healthy infant feeding practices to promote healthy growth. Interventions delivered by mobile phone (mHealth) provide a novel approach for reaching parents; however, little is known about the effectiveness of mHealth for child obesity prevention.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of an mHealth obesity prevention intervention in terms of reach, acceptability, and impact on key infant feeding outcomes.

Assessing User Engagement of an mHealth Intervention: Development and Implementation of the Growing Healthy App Engagement Index.

Background: Childhood obesity is an ongoing problem in developed countries that needs targeted prevention in the youngest age groups. Children in socioeconomically disadvantaged families are most at risk. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions offer a potential route to target these families because of its relatively low cost and high reach.

A Comparison of Recruitment Methods for an mHealth Intervention Targeting Mothers: Lessons from the Growing Healthy Program.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) programs hold great promise for increasing the reach of public health interventions. However, mHealth is a relatively new field of research, presenting unique challenges for researchers. A key challenge is understanding the relative effectiveness and cost of various methods of recruitment to mHealth programs.

Preventing obesity in infants: the Growing healthy feasibility trial protocol.

Introduction: Early childhood is an important period for establishing behaviours that will affect weight gain and health across the life course. Early feeding choices, including breast and/or formula, timing of introduction of solids, physical activity and electronic media use among infants and young children are considered likely determinants of childhood obesity. Parents play a primary role in shaping these behaviours through parental modelling, feeding styles, and the food and physical activity environments provided.

Lessons learned from the introduction of an electronic safety net to enhance test result management in an Australian mothers' hospital.

This study describes the implementation and impact of an electronic test result acknowledgement (RA) system in the Mater Mothers' Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. The Verdi application electronically records clinicians' acknowledgement of the review of results. Hospital data (August 2011-August 2012) were extracted to measure clinicians' acknowledgement practices.

Is the self-reported private health insurance status in the National Health Survey representative of private health insurance coverage in Australia?

Objective: This study determines whether the distribution of self-reported private health insurance (PHI) status in the 2004/05 National Health Survey (NHS) is representative of PHI coverage in Australia.

Methods: Weighted estimates from the NHS 2004/05 are compared with PHI status reported for 2004/05 by the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC, the independent regulator of the private health insurance industry). PHI status was imputed to children in the NHS based on PHI status of the adult in the household.

Hospital admissions in the National Health Survey and hospital separations in the National Hospital Morbidity Dataset: what is the difference?

Objective: To compare the National Health Survey (NHS) derived estimates of hospital admissions with the number of hospital separations registered in the National Hospital Morbidity Dataset (NHMD).

Methods: Using the person weights in the NHS, the Expanded Confidential Unit Record File of the 2004-05 NHS was used to derive a population estimate of the number of hospital admissions in the 12 months preceding the conduct of the survey. These estimates, by age and sex categories and whether or not the admission involved an overnight stay, were compared with the number of hospital separations registered in the NHMD.

Effect of Australia's Walk to Work Day campaign on adults' active commuting and physical activity behavior.

Purpose: To determine whether Australia's Walk to Work Day media campaign resulted in behavioral change among targeted groups.

Methods: Pre- and postcampaign telephone surveys of a cohort of adults aged 18 to 65 years (n = 1100, 55% response rate) were randomly sampled from Australian major metropolitan areas. Tests for dependent samples were applied (McNemar chi2 or paired t-test).