Association between body mass index and laboratory-confirmed influenza in middle aged and older adults: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Studies conducted during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic found that obesity increases the risk of severe influenza including hospitalization and death. In this study, we examined the relationship of BMI with having laboratory-confirmed seasonal influenza and influenza-related respiratory hospitalization.

Methods: We linked a cohort of 246,494 adults aged ≥45 years with data on BMI to subsequent laboratory-confirmed influenza notifications and cause-specific hospitalizations from 2006 to 2015.

Obesity and its association with sociodemographic factors, health behaviours and health status among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults in New South Wales, Australia.

Background: High body mass index (BMI) is the second leading contributor to Australia's burden of disease and is particularly prevalent among Aboriginal peoples. This paper aims to provide insight into factors relating to obesity among Aboriginal adults and Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal differences.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from the 45 and Up Study, comparing obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m) prevalence and risk factors among 1515 Aboriginal and 213 301 non-Aboriginal adults in New South Wales.

Organisational capacity and its relationship to research use in six Australian health policy agencies.

There are calls for policymakers to make greater use of research when formulating policies. Therefore, it is important that policy organisations have a range of tools and systems to support their staff in using research in their work. The aim of the present study was to measure the extent to which a range of tools and systems to support research use were available within six Australian agencies with a role in health policy, and examine whether this was related to the extent of engagement with, and use of research in policymaking by their staff.

Do policy-makers find commissioned rapid reviews useful?

Background: Rapid reviews are increasingly used by policy agencies to access relevant research in short timeframes. Despite the growing number of programmes, little is known about how rapid reviews are used by health policy agencies. This study examined whether and how rapid reviews commissioned using a knowledge brokering programme were used by Australian policy-makers.

Factors relating to high psychological distress in Indigenous Australians and their contribution to Indigenous-non-Indigenous disparities.

Objective: To explore factors associated with high psychological distress among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians and their contribution to the elevated distress prevalence among Aboriginal people.

Methods: Questionnaire data from 1,631 Aboriginal and 233,405 non-Aboriginal 45 and Up Study (NSW, Australia) participants aged ≥45 years were used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios for high psychological distress (Kessler-10 score ≥22) for socio-demographic, health and disability-related factors, and to quantify contributions to differences in distress prevalence.

Results: While high-distress prevalence was increased around three-fold in Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal participants, distress-related risk factors were similar.

Preliminary testing of the reliability and feasibility of SAGE: a system to measure and score engagement with and use of research in health policies and programs.

Background: Few measures of research use in health policymaking are available, and the reliability of such measures has yet to be evaluated. A new measure called the Staff Assessment of Engagement with Evidence (SAGE) incorporates an interview that explores policymakers' research use within discrete policy documents and a scoring tool that quantifies the extent of policymakers' research use based on the interview transcript and analysis of the policy document itself. We aimed to conduct a preliminary investigation of the usability, sensitivity, and reliability of the scoring tool in measuring research use by policymakers.

Relation of child, caregiver, and environmental characteristics to childhood injury in an urban Aboriginal cohort in New South Wales, Australia.

Objective: Despite being disproportionately affected by injury, little is known about factors associated with injury in Aboriginal children. We investigated factors associated with injury among urban Aboriginal children attending four Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in New South Wales, Australia.

Methods: We examined characteristics of caregiver-reported child injury, and calculated prevalence ratios of 'ever-injury' by child, family, and environmental factors.

Gestational Age and Child Development at Age Five in a Population-Based Cohort of Australian Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Children.

Background: Preterm birth and developmental vulnerability are more common in Australian Aboriginal compared with non-Aboriginal children. We quantified how gestational age relates to developmental vulnerability in both populations.

Methods: Perinatal datasets were linked to the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC), which collects data on five domains, including physical, social, emotional, language/cognitive, and general knowledge/communication development.

Psychological distress and ischaemic heart disease: cause or consequence? Evidence from a large prospective cohort study.

Background: Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) incidence is elevated in people reporting psychological distress. The extent to which this relationship is causal or related to reverse causality-that is, undiagnosed disease causing distress-is unclear. We quantified the relationship between psychological distress and IHD, with consideration of confounding and undiagnosed disease.

Psychosocial factors associated with the mental health of indigenous children living in high income countries: a systematic review.

Background: Indigenous children living in high income countries have a consistently high prevalence of mental health problems. We aimed to identify psychosocial risk and protective factors for mental health in this setting.

Methods: A systematic review of studies published between 1996 and 2016 that quantitatively evaluated the association between psychosocial variables and mental health among Indigenous children living in high income countries was conducted.

Housing conditions of urban households with Aboriginal children in NSW Australia: tenure type matters.

Background: Housing is a key determinant of the poor health of Aboriginal Australians. Most Aboriginal people live in cities and large towns, yet research into housing conditions has largely focused on those living in remote areas. This paper measures the prevalence of housing problems amongst participants in a study of urban Aboriginal families in New South Wales, Australia, and examines the relationship between tenure type and exposure to housing problems.

Perspectives on childhood resilience among the Aboriginal community: an interview study.

Objective: To describe Aboriginal community members' perspectives on the outcomes and origins of resilience among Aboriginal children.

Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 36 Aboriginal adults (15 health service professionals, 8 youth workers and 13 community members) at two urban and one regional Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in New South Wales. Interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically.

Paying for convenience: comparing the cost of takeaway meals with their healthier home-cooked counterparts in New Zealand.

Objective: Convenience and cost impact on people's meal decisions. Takeaway and pre-prepared foods save preparation time but may contribute to poorer-quality diets. Analysing the impact of time on relative cost differences between meals of varying convenience contributes to understanding the barrier of time to selecting healthy meals.

Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequality and gender differences in body mass index: The role of unhealthy behaviours.

Reported differences in the severity of the social gradient in body mass index (BMI) by gender may be attributable to differences in behaviour. Self-reported height, weight, socioeconomic and behavioural data were obtained for a sample of 10,281 Australians aged ≥15years in 2009. Multilevel regressions were fitted with BMI as the outcome variable.

Non-ignorable missingness in logistic regression.

Nonresponses and missing data are common in observational studies. Ignoring or inadequately handling missing data may lead to biased parameter estimation, incorrect standard errors and, as a consequence, incorrect statistical inference and conclusions. We present a strategy for modelling non-ignorable missingness where the probability of nonresponse depends on the outcome.

On the impact of nonresponse in logistic regression: application to the 45 and Up study.

Background: In longitudinal studies, nonresponse to follow-up surveys poses a major threat to validity, interpretability and generalisation of results. The problem of nonresponse is further complicated by the possibility that nonresponse may depend on the outcome of interest. We identified sociodemographic, general health and wellbeing characteristics associated with nonresponse to the follow-up questionnaire and assessed the extent and effect of nonresponse on statistical inference in a large-scale population cohort study.

A network of networks.

Purpose To further our insight into the role of networks in health system reform, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how one agency, the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI), and the multiple networks and enabling resources that it encompasses, govern, manage and extend the potential of networks for healthcare practice improvement. Design/methodology/approach This is a case study investigation which took place over ten months through the first author's participation in network activities and discussions with the agency's staff about their main objectives, challenges and achievements, and with selected services around the state of New South Wales to understand the agency's implementation and large system transformation activities. Findings The paper demonstrates that ACI accommodates multiple networks whose oversight structures, self-organisation and systems change approaches combined in dynamic ways, effectively yield a diversity of network governances.

Variation in readmission and mortality following hospitalisation with a diagnosis of heart failure: prospective cohort study using linked data.

Background: Hospitalisation for heart failure is common and post-discharge outcomes, including readmission and mortality, are often poor and are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine patient- and hospital-level variation in the risk of 30-day unplanned readmission and mortality following discharge from hospital with a diagnosis of heart failure.

Methods: Prospective cohort study using data from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study, linking baseline survey (Jan 2006-April 2009) to hospital and mortality data (to Dec 2011).

Factors related to receipt of non-cancer-related transurethral prostatectomy: findings from a large prospective study of 106 769 middle-aged and older Australian men.

Background: Transurethral prostatectomy (TURP) is a common surgical intervention for chronic lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Little large-scale evidence exists on factors related to receipt of non-cancer-related TURP.

Methods: A prospective study of men aged ≥45 years participating in the 45 and Up Study, a large Australian cohort study, without prior prostatectomy and/or bowel/genital/urinary-tract cancer; questionnaire data were linked to hospitalisations and deaths.

Does knowledge brokering improve the quality of rapid review proposals? A before and after study.

Background: Rapid reviews are increasingly being used to help policy makers access research in short time frames. A clear articulation of the review's purpose, questions, scope, methods and reporting format is thought to improve the quality and generalisability of review findings. The aim of the study is to explore the effectiveness of knowledge brokering in improving the perceived clarity of rapid review proposals from the perspective of potential reviewers.

Vegetarian diet and all-cause mortality: Evidence from a large population-based Australian cohort - the 45 and Up Study.

The vegetarian diet is thought to have health benefits including reductions in type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Evidence to date suggests that vegetarians tend to have lower mortality rates when compared with non-vegetarians, but most studies are not population-based and other healthy lifestyle factors may have confounded apparent protective effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between categories of vegetarian diet (including complete, semi and pesco-vegetarian) and all-cause mortality in a large population-based Australian cohort.

Impact of tailored blogs and content on usage of Web CIPHER - an online platform to help policymakers better engage with evidence from research.

Background: There is a need to develop innovations that can help bridge the gap between research and policy. Web CIPHER is an online tool designed to help policymakers better engage with research in order to increase its use in health policymaking. The aim of the present study was to test interventions in order to increase policymakers' usage of Web CIPHER.