Search

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the world's population, with particularly negative effects on vulnerable populations, including autistic people. Although some consensus regarding specific impact on aspects of wellbeing and mental health in autism is starting to emerge, it is unclear whether the pandemic has increased suicide risk. The goals of this study were to examine (a) potential associations between COVID-19 impact and depression, personal wellbeing, and suicide risk factors in Australian autistic adults and (b) age and gender effects. The COVID-19 Impact Scale (CIS), Personal Wellbeing Index, Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Suicide Behavior Questionnaire, Revised (SBQ-R), were administered to 111 autistic adults aged 20 to 71 years during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. COVID-19 impact showed small associations with poorer personal wellbeing (r = -0.224, p = 0.023, [-0.409, -0.016]) and higher depressive symptoms (r = 0.268, p = 0.006, [0.056, 0.445]) and was not associated with the SBQ-R suicide risk score (r = 0.081, p = 0.418, [-0.118, 0.264). No significant effects were identified for age. Although model results were similar for women and men, the strength of the associations between personal wellbeing and depression (z = -2.16, p = 0.015), and depression and SBQ-R suicide risk (z = 1.961, p = 0.025), were stronger in women than in men. Qualitative analysis of an open response question from the CIS suggested that the pandemic had both positive and negative impacts on participants. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the world's population, particularly vulnerable populations such as autistic people. It is not known if these impacts on mental health and wellbeing have increased suicide risk. Our findings suggest that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may be associated with poorer wellbeing and higher depression, but is not associated with suicide risk. Overall, autistic people reported both positive and negative impacts of the pandemic on their lives., (© 2021 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: Child occupant behavior and head position when travelling in child restraint systems (CRS) may have an effect on injury risk in the event of a motor vehicle crash. The current study aimed to describe the common characteristics and behaviors of child occupants during everyday, real-world motor vehicle travel in a sample of Australian families to identify potential safety implications of observed behaviors and head position within the CRS. Methods: Two instrumented study vehicles were used by 42 families for approximately two weeks. Continuous video and audio data were collected across 1,651 trips (over 600 hours). An online survey provided additional parent, familial and child occupant data. The characteristics and behaviors of 72 child occupants (aged 14 months to 9 years) who travelled in a forward-facing CRS (FFCRS) or a belt-positioning booster seat (BS) were observed and recorded by manual review of a sample of the video/audio recordings. One quarter of all trips ( n = 414) was randomly selected for coding/analysis and, within each trip, one child occupant was selected who was travelling in a FFCRS or BS. Child occupant behaviors, head position within the FFCRS or BS, and other relevant information was coded for each trip during nine discrete five second intervals or 'epochs' (5%, 17%, 25%, 30%, 50%, 53%, 75%, 89% and 95% of trip duration). Results: In the majority of epochs (74%), child occupants' heads were observed to be 'optimally' positioned within the FFCRS or BS. For more than half of the epochs, child occupants were observed to be: correctly restrained (58%) and involved in an interaction with another vehicle occupant (59%). Bivariate analyses revealed that children travelling in a FFCRS were significantly more likely to be observed to have optimal head positions than those travelling in a BS (78% vs. 62%), χ 2 (1) = 86.00, p < 0.001. Child occupants who were observed to be 'correctly' restrained were significantly more likely to be observed to have optimal head positions than those who were observed to be 'incorrectly' restrained (80% vs. 20%), χ 2 (1) = 10.33, p < 0.01. Conclusions: This is the first naturalistic driving study (NDS) to specifically explore the factors associated with child occupants' head position when travelling in a CRS. Findings from the current study can be used to inform the positioning of anthropometric test dummies (ATD) in CRS testing, guide improvements to CRS/vehicle design, and develop targeted educational strategies to improve child occupant safety.

The leukaemias are a biologically and clinically heterogeneous group of malignancies, which manifest as clonal expansions of a single cell at different stages of lympho-haemopoietic development. The transformed cell acquires an unrestrained capacity for self-renewal and, in the case of the acute leukaemias, also fails to differentiate into functional mature cells. Historically leukaemias were classified using a combination of clinical and (presumed) cell lineage criteria. Thus, the four major subgroups of acute and chronic myeloid leukaemia and acute and chronic lymphoid leukaemia were recognised. Up until the last 10-15 years, patients within each major subgroup were treated along broadly similar lines. Genetic abnormalities have been recognised in certain leukaemias for over 50 years; however, the recent explosion in our understanding of the frequency and complexity of molecular abnormalities in the leukaemias has 'opened the door' for the design of more targeted therapies with the expectation that their incorporation into therapeutic regimens will be associated with greater efficacy and less off-target toxicity., (© 2012 The Authors; Internal Medicine Journal © 2012 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.)

The increasing global distribution of automobiles necessitates that the design of In-vehicle Information Systems (IVIS) is appropriate for the regions to which they are being exported. Differences between regions such as culture, environment and traffic context can influence the needs, usability and acceptance of IVIS. This paper describes two studies aimed at identifying regional differences in IVIS design needs and preferences across drivers from Australia and China to determine the impact of any differences on IVIS design. Using a questionnaire and interaction clinics, the influence of cultural values and driving patterns on drivers' preferences for, and comprehension of, surface- and interaction-level aspects of IVIS interfaces was explored. Similarities and differences were found between the two regional groups in terms of preferences for IVIS input control types and labels and in the comprehension of IVIS functions. Specifically, Chinese drivers preferred symbols and Chinese characters over English words and were less successful (compared to Australians) at comprehending English abbreviations, particularly for complex IVIS functions. Implications in terms of the current trend to introduce Western-styled interfaces into other regions with little or no adaptation are discussed., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To describe the self-reported vision, history of eye disease and general health of indigenous Australian participants in the National Indigenous Eye Health Survey., Methods: Using a multistage cluster sampling methodology, 30 geographic areas, stratified by remoteness, were selected to provide a representative population of indigenous Australians aged 5-15 years and 40 years and over. Before an eye examination, participants completed a questionnaire about their eye health and eye care facilities consulted, satisfaction with their vision and general health., Results: A total of 1694 indigenous children (49.2% female, mean age 9.5 ± 2.9 years) and 1189 adults (61.0% female, mean age 53.1 ± 9.7 years) participated. Three-quarters of adults (259/342) and 88.4% of children (129/146) wore the right distance glasses. Adults from remote areas were less likely to have refractive error (P = 0.002) as well as males versus females (P = 0.02). Similar results were found for children. Adults wearing appropriate distance glasses were as satisfied with their vision as people with normal vision who did not need glasses (P = 0.6). Both groups were more satisfied with their distance vision than people with poor presenting vision (P = 0.007). Self-report of cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration did not match with clinical findings (P < 0.001). Over 37% of adults (417/1187) and 1.3% of children (22/1691) reported having diabetes., Conclusion: The National Indigenous Eye Health Survey provided information to guide future planning of eye health prevention strategies for indigenous Australians. Findings indicate the importance of correcting refractive error to improve quality of life. Prevention messages should be renewed in appropriate sociocultural formats., (© 2010 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology © 2010 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.)

It can be said that chronic pain patients comprise a large part of general practice. It would be accepted that general practitioners treat pain to the best of their abilities and, where indicated, use opioids for this purpose. After all, opioids have been used for the treatment of cancer and acute pain for many years. While a growing body of literature documents the trend of acceptance to prescribe opioids for the treatment of chronic noncancer pain, recent evidence suggests opioids may not achieve key outcomes of chronic pain management.