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This study aims to generate evidence-based guidelines for researchers regarding how to effectively disseminate mental health research via Twitter. Three hundred mental health research Tweets posted from September 2018 to September 2019 were sampled from two large Australian organizations. Twenty-seven predictor variables were coded for each Tweet across five thematic categories: messaging; research area; mental health area; external networks; and media features. Regression analyses were conducted to determine associations with engagement outcomes of Favourites, Retweets, and Comments. Less than half (n = 10) of predictor variables passed validity tests. Notably, conclusions could not reliably be drawn on whether a Tweet featured evidence-based information. Tweets were significantly more likely to be Retweeted if they contained a hyperlink or multimedia. Tweets were significantly more likely to receive comments if they focused on a specific population group. These associations remain significant when controlling for organization. These findings indicate that researchers may be able to maximize engagement on Twitter by highlighting the population groups that the research applies to and enriching Tweets with multimedia content. In addition, care should be taken to ensure users can infer which messages are evidence-based. Guidelines and an accompanying resource are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To prevent adolescents from initiating alcohol and other drug use and reduce the associated harms, effective strategies need to be implemented. Despite their availability, effective school-based programs and evidence-informed parental guidelines are not consistently implemented. The Positive Choices alcohol and other drug prevention initiative and website was launched to address this research and practice gap. The intended end users were school staff, parents, and school students. An 8-month postlaunch evaluation of the website showed that end users generally had positive feedback on the website's usability, and following its use, most of them would consider the evidence base and effectiveness of drug education resources. This study extends this initial evaluation by examining the effectiveness and impact of the Positive Choices initiative over a 3-year period. Objective: Guided by the five dimensions of the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework, the study assessed the impact of the Positive Choices initiative in increasing awareness and implementation of evidence-based drug prevention. Methods: Data were collected between 2017 and 2019, using web-based evaluation and community awareness surveys. Data from the surveys were merged to examine reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance using descriptive statistics. Google Analytics was used to further understand the reach of the website. The System Usability Scale was used to measure website usability. In addition, inductive analysis was used to assess the participants' feedback about Positive Choices. Results: A total of 5 years after launching, the Positive Choices website has reached 1.7 million users. A national Australian campaign increased awareness from 8% to 14% among school staff and from 15% to 22% among parents after the campaign. Following a brief interaction with the website, most participants, who were not already following the recommended strategies, reported an intention to shift toward evidence-based practices. The System Usability Scale score for the website was good for both user groups. The participants intended to maintain their use of the Positive Choices website in the future. Both user groups reported high level of confidence in communicating about topics related to alcohol and other drugs. Participants' suggestions for improvement informed a recent website update. Conclusions: The Positive Choices website has the capacity to be an effective strategy for disseminating evidence-based drug prevention information and resources widely. The findings highlight the importance of investing in ongoing maintenance and promotion to enhance awareness of health websites. With the increased use and acceptability of health education websites, teams should ensure that websites are easy to navigate, are engaging, use simple language, contain evidence-informed resources, and are supported by ongoing promotional activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Venue capacity has been proposed as a factor associated with increased number of violent incidents on‐premises, though no specific research has demonstrated this association, and instead has tended to focus on the relationship between crowding and aggression. The aim of current paper is to investigate the association between venue capacity and the number of violent incidents on‐premises. Methods: Venue capacity data (the maximum capacity listed on the liquor license) were obtained for all venues in central Melbourne from 2010 until 2016. These data were then matched with police‐recorded on‐premises assaults that occurred within high‐alcohol hours (Friday and Saturday 8 pm–6 am) inside the venue. Results: Analyses were conducted on 5729 venue‐years (yearly assault counts per venue, per year) across central Melbourne. Compared with venues that have a maximum capacity of between 0 and 100 patrons, venues with higher capacities have increasingly more recorded assaults. Venues with maximum capacities between 501 and 1000 are 6.1 times more likely to have an assault recorded compared with venues with a maximum capacity between 0 and 100. Further, each additional high‐alcohol hour that a venue can be open for is associated with a 72% increase in the number of recorded assaults. Conclusions: Greater venue capacity was found to be strongly associated with an increased risk of violent incidents for any given venue. This was further exacerbated by late‐night trading which substantially adds to the risk of assaults inside the venue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We undertook a systematic review to assess the effects of extensions and restrictions in trading hours of on- and off-license alcohol outlets. We included new primary studies that help address limitations in previous reviews.Method: We systematically searched electronic databases and reference lists, up to December 2018, and contacted the authors of eligible studies. Studies were eligible if (a) the design was randomized, or nonrandomized with at least one control site/series; (b) the intervention evaluated extensions or restrictions in trading hours at on- or off-license premises; and (c) the outcome measures were assault, unintentional injury, traffic crash, drink-driving offenses, or hospitalization. Two reviewers independently extracted data using a standard form that included study quality indicators.Results: After screening 3,857 records, we selected 22 studies for the systematic review, all of which used an interrupted time series design. In the included studies, extension of trading hours concerned on-license premises only, whereas restriction concerned both on- and off-license premises. Extending trading hours at on-license premises was typically followed by increases in the incidence of assault, unintentional injury, or drink-driving offenses. Conversely, restricting trading hours at on- and off-license premises was typically followed by decreases in the incidence of assault and hospitalization.Conclusions: On balance, this review augments existing evidence that harm typically increases after extensions in on-license alcohol trading hours. It provides new evidence that alcohol-related harm decreases when on- and off-license trading hours are restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Bacterial skin infections in Indigenous children in Australia frequently lead them to access primary health care. This systematic review aims to identify and analyse available studies describing the treatment and prevention of bacterial skin infections in Indigenous children. Methods: Electronic databases including Scopus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, ProQuest, Informit and Google Scholar were searched. Studies in English published between August 1994 and September 2016, with the subject of bacterial skin infections involving Indigenous children and conducted in Australia, New Zealand, the USA or Canada were selected. Results: Initially 1474 articles were identified. After the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 10 articles remained. Strategies for the treatment and prevention of bacterial skin infections included the management of active infections and lesions, improving environmental and personal hygiene, the installation of swimming pools and screening and treatment. Conclusion: There is a need for more, rigorous, large‐scale studies to develop evidence for appropriate, culturally acceptable methods to prevent and manage bacterial skin infections in Indigenous children in Australia. The problem is complex with multiple determinants. Until underlying socioeconomic conditions are addressed skin infections will continue to be a burden to communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues: Australian jurisdictions have introduced lockouts to prevent alcohol-related violence. Lockouts prohibit patrons from entering licensed premises after a designated time while allowing sale and consumption of alcohol to continue. Their purposes include managing the movement of intoxicated patrons, and preventing violence and disorder by dispersing times that patrons leave premises. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of lockouts in preventing alcohol-related harm.Approach: We systematically searched electronic databases and reference lists and asked authors to identify relevant studies published to 1 June 2017. We deemed studies eligible if they evaluated lockouts, and if outcome measures included: assault, emergency department attendances, alcohol-related disorders or drink-driving offences. Two reviewers independently extracted data.Key Findings: After screening 244 records, we identified five studies from electronic databases, two from reference lists search and one from a Google search (N = 8). Two studies showed a decline in assaults; a third study showed reductions occurred only inside licensed premises; two studies showed an increase in assaults; and three studies showed no association. The studies had significant design and other limitations.Implications: Lockouts have been implemented across Australian jurisdictions as a strategy to prevent alcohol-related harm, despite limited evidence. In this systematic review, we synthesised findings from studies that evaluated lockouts as stand-alone interventions, to help clarify debate on their utility as a harm prevention strategy.Conclusion: There is not good evidence that lockouts prevent alcohol-related harm, in contrast to what is known about stopping the sale of alcohol earlier, for which there is evidence of effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A child's risk of dying is highest in the neonatal period, i.e. the first 28 days of life. Newborn death accounts for nearly half of under-five death. More than 80% of newborn deaths are the result of preventable and treatable conditions. Ethiopia has made significant progress towards reducing under-five mortality; however, the rate of neonatal mortality (NMR) still accounts for 41% of under-five deaths. With this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aim to determine the magnitude, causes, and determinants of neonatal mortality in Ethiopia. Methods: We will conduct a comprehensive search of the following electronic databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and maternity and infant care databases as well as grey literature. We will assess the quality of studies by using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) checklist. Two reviewers will screen all retrieved articles, conduct data extraction, and then critically appraise all identified studies. We will analyse data by using STATA 11 statistical software. We will demonstrate pooled estimates and determinants of neonatal mortality with effect size and 95% confidence interval. Discussion: The result from this systematic review will inform and guide health policy planners and researchers on the burden, causes, and determinants of neonatal mortality in Ethiopia. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review in Ethiopia. We will synthesise the findings to generate up-to-date knowledge on neonatal mortality in Ethiopia. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO-CRD42018099663 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many children affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) exhibit neurocognitive delays that contribute to secondary consequences, including a disrupted school experience. Educators often have limited knowledge or experience in the identification, referral, management and accommodation of students with FASD. Effective resources and tools for educators are crucial to ensure these students are supported in their ongoing learning, development and school participation. This scoping review aims to identify and evaluate resources for educators that aid in the identification, management, or accommodation of students with FASD., Methods and Analysis: A search will be conducted in 9 peer-reviewed and 11 grey literature databases, Google search engine, two app stores and two podcast streaming services (planned search dates: November 2020 to February 2021). Relevant experts, including researchers, health professionals and individuals with lived experience of FASD, will be contacted in February and March 2021 to identify additional (including unpublished) resources. Resources will be selected based on registered, prespecified inclusion-exclusion criteria, and the quality of included resources will be critically appraised using a composite tool based on adaptions of the National Health and Medical Research Council FORM Framework and the iCAHE Guideline Quality Checklist. Relevant experts will also be requested to provide feedback on included resources., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval for this scoping review was obtained from the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (2020/825). Results of the review will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations, and seminars targeting audiences involved in the education sector., Trial Registration: Open Science Framework: osf.io/73pjh., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Communication is a common element in all medical consultations, affecting a range of outcomes for doctors and patients. The increasing demand for medical students to be trained to communicate effectively has seen the emergence of interpersonal communication skills as core graduate competencies in medical training around the world. Medical schools have adopted a range of approaches to develop and evaluate these competencies., Objectives: To assess the effects of interventions for medical students that aim to improve interpersonal communication in medical consultations., Search Methods: We searched five electronic databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and ERIC (Educational Resource Information Centre) in September 2020, with no language, date, or publication status restrictions. We also screened reference lists of relevant articles and contacted authors of included studies., Selection Criteria: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cluster-RCTs (C-RCTs), and non-randomised controlled trials (quasi-RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of interventions delivered to students in undergraduate or graduate-entry medical programmes. We included studies of interventions aiming to improve medical students' interpersonal communication during medical consultations. Included interventions targeted communication skills associated with empathy, relationship building, gathering information, and explanation and planning, as well as specific communication tasks such as listening, appropriate structure, and question style., Data Collection and Analysis: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Two review authors independently reviewed all search results, extracted data, assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and rated the quality of evidence using GRADE., Main Results: We found 91 publications relating to 76 separate studies (involving 10,124 students): 55 RCTs, 9 quasi-RCTs, 7 C-RCTs, and 5 quasi-C-RCTs. We performed meta-analysis according to comparison and outcome. Among both effectiveness and comparative effectiveness analyses, we separated outcomes reporting on overall communication skills, empathy, rapport or relationship building, patient perceptions/satisfaction, information gathering, and explanation and planning. Overall communication skills and empathy were further divided as examiner- or simulated patient-assessed. The overall quality of evidence ranged from moderate to very low, and there was high, unexplained heterogeneity. Overall, interventions had positive effects on most outcomes, but generally small effect sizes and evidence quality limit the conclusions that can be drawn. Communication skills interventions in comparison to usual curricula or control may improve both overall communication skills (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53 to 1.31; 18 studies, 1356 participants; I² = 90%; low-quality evidence) and empathy (SMD 0.64, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.05; 6 studies, 831 participants; I² = 86%; low-quality evidence) when assessed by experts, but not by simulated patients. Students' skills in information gathering probably also improve with educational intervention (SMD 1.07, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.54; 5 studies, 405 participants; I² = 78%; moderate-quality evidence), but there may be little to no effect on students' rapport (SMD 0.18, 95% CI -0.15 to 0.51; 9 studies, 834 participants; I² = 81%; low-quality evidence), and effects on information giving skills are uncertain (very low-quality evidence). We are uncertain whether experiential interventions improve overall communication skills in comparison to didactic approaches (SMD 0.08, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.19; 4 studies, 1578 participants; I² = 4%; very low-quality evidence). Electronic learning approaches may have little to no effect on students' empathy scores (SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.68 to 0.43; 3 studies, 421 participants; I² = 82%; low-quality evidence) or on rapport (SMD 0.02, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.38; 3 studies, 176 participants; I² = 19%; moderate-quality evidence) compared to face-to-face approaches. There may be small negative effects of electronic interventions on information giving skills (low-quality evidence), and effects on information gathering skills are uncertain (very low-quality evidence).  Personalised/specific feedback probably improves overall communication skills to a small degree in comparison to generic or no feedback (SMD 0.58, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.87; 6 studies, 502 participants; I² = 56%; moderate-quality evidence). There may be small positive effects of personalised feedback on empathy and information gathering skills (low quality), but effects on rapport are uncertain (very low quality), and we found no evidence on information giving skills. We are uncertain whether role-play with simulated patients outperforms peer role-play in improving students' overall communication skills (SMD 0.17, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.67; 4 studies, 637 participants; I² = 87%; very low-quality evidence). There may be little to no difference between effects of simulated patient and peer role-play on students' empathy (low-quality evidence) with no evidence on other outcomes for this comparison. Descriptive syntheses of results that could not be included in meta-analyses across outcomes and comparisons were mixed, as were effects of different interventions and comparisons on specific communication skills assessed by the included trials. Quality of evidence was downgraded due to methodological limitations across several risk of bias domains, high unexplained heterogeneity, and imprecision of results. In general, results remain consistent in sensitivity analysis based on risk of bias and adjustment for clustering. No adverse effects were reported.  AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review represents a substantial body of evidence from which to draw, but further research is needed to strengthen the quality of the evidence base, to consider the long-term effects of interventions on students' behaviour as they progress through training and into practice, and to assess effects of interventions on patient outcomes. Efforts to standardise assessment and evaluation of interpersonal skills will strengthen future research efforts., (Copyright © 2021 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: Current global maternal and child health policies rarely value gender equality or women's rights and are restricted to policies addressing clinical interventions and family planning. Gender equality influences the knowledge, autonomy and utilisation of contraception and healthcare, thereby affecting maternal and child health. This systematic review aims to analyse the concurrent effect of gender equality and contraception on maternal and under-5 child mortality., Methods: A systematic review was conducted to investigate the current evidence. Studies were eligible if three themes-namely, indicators of gender equality (such as female education, labour force participation, gender-based violence), contraception, and maternal or child mortality-were present together in a single article analysing the same sample at the same time., Results: Even though extensive literature on this topic exists, only three studies managed to fit the selection criteria. Findings of two studies indicated an association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and infant mortality, and also reported that women's contraceptive use increased the risk of IPV. The third study found that the mother's secondary education attainment significantly reduced child mortality, while the mother's working status increased the odds of child mortality. The researchers of all included studies specified that contraceptive use significantly reduced the risk of child mortality., Conclusion: Improvement in gender equality and contraception concurrently affect the reduction in child mortality. These findings provide strong support to address the research gaps and to include a gender equality approach towards maternal and child health policies., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Monitoring levels of alcohol-related harm in populations requires indicators that are robust to extraneous influence. We investigated the validity of an indicator for police-attributed alcohol-related assault. We summarized offence records from Queensland Police, investigated patterns of missing data, and considered the utility of a surrogate for alcohol-related assault. Of 242 107 assaults from 2004-2014, in 35% of cases the drug used by the offender was recorded as 'unknown'. Under various assumptions about non-random missingness the proportion of assaults judged to be alcohol-related varied from 30%-65%. We found a sharp increase in missing data from 2007 suggesting the downward trend from that point is artefactual. Conversely, we found a stable and increasing trend using a time-based surrogate. The volume of missing data and other limitations preclude valid estimation of trends using the police indicator, and demonstrate how misleading results can be produced. Our analysis supports the use of an empirically-based surrogate indicator., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)