Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications

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    The impact of employment on mental healthcare use among people with disability: distinguishing between part- and full-time employment
    Saxby, K ; Dickinson, H ; Petrie, D ; Kavanagh, A ; Aitken, Z (SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH, 2023)
    OBJECTIVE: Employment can improve mental health among people with disability (PWD), however, little is known about how different levels of workforce participation influence mental healthcare use. The aim of this study was to estimate the extent to which different levels of working hours are associated with changes in mental healthcare use among PWD. METHODS: Data on working hours and healthcare use among working age PWD who were receiving government benefits (N=260 825) was obtained from Australian Census-linked administrative records between 2011 and 2019. Individual fixed effects panel models were used to estimate the impact of increased working hours on mental healthcare (services and prescriptions). Heterogeneity analyses by job security and key sociodemographic characteristics were conducted. RESULTS: Compared to not working, we found that working 1-14, 15-29, and ≥30 hours per week was respectively associated with a 3.3%, 18.0%, and 9.9% reduction in the use of mental healthcare prescriptions as well as a 6.8%, 18.4%, and 22.3% reduction in the use of mental healthcare services by PWD. The effects were larger for PWD in more secure work and those living in rural and disadvantaged areas. CONCLUSIONS: Working more hours was associated with reduced mental healthcare use among PWD. Policy interventions should consider the broader benefits of enabling part-time and secure work placements for PWD, particularly for those living in rural and disadvantaged regions.
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    A multi-criteria framework for disease surveillance site selection: case study for Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in Indonesia
    Harrison, LE ; Flegg, JA ; Tobin, R ; Lubis, IND ; Noviyanti, R ; Grigg, MJ ; Shearer, FM ; Price, DJ (ROYAL SOC, 2024-01-10)
    Disease surveillance aims to collect data at different times or locations, to assist public health authorities to respond appropriately. Surveillance of the simian malaria parasite, Plasmodium knowlesi, is sparse in some endemic areas and the spatial extent of transmission is uncertain. Zoonotic transmission of Plasmodium knowlesi has been demonstrated throughout Southeast Asia and represents a major hurdle to regional malaria elimination efforts. Given an arbitrary spatial prediction of relative disease risk, we develop a flexible framework for surveillance site selection, drawing on principles from multi-criteria decision-making. To demonstrate the utility of our framework, we apply it to the case study of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria surveillance site selection in western Indonesia. We demonstrate how statistical predictions of relative disease risk can be quantitatively incorporated into public health decision-making, with specific application to active human surveillance of zoonotic malaria. This approach can be used in other contexts to extend the utility of modelling outputs.
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    Mental disorders and discrimination: A prospective cohort study of young twin pairs in Germany.
    Calais-Ferreira, L ; Armstrong, G ; Hahn, E ; Newton-Howes, G ; Foulds, J ; Hopper, JL ; Spinath, FM ; Kurdyak, P ; Young, JT (Elsevier BV, 2024-03)
    BACKGROUND: Mental disorders and perceived discrimination share common risk factors. The association between having a mental disorder and experiencing discrimination is well-known, but the extent to which familial factors, such as genetic and shared environmental factors, might confound this association, including sex differences in familial confounding, remains unexplored. AIMS: We investigated potential unmeasured familial confounding in the association between mental disorders and perceived discrimination using a matched twin study design. METHOD: We examined data from 2044 same-sex twin pairs (n = 4088) aged 16-25 years from the German population-based study 'TwinLife'. We applied random-effects logistic regression to within-individual and within-and-between pair models of the association between mental disorder and perceived discrimination, and used likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) to compare these models. Multivariable models were adjusted for body mass index, educational attainment, and life satisfaction. RESULTS: There were 322 (8.1%) participants with a diagnosed mental disorder, and 15% (n = 604) of the cohort reported having experienced discrimination in the previous 12 months. Mental disorder and discrimination were associated in the adjusted within-individual model (adjusted odds ratio = 2.19, 95% confidence interval: 1.42-3.39, P<0.001). However, the within-and-between pair model showed that this association was explained by the within-pair mean (aOR = 4.24, 95% CI: 2.17-8.29, P<0.001) and not the within-pair difference (aOR = 1.26, 95% CI: 0.70-2.28, P = 0.4) of mental disorder. Therefore, this association was mostly explained by familial confounding, which is also supported by the LRTs for the unadjusted and adjusted models (P<0.001 and P = 0.03, respectively). This familial confounding was more prominent for males than females. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that the association between mental disorder and discrimination is at least partially explained by unmeasured familial factors. Designing family-based healthcare models and incorporating family members in interventions targeted at ameliorating mental ill-health and experiences of discrimination among adolescents may improve efficacy.
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    Sense of identity among young people with refugee backgrounds: A scoping review
    Shahimi, F ; Block, K ; Alisic, E (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2024-02)
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    Data-driven turbulence modelling of inherently unsteady flow in stratified water storage tanks
    Xu, X ; Haghiri, A ; Sandberg, RD ; Oda, T ; Tanimoto, K (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2024-02)
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    Work-related factors and the risk of common mental disorder 1 year later: A prospective cohort study among junior doctors
    Petrie, K ; Gayed, A ; Spittal, MJ ; Glozier, N ; Shand, F ; Harvey, SB (SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2024-03)
    OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between work-related factors at baseline and the risk of common mental disorder at 12 month follow-up among a cohort of junior doctors. METHOD: The data comprised the junior doctor respondents from two annual waves of the 'Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life' (MABEL) survey, a national longitudinal cohort of Australian doctors. Individual and work-related risk factors were assessed at baseline and the mental health outcome of caseness of common mental disorder (CMD) was assessed using the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale at 12-month follow-up. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regressions were conducted to estimate the association between each baseline variable and the likelihood of CMD caseness at follow-up 1 year later. RESULTS: Among 383 junior doctors, 24 (6%) had CMD 1 year later. Five work-related baseline variables were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of CMD 1 year later in adjusted models; lack of social support in work location (odds ratios (OR) = 6.11; 95% confidence intervals (CI) = [2.52, 14.81]), work-life imbalance (OR = 4.50; 95% CI = [1.31, 15.46]), poor peer support network in the workplace (OR = 2.61; 95% CI = [1.08, 6.27]), perceptions of patient expectations (OR = 2.46; 95% CI = [1.06, 5.71]) and total weekly work hours (OR 1.04; 95% CI = [1.01, 1.07]; p = 0.002)in models adjusting for gender. CONCLUSION: These results identify key modifiable work-related factors that are associated with junior doctors' future mental health. Our findings suggest the need for a greater focus upon interpersonal factors and work-life balance in multi-level interventions while continuing to address workplace and system-level factors to prevent future mental disorder in junior doctors.
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    Diversity, equity, and inclusivity in observational ambulatory assessment: Recommendations from two decades of Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) research.
    Kaplan, DM ; Tidwell, CA ; Chung, JM ; Alisic, E ; Demiray, B ; Bruni, M ; Evora, S ; Gajewski-Nemes, JA ; Macbeth, A ; Mangelsdorf, SN ; Mascaro, JS ; Minor, KS ; Noga, RN ; Nugent, NR ; Polsinelli, AJ ; Rentscher, KE ; Resnikoff, AW ; Robbins, ML ; Slatcher, RB ; Tejeda-Padron, AB ; Mehl, MR (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023-12-08)
    Ambient audio sampling methods such as the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) have become increasingly prominent in clinical and social sciences research. These methods record snippets of naturalistically assessed audio from participants' daily lives, enabling novel observational research about the daily social interactions, identities, environments, behaviors, and speech of populations of interest. In practice, these scientific opportunities are equaled by methodological challenges: researchers' own cultural backgrounds and identities can easily and unknowingly permeate the collection, coding, analysis, and interpretation of social data from daily life. Ambient audio sampling poses unique and significant challenges to cultural humility, diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) in scientific research that require systematized attention. Motivated by this observation, an international consortium of 21 researchers who have used ambient audio sampling methodologies created a workgroup with the aim of improving upon existing published guidelines. We pooled formally and informally documented challenges pertaining to DEI in ambient audio sampling from our collective experience on 40+ studies (most of which used the EAR app) in clinical and healthy populations ranging from children to older adults. This article presents our resultant recommendations and argues for the incorporation of community-engaged research methods in observational ambulatory assessment designs looking forward. We provide concrete recommendations across each stage typical of an ambient audio sampling study (recruiting and enrolling participants, developing coding systems, training coders, handling multi-linguistic participants, data analysis and interpretation, and dissemination of results) as well as guiding questions that can be used to adapt these recommendations to project-specific constraints and needs.
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    Neisseria gonorrhoeae vaccines: a contemporary overview
    Williams, E ; Seib, KL ; Fairley, CK ; Pollock, GL ; Hocking, JS ; McCarthy, JS ; Williamson, DA ; Forrest, GN (AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2024-03-14)
    SUMMARYNeisseria gonorrhoeae infection is an important public health issue, with an annual global incidence of 87 million. N. gonorrhoeae infection causes significant morbidity and can have serious long-term impacts on reproductive and neonatal health and may rarely cause life-threatening disease. Global rates of N. gonorrhoeae infection have increased over the past 20 years. Importantly, rates of antimicrobial resistance to key antimicrobials also continue to increase, with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifying drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae as an urgent threat to public health. This review summarizes the current evidence for N. gonorrhoeae vaccines, including historical clinical trials, key N. gonorrhoeae vaccine preclinical studies, and studies of the impact of Neisseria meningitidis vaccines on N. gonorrhoeae infection. A comprehensive survey of potential vaccine antigens, including those identified through traditional vaccine immunogenicity approaches, as well as those identified using more contemporary reverse vaccinology approaches, are also described. Finally, the potential epidemiological impacts of a N. gonorrhoeae vaccine and research priorities for further vaccine development are described.
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    Adherence to 2018 WCRF/AICR Cancer Prevention Recommendations and Risk of Cancer: The Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study.
    Peng, Y ; Bassett, JK ; Hodge, AM ; Melaku, YA ; Afshar, N ; Hopper, JL ; MacInnis, RJ ; Lynch, BM ; Smith-Warner, SA ; Giles, GG ; Milne, RL ; Jayasekara, H (American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2024-01-09)
    BACKGROUND: We examined associations between adherence to adaptations of the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) cancer prevention recommendations and total, exposure-related and site-specific cancer risk. METHODS: A total of 20,001 participants ages 40 to 69 years at enrollment into the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study in 1990 to 1994, who had diet, body size, and lifestyle reassessed in 2003 to 2007 ("baseline"), were followed-up through June 2021. We constructed diet and standardized lifestyle scores based on core WCRF/AICR recommendations on diet, alcohol intake, body size and physical activity, and additional scores incorporating weight change, sedentary behavior, and smoking. Associations with cancer risk were estimated using Cox regression, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: During follow-up (mean = 16 years), 4,710 incident cancers were diagnosed. For highest quintile ("most adherent") of the standardized lifestyle score, compared with lowest ("least adherent"), a HR of 0.82 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74-0.92] was observed for total cancer. This association was stronger with smoking included in the score (HR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.67-0.81). A higher score was associated with lower breast and prostate cancer risk for the standardized score, and with lung, stomach, rectal, and pancreatic cancer risk when the score included smoking. Our analyses identified alcohol use, waist circumference and smoking as key drivers of associations with total cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to WCRF/AICR cancer prevention recommendations is associated with lower cancer risk. IMPACT: With <0.2% of our sample fully adherent to the recommendations, the study emphasizes the vast potential for preventing cancer through modulation of lifestyle habits.
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    Genetic and Epigenetic Associations with Pre-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Lung Function Trajectories
    Martino, DJ ; Bui, DS ; Li, S ; Idrose, S ; Perret, J ; Lowe, AJ ; Lodge, CJ ; Bowatte, G ; Moodley, Y ; Thomas, PS ; Zosky, G ; Hansbro, PM ; Holloway, JW ; Svanes, C ; Faner, R ; Walters, EH ; Dharmage, SC (AMER THORACIC SOC, 2023-11-15)