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Background: In a cohort of adults with intellectual disability who were followed for up to 16-years, we investigated characteristics associated with frequent emergency department (ED) presentations, hospitalisation, and psychiatric care. Method: Community-dwelling adults with intellectual disability residing in Queensland, Australia, were followed from 1999 to 2015. Healthcare presentations were extracted from administrative databases. Adults who presented frequently were identified and characteristics associated with frequent presentations were identified. Results: Data from 445 adults were analysed. Chronic disease and challenging behaviour were associated with frequent ED presentations (adjusted odds ratio = 1.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.1-3.0 and aOR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2-3.9 respectively). Chronic disease and severe/profound intellectual disability were associated with frequent hospitalisations (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2-3.2 and aOR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.2-3.3 respectively). Psychotropic medication use was associated with frequent psychiatric presentations (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.0-3.4). Conclusions: Adults at high risk of frequent healthcare presentations should be identified for programmes of optimising health system use, and potentially improving health care quality.

Physical activity is a leading determinant of health and well-being in older adults; however, participation is low. Social support can significantly influence physical activity uptake and maintenance; however, most research is cross-sectional and does not differentiate among types of support. The current study assessed four types of social support for physical activity reported over 9 years by adults aged 60–65 at baseline (n = 1,984). Data were collected using a mail survey at four time points. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models. The most common type of support was emotional, with 25% of participants reporting this often/very often. Total support for activity declined by 16% across the 9 years (p <.001). Companionship had the greatest decline among types (17%–18%, p <.001). More work is needed to understand the factors contributing to the decline in support and how to enable access to support for physical activity in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2022, publicly funded influenza vaccine was made available to all residents of Queensland, Australia. This study compared influenza epidemiology in 2022 with previous years (2017–2021) and estimated influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) during 2022. Methods: The study involved a descriptive analysis of influenza notifications and a case–control study to estimate VE. Cases were notifications of laboratory‐confirmed influenza, and controls were individuals who were test negative for COVID‐19. Cases and controls were matched on age, postcode and specimen collection date. VE against hospitalisation was investigated by matching hospitalised cases to controls. Conditional logistic regression models were adjusted for sex. Results: In 2022, Queensland experienced an early influenza season onset (April–May) and high case numbers (n = 45,311), compared to the previous 5 years (annual average: 29,364) and 2020–2021 (2020:6047; 2021:301) during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Adjusted VE (VEadj) against laboratory‐confirmed influenza was 39% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 37–41), highest for children aged 30 months to < 5 years (61%, 95% CI: 49–70) and lowest for adults aged ≥ 65 years (24%, 95% CI: 17–30). VEadj against influenza‐associated hospitalisation was 54% (95% CI: 48–59). Among children < 9 years of age, VEadj against laboratory‐confirmed influenza (55%, 95% CI: 49–61) and hospitalisation (67%, 95% CI: 39–82) was higher in those who received a complete dose schedule. Conclusion: In Queensland, the 2022 influenza season started earlier than the previous 5 years. VE against influenza notifications varied across age groups. VE estimates against influenza‐associated hospitalisation were higher than those against laboratory‐confirmed influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association of air pollution and greenspace with respiratory pathogen acquisition and respiratory health was investigated in a community-based birth-cohort of 158 Australian children. Weekly nasal swabs and daily symptom-diaries were collected for 2-years, with annual reviews from ages 3-7-years. Annual exposure to fine-particulate-matter (PM2.5), nitrogen-dioxide (NO2), and normalised-difference-vegetation-index (NDVI) was estimated for pregnancy and the first 2-years-of-life. We examined rhinovirus, any respiratory virus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Haemophilus influenzae detections in the first 3-months-of-life, age at initial pathogen detection, wheezing in the first 2-years, and asthma at ages 5-7-years. Our findings suggest that higher NDVI was associated with fewer viral and M. catarrhalis detections in the first 3-months, while increased PM2.5 and NO2 were linked to earlier symptomatic rhinovirus and H. influenzae detections, respectively. However, no associations were observed with wheezing or asthma. Early-life exposure to air pollution and greenspace may influence early-life respiratory pathogen acquisition and illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: Objective: To determine if non?pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) impacted on respiratory virus detections in Queensland, Australia, during the COVID?19 pandemic year of 2020. Methods: We analysed weekly counts of influenza, human metapneumovirus, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, and adenovirus available from a Queensland laboratory network for the year 2020. These were compared with averaged counts from 2015 to 2019. Results: Overall, 686,199 tests were performed. The timing of NPI implementation was associated with a sharp and sustained decline in influenza, where during the typical annual influenza season (weeks 23?40) no cases were detected from 163,296 tests compared with an average of 26.1% (11,844/45,396) of tests positive in 2015?2019. Similar results were observed for human metapneumovirus and parainfluenza. Respiratory syncytial virus detections also declined but increased in weeks 48?52 (5.6%; 562/10,078) to exceed the 2015?2019 average (2.9%; 150/5,018). Rhinovirus detections increased after schools reopened, peaking in weeks 23?27 (57.4%; 36,228/63,115), exceeding the 2017?2019 detections during that period (21.9%; 8,365/38,072). Conclusions: NPIs implemented to control COVID?19 were associated with altered frequency and proportions of respiratory virus detections. Implications for public health: NPIs derived from influenza pandemic plans were associated with profound decreases in influenza detections during 2020., Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID?19), caused by a lipid?enveloped beta?coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus?2 (SARS?CoV?2), was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March [...]

There is a strong association between access to early intervention (EI) services by 6 months of age and improved speech and language outcomes for children with permanent hearing loss (PHL). This study identified factors impacting on age of engagement and timing of engagement in EI services by families of 377 children with PHL. This retrospective cohort study included a group of children diagnosed with PHL born between 2011 and 2013 in Brisbane, Australia. The study investigated the association of demographic, social and diagnostic characteristics of children with age of engagement and timing of engagement in EI services. Factors significantly associated with later age of engagement, longer time between diagnosis and engagement, and no engagement with EI services included premature birth, unilateral hearing loss, mild hearing loss and not using a hearing aid. This study provided evidence for the efficacy of tailored support for families to achieve the best possible communication outcomes for their children with PHL.