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Objective This research aims to identify predictors of attrition in a longitudinal birth cohort study in Australia and assess differences in baseline characteristics and responses in subsequent follow-up phases between contactable non-responders and uncontactable non-responders deemed 'lost to follow-up (LTF)'. Methods 3368 women recruited from three public hospitals in Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales during antenatal visits in 2006-2011 completed a baseline questionnaire to elicit information on multiple domains of exposures. A follow-up questionnaire was posted to each participant at 1 year after birth to obtain mother's and child's health and development information. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model the association between exposures and respondents' status at 1 year. The effect of an inverse-probability-weighting method to adjust for non-response was studied. Results Overall attrition at 1-year was 35.4 %; major types of attrition were 'contactable non-response' (27.6 %) and 'LTF' (6.7 %). These two attrition types showed different responses at the 3-year follow-up and involved different predictors. Besides shared predictors (first language not English, higher risk of psychological distress, had smoked during pregnancy, higher levels of family conflict), distinguishable predictors of contactable non-responders were younger age, having moved home in the past year and having children under 16 in the household. Attrition rates increased substantially from 20 % in 2006 to 54 % in 2011. Conclusions This observed trend of increased attrition rates raises concern about the use of traditional techniques, such as 'paper-based' questionnaires, in longitudinal cohort studies. The supplementary use of electronic communications, such as online survey tools and smart-device applications, could provide a better alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to describe delivery and birth outcomes of Aboriginal infants and their mothers in an urban setting on the east coast of Australia. The paper uses a causal pathway approach to consider the role of risk and protective factors for low birthweight. All mothers who delivered at Campbelltown Hospital between October 2005 and May 2007 were eligible. The study included 1,869 non-Aboriginal infants and 178 Aboriginal infants and their mothers. Information on delivery and birthweight was extracted from electronic medical records. Risk factors for poor outcomes were explored using regression and causal pathway analysis. Mothers of Aboriginal infants were younger than mothers of non-Aboriginal infants, and were more likely to be single, less educated, unemployed prior to pregnancy, and live in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Health and service use was similar. They were significantly more likely to have a vaginal delivery than mothers of non-Aboriginal infants (77% cf 62.5%; χ = 14.6, P < 0.001) and less likely to receive intervention during delivery. Aboriginal infants (3,281.1 g) weighed 137.5 g (95%CI: 54-221 g; P = 0.001) less then non-Aboriginal infants (3,418.7 g). Gestational age, and single mother with incomplete education, prior unemployment, smoking, and living in a disadvantaged neighbourhood were associated with lower birthweight. Maternal vulnerability had a cumulative impact on birthweight. A causal pathway analysis demonstrated the associations between risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concurrent drinking and smoking during pregnancy is a major public health concern. Changes in these behaviours are under-researched, although essential if effective interventions are to be implemented. Hence this paper investigated characteristics of women who decreased concurrent drinking and smoking during pregnancy. 1,591 women were identified as pregnant at one of three surveys from 2000 to 2006 of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and not pregnant at the previous survey. Relative risks (RRs) were calculated for concurrent drinkers and smokers before pregnancy of (1) decreasing drinking, (2) decreasing smoking and (3) decreasing drinking and smoking during pregnancy. Three hundred and fifty-four women (22%) were concurrent drinkers and smokers before pregnancy; of these women, 73% decreased drinking, 72% decreased smoking and 53% decreased drinking and smoking during pregnancy. Decreased concurrent drinking and smoking was significantly higher among women who had at least 12 years education (RRs: 1.5-1.6), who drank at least 1-2 days/week (RRs: 1.5-1.6) and who had 3 or more drinks per occasion (RRs: 1.6-1.8), and significantly lower among heavy smokers, mothers of other children (RRs: 0.8) and disadvantaged women: those stressed about money, with poor mental health, low social support and experience of partner violence (RRs: 0.6-0.7). Clearly programs are needed to tackle concurrent drinking and smoking during pregnancy. Given many pregnancies are unplanned, these programs should target drinking and smoking before and during pregnancy, as well as disadvantaged women, to reduce the deleterious effects of concurrent substance use on their babies and themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the association of socioeconomic position (SEP) with reproductive outcomes among Australian women. Methods: Data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health’s (population-based cohort study) 1973-1978 cohort were used (N = 6899, aged 37-42 years in 2015). The association of SEP (childhood and own, multiple indicators) with age at first birth, birth-to-pregnancy (BTP) intervals and total number of children was analysed using multinomial logistic regression. Results: 14% of women had their first birth aged < 24 years. 29% of multiparous women had a BTP interval within the WHO recommendation (18-27 months). Women with a low SEP had increased odds of a first birth < 24 years: low (OR 7.0: 95% C.I. 5.3, 9.3) or intermediate education (OR 3.8: 2.8, 5.1); living in rural (OR 1.8: 1.5, 2.2) or remote (OR 2.1: 1.7, 2.7) areas; who found it sometimes (OR 1.8: 1.5, 2.2) or always difficult (OR 2.0: 1.6, 2.7) to manage on their income; and did not know their parent’s education (OR 4.5: 3.2, 6.4). Low SEP was associated with having a much longer than recommended BTP interval. Conclusion: As the first Australian study describing social differences in reproductive characteristics, these findings provide a base for reducing social inequalities in reproduction. Assisting adequate BTP spacing is important, particularly for women with existing elevated risks due to social disadvantage; including having a first birth < 24 years of age and a longer than recommended BTP interval. This includes reviewing services/access to postnatal support, free family planning/contraception clinics, and improved family policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Despite the considerable and increasing proportion of women of reproductive age with a chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) and the potential adverse implications of many NCDs for childbearing, little is known about the fertility management experiences of women with an NCD, including their contraceptive use, pregnancy experiences and outcomes, and reproductive health care utilisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the fertility management experiences of women with an NCD and draw comparisons with women without an NCD. Method A sample of 18-50 year-old women (n = 1543) was randomly recruited from the Australian electoral roll in 2013. Of these women, 172 women reported a physical, chronic non-communicable disease: diabetes, arthritis, asthma, hypertension, heart disease, thyroid disorders, and cystic fibrosis. Respondents completed an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. Factors associated with fertility management were identified in multivariable analyses. Results Women who reported having an NCD were significantly more likely than women who did not report an NCD to have ever been pregnant (75.9 vs. 67.5%, p = 0.034), have had an unintended pregnancy (33.47 vs. 25.5%, p = 0.026), and have had an abortion (20.3 vs. 14.2%, p = 0.044); they were less likely to consult a healthcare provider about fertility management (45.0 vs. 54.4%, p = 0.024). Similar proportions were using contraception (48.8 vs. 54.5%, p = 0.138). Conclusion The findings have implications for healthcare providers and women with an NCD and highlight the importance of addressing possible assumptions about the inability of women with an NCD to become pregnant, and ensuring women receive information about suitable methods of contraception and pre-pregnancy care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To determine rates of vaginal delivery, emergency caesarean section, and elective caesarean section for first and second births in Australia, and to identify maternal predictors of caesarean section. Methods Data were from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. A total of 5275 women aged 18-38 years, who had given birth to their first child between 1996 and 2012 were included; 75.0% (n = 3956) had delivered a second child. Mode of delivery for first and second singleton birth(s) was obtained from longitudinal survey data. Socio-demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric and medical history variables were tested as predictors of mode of delivery for first and second births using multinomial logistic regression. Results Caesarean sections accounted for 29.1% (n = 1535) of first births, consisting of 18.2% emergency and 10.9% elective caesareans. Mode of delivery for first and second births was consistent for 85.5% of women (n = 3383) who delivered both children either vaginally or via caesarean section. Higher maternal age and body mass index, short-stature, anxiety and having private health insurance were predictive of caesarean section for first births. Vaginal birth after caesarean section was more common in women who were older, short-statured, or had been overweight or obese for both children, compared to women who had two vaginal deliveries. Conclusions for Practice Rates of caesarean section in Australia are high. Renewed efforts are needed to reduce the number of unnecessary caesarean births, with particular caution applied to first births. Interventions could focus on elective caesareans for women with private health insurance or a history of anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To describe the relationship between maternal education and child health outcomes at 12 months of age in a cohort of children in urban Australia, and to determine whether this relationship could be explained by the intermediate factors of maternal health behaviour and the social environmental context. Methods: Data were derived from The Environments for Health Living Griffith Birth Cohort Study. Women attending their third trimester antenatal appointment at one of three public hospitals were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and invited to complete a 48-item, baseline self-administered questionnaire. Twelve months following the birth of their baby, a follow-up questionnaire consisting of 63 items was distributed. Results: Women for whom complete follow-up data were not available were different from women who did complete follow-up data. The children of women with follow-up data-whom at the time of their pregnancy had not completed school or whose highest level of education was secondary school or a trade-had respectively a 59 and 57 % increased chance of having had a respiratory/infectious disease or injury in the first year of life (according to parent proxy-reports), compared to children of women with a tertiary education. When maternal behavioural and social environmental factors during pregnancy were included in the model (n=1914), the effect of secondary education was still evident but with a reduced odds ratio of 1.35 (95 % CI 1.07-1.72) and 1.19 (95 % CI 0.87-1.64), respectively. The effect of not having completed school was no longer significant. Conclusions: Results indicate that the relationship between maternal education and child outcomes may be mediated by maternal social environmental and behavioural factors. Results are likely an underestimation of the effect size, given the under representation in our cohort of participants with maternal characteristics associated with elevated risk of infant morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rates of child exposure to inter-parental conflict are high and appear to be increasing, with at least one million Australian children affected annually. To-date, there is no established prevalence for inter-parental conflict that includes the more common but less severe forms for young families in the wider Australian community. The current study aims were to examine the prevalence, persistence, and the individual, family and socio-economic context of inter-parental conflict. Data were from four waves of the Baby (n = 4,898) and Kindergarten (n = 4,182) cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Verbal and physical inter-parental conflict was measured using the Argumentative Relationship Scale. More than 1 in 3 mothers (35-36 %) reported any verbal and/or physical conflict. Prevalence of verbal conflict at each wave (10-13 %) was higher than physical conflict (4-10 %), with low co-occurrence (1-3 %). Report of inter-parental conflict at one wave only was most common (19 %); although 13 % of mothers reported conflict at two waves; and 5-6 % reported persistent conflict across three or more waves. Social disadvantage was consistently associated with report at one-wave only and persistent inter-parental conflict. Extrapolated to the Australian population, an estimated 1.9 million children are likely to be affected by inter-parental conflict within any 6 years of the early-to-middle childhood period. Establishing accurate prevalence and understanding the social context of the less severe but most common forms of inter-parental conflict will allow family and child support services to allocate finite resources more effectively and develop targeted interventions to promote children's positive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes of health gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children over time and to explore critical factors that contribute to the changes. We employed data consisting of two cohorts of Australian children: infant (0/1 year) and children (4/5 years) that are part of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Health outcomes were measured by physical outcome index (POI) and parent-rated health during 2004, 2006 and 2008. We used first-order autoregressive modelling to examine the longitudinal relationship between the changes in health outcomes and possible contributing risk factors. The results showed that the trends of POIs between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children were closing, while the gap of parent-rated health between the two populations persisted. We found that health outcomes (both POI and parent-rated health) at an earlier time point ( t − 1) were significant predictors of the outcomes at the later time point ( t). Carer's depression status, socio-economic position and neighbourhood liveability had significant and consistent impacts on parent-rated health, but had only varying impacts on POIs between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children as well as between the birth cohorts at different time periods. Similarly, low birth weight, carer's binge drinking behaviour and other risk factors showed such varying impacts at a particular time period. The study implied that appropriate interventions accompanied by monitoring of health outcomes are necessary in order to decrease the health gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]