Maternal modifiable factors and risk of congenital heart defects: systematic review and causality assessment.

Objective: Primary prevention strategies are critical to reduce the global burden of congenital heart defects (CHDs); this requires robust knowledge of causal agents. We aimed to review associations between CHDs and maternal advanced age, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and alcohol consumption and assess the causal nature of the associations.

Design: Systematic review of reviews with application of a Bradford Hill criteria score-based causal assessment system.

'Like fumbling around in the dark': Young people's perceptions and realities of healthy relationships.

Learning to negotiate relationships is a key feature of adolescence, yet insight into young people's perspectives on what constitutes healthy relationships is lacking. In this study, therefore, insights were sought on healthy relationship qualities, common issues encountered, and relevant educational experiences. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 18 young people (11 self-identified as female, 5 male, and 2 trans/gender-diverse) aged 14-20 years, residing in Adelaide, South Australia.

Night shift work undertaken by women and fertility treatment interact to increase prevalence of urogenital anomalies in children.

Objective: To investigate the role of maternal night shift work in occurrence of urogenital anomalies in offspring, considering a possible interaction with mode of conception.

Methods: A population-based cohort comprising births in South Australia (1986-2002) was produced via linkage of fertility clinic records, perinatal and birth defects data. This study concerned first births to women in paid employment (n=98 103).

Mental Health of Young Australians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Roles of Employment Precarity, Screen Time, and Contact with Nature.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is widely understood to have contributed to mental health problems. In Australia, young people (18-24 years) have been disproportionately affected. To date, research has predominantly focused on the presence or absence of mental illness symptoms, while aspects of mental well-being have been overlooked.

Night Shift Among Women: Is It Associated With Difficulty Conceiving a First Birth?

Asynchrony in circadian processes alters many physiological systems, including female reproduction. Thus, there are possible reproductive consequences of night shift work for women including menstrual irregularity, endometriosis, and prolonged time to conception. This study examined whether women who worked night shift were more likely than those who did not to require fertility treatment to conceive a first birth, whether they had specific infertility diagnoses, and if such relationships were age-specific.

Psychological impacts of "screen time" and "green time" for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review.

Technological developments in recent decades have increased young people's engagement with screen-based technologies (screen time), and a reduction in young people's contact with nature (green time) has been observed concurrently. This combination of high screen time and low green time may affect mental health and well-being. The aim of this systematic scoping review was to collate evidence assessing associations between screen time, green time, and psychological outcomes (including mental health, cognitive functioning, and academic achievement) for young children (<5 years), schoolchildren (5-11 years), early adolescents (12-14 years), and older adolescents (15-18 years).

Impact of male factor infertility on offspring health and development.

Monitoring the safety of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has been impeded by uncertainties regarding the extent to which offspring health is influenced by paternal characteristics linked to male infertility or the processes that ICSI treatment entails. Few studies examining long-term health and developmental outcomes in children conceived with ICSI have considered the influence of paternal infertility adequately. In the available literature, large population-based studies suggest underlying male factors, and the severity of male factor infertility, increase the risk of mental retardation and autism in offspring, as does the ICSI procedure itself, but these findings have not been replicated consistently.

Complex diseases and co-morbidities: polycystic ovary syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: Many complex diseases exhibit co-morbidities often requiring management by more than one health specialist. We examined cross-speciality issues that ultimately affect the health and wellbeing of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS was originally described as a reproductive condition but is now recognised to also be a metabolic and psychological condition affecting 8-13% of women of reproductive age.

Why do the public support or oppose obesity prevention regulations? Results from a South Australian population survey.

Issue Addressed: Australian policymakers have acknowledged that implementing obesity prevention regulations is likely to be facilitated or hindered by public opinion. Accordingly, we investigated public views about possible regulations.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 2732 persons, designed to be representative of South Australians aged 15 years and over.

Postnatal depression in a community-based study of women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Introduction: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome are susceptible to depression and anxiety and so may also be at risk for postnatal depression. This study investigates whether women with polycystic ovary syndrome have an elevated risk of postnatal depression.

Material And Methods: Cross-sectional data for parous women (n = 566) were available from a birth cohort.

Sleep disturbances in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: prevalence, pathophysiology, impact and management strategies.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine disorder affecting the reproductive, metabolic and psychological health of women. Clinic-based studies indicate that sleep disturbances and disorders including obstructive sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness occur more frequently among women with PCOS compared to comparison groups without the syndrome. Evidence from the few available population-based studies is supportive.

The impact of specific fertility treatments on cognitive development in childhood and adolescence: a systematic review.

Study Question: Does fertility treatment influence cognitive ability in school aged children, and does the impact vary with the type of treatment?

Summary Answer: The available high-quality evidence indicates that specific treatments may give rise to different effects on cognitive development, with certain treatments, including ICSI, associated with cognitive impairment.

What Is Known Already: Previous reviews of the literature concerning cognitive outcomes among children conceived with medical assistance have concluded that study findings are generally 'reassuring', but limited attention has been paid to the quality of this research. In addition, no review has separately assessed the range of treatment modalities available, which vary in invasiveness, and thus, potentially, in their effects on developmental outcomes.

Socio-economic divergence in public opinions about preventive obesity regulations: Is the purpose to 'make some things cheaper, more affordable' or to 'help them get over their own ignorance'?

The potential for regulatory measures to address escalating rates of obesity is widely acknowledged in public health circles. Many advocates support regulations for their potential to reduce health inequalities, in light of the well-documented social gradient in obesity. This paper examines how different social groups understand the role of regulations and other public health interventions in addressing obesity.

Fixed or Rotating Night Shift Work Undertaken by Women: Implications for Fertility and Miscarriage.

This review summarizes the evidence concerning effects of night shift work on women's reproductive health, specifically difficulty in conceiving and miscarriage. We distinguish between fixed night shift and rotating night shift, as the population subgroups exposed, the social and biological mechanisms, and the magnitude of effects are likely to differ; of note, women working fixed night shift are known to have high tolerance for this schedule. We identified two relevant systematic reviews with meta-analyses and five additional studies.

'We don't have to go and see a special person to solve this problem': Trauma, mental health beliefs and processes for addressing 'mental health issues' among Sudanese refugees in Australia.

Background: The impact of trauma on refugee mental health has been a particular focal point for research and treatment in Western contexts, despite uncertainty about the degree to which this corresponds with refugees' needs, mental health beliefs and healing mechanisms.

Aims: This study explored the mental health beliefs of resettling Sudanese refugees in Australia.

Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with Sudanese community representatives and with a range of health and social work professionals who were not necessarily Sudanese.

Emotion in obesity discourse: understanding public attitudes towards regulations for obesity prevention.

Intense concern about obesity in the public imagination and in political, academic and media discourses has catalysed advocacy efforts to implement regulatory measures to reduce the occurrence of obesity in Australia and elsewhere. This article explores public attitudes towards the possible implementation of regulations to address obesity by analysing emotions within popular discourses. Drawing on reader comments attached to obesity-relevant news articles published on Australian news and current affairs websites, we examine how popular anxieties about the 'obesity crisis' and vitriol directed at obese individuals circulate alongside understandings of the appropriate role of government to legitimise regulatory reform to address obesity.

Perinatal outcomes by mode of assisted conception and sub-fertility in an Australian data linkage cohort.

Background: Fertility treatment is associated with increased risk of major birth defects, which varies between in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and is significantly reduced by embryo freezing. We therefore examined a range of additional perinatal outcomes for these exposures.

Methods: All patients in South Australia receiving assisted conception between Jan 1986-Dec 2002 were linked to the state-wide perinatal collection (all births/stillbirths ≥20 weeks gestation or 400 g birth weight, n = 306 995).

Effects of birth size, post-natal growth and current size on insulin resistance in 9-year-old children: a prospective cohort study.

The influence of pre-natal conditions on later type 2 diabetes risk factors such as insulin resistance (IR) may be mediated by post-natal growth trajectory. We aimed to investigate the association of body size at birth and 9 years with IR at 9 years. Using data from a prospective Australian cohort study, we examined the influence of body size from birth to 9 years [z-score for weight or body mass index (BMI)] on IR at 9 years (estimated by homeostasis model assessment).

Understanding non-return after a temporary deferral from giving blood: a qualitative study.

Background: The reasons why deferral from blood donation reduces the likelihood of future return remain unclear. This aim of this study was to investigate possible reasons why deferral has such a dramatic impact on donation patterns.

Methods: Qualitative methods were used to explore donors' motivations to give blood, their experiences of temporary deferral, and their intentions to return once eligible.

The effects of house moves during early childhood on child mental health at age 9 years.

Background: Residential mobility is common in families with young children; however, its impact on the social development of children is unclear. We examined associations between the number, timing and type of house moves in childhood and child behaviour problems using data from an ongoing longitudinal study.

Methods: Complete data on residential mobility and child behaviour was available for 403 families.

Reproductive technologies and the risk of birth defects.

Background: The extent to which birth defects after infertility treatment may be explained by underlying parental factors is uncertain.

Methods: We linked a census of treatment with assisted reproductive technology in South Australia to a registry of births and terminations with a gestation period of at least 20 weeks or a birth weight of at least 400 g and registries of birth defects (including cerebral palsy and terminations for defects at any gestational period). We compared risks of birth defects (diagnosed before a child's fifth birthday) among pregnancies in women who received treatment with assisted reproductive technology, spontaneous pregnancies (i.

Intergenerational associations of chronic disease and polycystic ovary syndrome.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common female endocrine disorder of heterogeneous clinical presentation, high disease burden, and unknown aetiology. The disease and associated conditions cluster in families, suggesting that PCOS may be the reproductive consequence of underlying chronic disease susceptibility.

Objective: To determine whether parents of young women with PCOS were more likely to have a history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease in later adult life.

Waist-to-height ratio is not a predictor of systolic blood pressure in 3-year-old children.

Waist:height has been proposed as an indicator of cardiovascular risk. We investigated the association of waist:height with systolic BP (sBP) in 3 year old children. Body mass index was a significant predictor of sBP, whereas waist:height was not: suggesting waist:height is not a useful indicator of sBP in this age group.

The Life Journeys Of Young Women Project: objectives, design, and recruitment results.

The Life Journeys of Young Women Project is the first population-based study to examine the role of economic uncertainty throughout early adulthood on age at first childbirth. A retrospective cross-sectional component was added to an existing cohort study that is based on a birth cohort of women born during 1973-1975 in Adelaide, South Australia (n ∼ 1,000). An event history calendar instrument was used to obtain data regarding a range of life domains including partnering, educational attainment, home ownership, higher education debt, employment, and pregnancies over a 20-year period (sometimes as detailed as at monthly intervals).