ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7090-1398
Current Organisation
University of Tasmania
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Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 15-10-2020
DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2019.1679575
Abstract: To help inform strategies aimed at increasing muscular fitness levels, we examined factors associated with childhood muscular fitness (strength and power) that preceded the recently observed secular decline. Data were available from a nationally representative s le of Australian children aged 7-15 years in 1985 (n = 8469). Muscular fitness measures included strength (right and left grip, shoulder extension and flexion, and leg strength) and power (standing long jump distance). Anthropometric (adiposity, fat-free mass), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), flexibility, speed capability, physical activity (in idual and parental), dietary quality and intake (fruit, vegetable, protein) and sociodemographic (area-level socioeconomic status (SES), school type) data were available. Statistical analyses included sex-stratified linear regression. Of all examined factors, measures of adiposity, fat-free mass, CRF, flexibility and speed capability were associated with muscular fitness at levels that met Cohen's threshold for important effects (r-squared = 0.02 to 0.28). These findings highlight the multifactorial relationship between muscular fitness and its determinants. Collectively, these factors were powerful in explaining muscular strength (females: r-squared = 0.32 males: r-squared = 0.41) and muscular power (females: r-squared = 0.36 males: r-squared = 0.42). These findings highlight modifiable and environmental factors that could be targeted to increase childhood muscular fitness.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 26-07-2018
DOI: 10.3390/NU10080972
Abstract: Dietary guidelines recommend removing visible fat from meat, choosing low-fat options and cooking with oil instead of butter. This study examined cross-sectional associations between fat-related eating behaviors and a continuous metabolic syndrome (cMetSyn) score among young adults. During 2004–2006, 2071 participants aged 26–36 years reported how often they trimmed fat from meat, consumed low-fat dairy products and used different types of fat for cooking. A fasting blood s le was collected. Blood pressure, weight and height were measured. To create the cMetSyn score, sex-specific principal component analysis was applied to normalized risk factors of the harmonized definition of metabolic syndrome. Higher score indicates higher risk. For each behavior, differences in mean cMetSyn score were calculated using linear regression adjusted for confounders. Analyses were stratified by weight status (Body mass index (BMI) 25 kg/m2 or ≥25 kg/m2). Mean cMetSyn score was positively associated with consumption of low-fat oily dressing (PTrend = 0.013) among participants who were healthy weight and frequency of using canola/sunflower oil for cooking (PTrend = 0.008) among participants who were overweight/obese. Trimming fat from meat, cooking with olive oil, cooking with butter, and consuming low-fat dairy products were not associated with cMetSyn score. Among young adults, following fat-related dietary recommendations tended to not be associated with metabolic risk.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.JOCA.2022.02.616
Abstract: To describe the associations between osteoarthritis (OA)-related biochemical markers (COMP, MMP-3, HA) and MRI-based imaging biomarkers in middle-aged adults over 10-13 years. Blood serum s les collected during the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH)-1 study (year:2004-06 n = 156) and 10-13 year follow-up at CDAH-3 (n = 167) were analysed for COMP, MMP-3, and HA using non-isotopic ELISA. Knee MRI scans obtained during the CDAH-knee study (year:2008-10 n = 313) were assessed for cartilage volume and thickness, subchondral bone area, cartilage defects, and BML. In a multivariable linear regression model describing the association of baseline biochemical markers with MRI-markers (assessed after 4-years), we found a significant negative association of standardised COMP with medial femorotibial compartment cartilage thickness (β:-0.070 95%CI:-0.138,-0.001), and standardised MMP-3 with patellar cartilage volume (β:-141.548 95%CI:-254.917,-28.179) and total bone area (β:-0.729 95%CI:-1.340,-0.118). In multivariable Tobit regression model, there was a significant association of MRI-markers with biochemical markers (assessed after 6-9 years) a significant negative association of patellar cartilage volume (β:-0.001 95%CI:-0.002,-0.00004), and total bone area (β:-0.158 95%CI-0.307,-0.010) with MMP-3, and total cartilage volume (β:-0.001 95%CI:-0.001,-0.0001) and total bone area (β:-0.373 95%CI:-0.636,-0.111) with COMP. No significant associations were observed between MRI-based imaging biomarkers and HA. COMP and MMP-3 levels were negatively associated with knee cartilage thickness and volume assessed 4-years later, respectively. Knee cartilage volume and bone area were negatively associated with COMP and MMP-3 levels assessed 6-9 years later. These results suggest that OA-related biochemical markers and MRI-markers are interrelated in early OA.
Publisher: Ubiquity Press, Ltd.
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.5334/IJIC.5581
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 25-08-2021
DOI: 10.3390/DIAGNOSTICS11091531
Abstract: Background: Residual/reconverted red bone marrow (RBM) in adult knees is occasionally observed on routine knee magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We aimed to identify its prevalence, distribution, and associations with lifestyle factors, knee structural abnormalities, and knee symptoms in young adults. Methods: Participants (n = 327 aged = 31–41 years) were selected from the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH) knee study. They underwent T1-weighted and proton-density-weighted fat-suppressed MRI scans of knees. Residual/reconverted RBM in distal femur and proximal tibia were graded semi-quantitatively (grades: 0–3) based on the percentage area occupied. Knee structural abnormalities were graded semi-quantitatively using previously published MRI scoring systems. Knee symptoms (pain, stiffness, and dysfunction) were assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scale during CDAH knee study (year: 2008–2010) and at 6–9-year follow-up during the CDAH-3 study (year: 2014–2019). Associations between definite RBM (grade ≥ 2) and lifestyle factors, knee symptoms, and structural abnormalities were described using log-binomial regressions. Results: Definite RBM was seen in females only, in 29 out of 154 cases (18.8%), with femoral involvement preceding tibial involvement. Definite RBM was associated with increased BMI (PR = 1.09/kg/m2 95% CI: 1.03, 1.16), overweight status (PR = 2.19 95% CI: 1.07, 4.51), and WOMAC knee pain (PR = 1.75 95% CI: 1.11, 2.74) in cross-section analysis. However, there was no association between RBM and knee-pain after seven years (PR = 1.15 95% CI: 0.66, 2.00). There were no associations between RBM and knee structural abnormalities. Conclusion: Presence of definite RBM in young adult knees was observed in females only. Definite RBM was associated with overweight measures, and the modest association with knee pain may not be causally related.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-03-2015
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS6681
Abstract: Normal thyroid function is essential for health, but its genetic architecture remains poorly understood. Here, for the heritable thyroid traits thyrotropin (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4), we analyse whole-genome sequence data from the UK10K project ( N =2,287). Using additional whole-genome sequence and deeply imputed data sets, we report meta-analysis results for common variants (MAF≥1%) associated with TSH and FT4 ( N =16,335). For TSH, we identify a novel variant in SYN2 (MAF=23.5%, P =6.15 × 10 −9 ) and a new independent variant in PDE8B (MAF=10.4%, P =5.94 × 10 −14 ). For FT4, we report a low-frequency variant near B4GALT6/SLC25A52 (MAF=3.2%, P =1.27 × 10 −9 ) tagging a rare TTR variant (MAF=0.4%, P =2.14 × 10 −11 ). All common variants explain ≥20% of the variance in TSH and FT4. Analysis of rare variants (MAF %) using sequence kernel association testing reveals a novel association with FT4 in NRG1. Our results demonstrate that increased coverage in whole-genome sequence association studies identifies novel variants associated with thyroid function.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-10-2023
DOI: 10.1111/AJD.13938
Abstract: A history of keratinocyte carcinoma (KC) is a risk factor for further KCs, but population‐based studies quantifying the risk are lacking in Australia. We aimed to describe the risk of subsequent KCs after first KCs in the Australian state of Tasmania. Tasmanian residents identified in the Tasmanian Cancer Registry with a first histologically confirmed basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or synchronous BCC and SCC (within 3 months) between January 1985 and December 2013 were followed up for at least 5 years for the development of a subsequent KC. Cumulative risk, incidence rates and standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated. Those first diagnosed with BCC‐only , SCC‐only or synchronous BCC and SCC had (i) 5‐year cumulative risks of subsequent KCs of 32%, 29% and 51%, (ii) annualised 5‐year incidence rates of 8100/100,000 person‐years at risk (PYR), 7747/100,000 PYR and 16,634/100,000 PYR and (iii) SIRs of 10.6 (95% CI: 10.5–10.6), 12.5 (95% CI: 12.4–12.6) and 313.0 (95% CI: 305.2–321.1), respectively. Risk estimates increased substantially when multiple (two or more) lesions of any type were diagnosed synchronously. In the first Australian population‐based study to describe the risk of subsequent KCs according to histological types, around one in three Tasmanians diagnosed with first KCs were diagnosed with subsequent KCs within 5 years. The risk of subsequent KCs was higher among those with a history of multiple synchronous lesions, especially if they included both BCC and SCC lesions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-01-2018
DOI: 10.1002/CNCR.31247
Abstract: The authors' systematic review indicated an increasing trend in the risk of second primary cancers (SPCs) from the 1980s to 2000 when considering studies from the United States and Australia. It is uncertain whether this trend has continued to increase since 2000. The current study was a population-based study of 51,802 in iduals with adult-onset cancers identified in the Tasmanian Cancer Registry. Patients with a first cancer diagnosis made between 1980 and 2009 were followed up to December 2013. SPC risks were quantified using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and absolute excess risks (AERs). Trends in SPC risk were assessed using multivariable Poisson models. With a median follow-up of 4.8 years (mean, 6.9 years), a total of 5339 SPCs were observed. The SIRs for any SPC increased from 0.98 (95% confidence interval, 0.90-1.07) after a first cancer diagnosis in 1980 through 1984 to 1.12 (95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.20) in 2005 through 2009. In multivariable Poisson models accounting for patient sex, age at the time of the first cancer diagnosis, follow-up interval, and first cancer type, the trend in SIRs increased significantly from 1980 through 2009 for all SPCs (P for trend <.001) and for specific SPCs of the head and neck, lung, digestive tract, and prostate (all P for trend <.05). From 2000 onward, the AER for specific SPCs after specific first cancers was highest for prostate cancer after first cancers of the urinary tract (AER, 54.3 per 10,000 person-years). In Tasmania, the risk of SPCs among survivors of adult-onset cancers has increased with periods of first cancer diagnosis from 1980 through 2009. Increased cancer screening and improved medical imaging may have contributed to the greater risk in recent years. Cancer 2018 :1808-18. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 25-08-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.23.20180422
Abstract: The D-Health Trial aims to determine whether monthly high-dose vitamin D supplementation can reduce the mortality rate and prevent cancer. We did not have adequate statistical power for subgroup analyses, so could not justify the high cost of collecting blood s les at baseline. To enable future exploratory analyses stratified by baseline vitamin D status, we developed a model to predict baseline serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration. We used data and serum 25(OH)D concentrations from participants who gave a blood s le during the trial for compliance monitoring and were randomised to placebo. Data were partitioned into training (80%) and validation (20%) datasets. Deseasonalised serum 25(OH)D concentrations were dichotomised using cut-points of 50 nmol/L, 60 nmol/L and 75 nmol/L. We fitted boosted regression tree models, based on 13 predictors, and evaluated model performance using the validation data. The training and validation datasets had 1788 (10.5% nmol/L, 23.1% nmol, 48.8 nmol/L) and 447 (11.9% nmol/L, 25.7% nmol/L, and 49.2% nmol/L) s les, respectively. Ambient UV radiation and total intake of vitamin D were the strongest predictors of ‘low’ serum 25(OH)D concentration. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.71, 0.70, and 0.66 for cut-points of nmol/L, nmol/L and nmol/L respectively. We exploited compliance monitoring data to develop models to predict serum 25(OH)D concentration for D-Health participants at baseline. This approach may prove useful in other trial settings where there is an obstacle to exhaustive data collection.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-04-2021
DOI: 10.1002/OBY.23145
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 19-10-2021
Abstract: Background: Australian adolescents are routinely offered HPV and dTpa (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) vaccines simultaneously in the secondary school vaccination program. We identified schools where HPV initiation was lower than dTpa coverage and associated school-level factors across three states. Methods: HPV vaccination initiation rates and dTpa vaccination coverage in 2016 were calculated using vaccine databases and school enrolment data. A multivariate analysis assessed sociodemographic and school-level factors associated with HPV initiation being % absolute lower than dTpa coverage. Results: Of 1280 schools included, the median school-level HPV initiation rate was 85% (interquartile range (IQR):75–90%) and the median dTpa coverage was 86% (IQR:75–92%). Nearly a quarter (24%) of all schools had HPV vaccination initiation % lower than dTpa coverage and 11 % had % difference. School-level factors independently associated with % difference were remote schools (aOR:3.5, 95% CI = 1.7–7.2) and schools in major cities (aOR:1.8, 95% CI = 1.0–3.0), small schools (aOR:3.3, 95% CI = 2.3–5.7), higher socioeconomic advantage (aOR:1.7, 95% CI = 1.1–2.6), and lower proportions of Language-background-other-than-English (aOR:1.9, 95% CI = 1.2–3.0). Conclusion: The results identified a quarter of schools had lower HPV than dTpa initiation coverage, which may indicate HPV vaccine hesitancy, and the difference was more likely in socioeconomically advantaged schools. As hesitancy is context specific, it is important to understand the potential drivers of hesitancy and future research needs to understand the reasons driving differential uptake.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 10-2023
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 03-01-2023
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.060667
Abstract: Elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a common risk factor for cardiovascular disease outcomes with unknown mechanisms. We examined its potential role in identifying youths who are at increased risk of developing adult atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Lp(a) levels measured in youth 9 to 24 years of age were linked to adult ASCVD and carotid intima-media thickness in the YFS (Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study), in which 95 of the original 3596 participants (2.7%) recruited as children have been diagnosed with ASCVD at a median of 47 years of age. Results observed in YFS were replicated with the use of data for White participants from the BHS (Bogalusa Heart Study). In BHS, 587 White in iduals had data on youth Lp(a) (measured at 8–17 years of age) and information on adult events, including 15 cases and 572 noncases. Analyses were performed with the use of Cox proportional hazard regression. In YFS, those who had been exposed to high Lp(a) level in youth [defined as Lp(a) ≥30 mg/dL] had ≈2 times greater risk of developing adult ASCVD compared with nonexposed in iduals (hazard ratio, 2.0 [95% CI, 1.4–2.6]). Youth risk factors, including Lp(a), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body mass index, and smoking, were all independently associated with higher risk. In BHS, in an age- and sex-adjusted model, White in iduals who had been exposed to high Lp(a) had 2.5 times greater risk (95% CI, 0.9–6.8) of developing adult ASCVD compared with nonexposed in iduals. When also adjusted for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and body mass index, the risk associated with high Lp(a) remained unchanged (hazard ratio, 2.4 [95% CI, 0.8–7.3]). In a multivariable model for pooled data, in iduals exposed to high Lp(a) had 2.0 times greater risk (95% CI, 1.0–3.7) of developing adult ASCVD compared with nonexposed in iduals. No association was detected between youth Lp(a) and adult carotid artery thickness in either cohort or pooled data. Elevated Lp(a) level identified in youth is a risk factor for adult atherosclerotic cardiovascular outcomes but not for increased carotid intima-media thickness.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-10-2019
DOI: 10.1002/CNCR.31806
Abstract: With improved cancer survivorship, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other noncancer events compete with cancer as the underlying cause of death, but the risks of mortality in competing-risk settings have not been well characterized. The authors identified 21,637 in iduals who had a first cancer registered between 2006 and 2013, with follow-up to 2015, in the Australian population-based Tasmanian Cancer Registry. The cumulative incidence of deaths from specific competing events was assessed in competing-risk analyses. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and absolute excess risks (AERs) for deaths from noncancer causes were calculated for comparison with the general population. Overall, 8844 deaths were observed, with 1946 (22%) from competing events. The cumulative incidence of deaths from CVD increased significantly with age at first cancer diagnosis and exceeded other competing events at age ≥65 years. The risk of death from CVD was more common than expected in the first year of follow-up (SMR, 1.44 [95% confidence interval, 1.26-1.64] AER, 36.8 per 10,000 person-years). The SMR and AER for CVD deaths varied by first cancer site, indicating increased risks after a first diagnosis of lung cancer, hematologic malignancy, and urinary tract cancer. For other noncancer events, the SMRs increased significantly for deaths from infectious disease and respiratory disease and were highest in the first year of follow-up. CVD was the leading cause of competing mortality among Tasmanian patients with cancer who were diagnosed from 2006 to 2013. The higher than expected occurrence of death from CVD and other noncancer events during the first year after a cancer diagnosis highlights the importance of early preventive interventions.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 10-2022
DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.19420
Abstract: Exaggerated exercise blood pressure (EEBP) during clinical exercise testing is associated with poor blood pressure (BP) control and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Type-2 diabetes (T2DM) is thought to be associated with increased prevalence of EEBP, but this has never been definitively determined and was the aim of this study. Clinical exercise test records were analyzed from 13 268 people (aged 53±13 years, 59% male) who completed the Bruce treadmill protocol (stages 1–4, and peak) at 4 Australian public hospitals. Records (including BP) were linked to administrative health datasets (hospital and emergency admissions) to define clinical characteristics and classify T2DM (n=1199) versus no T2DM (n=12 069). EEBP was defined as systolic BP ≥90th percentile at each test stage. Exercise BP was regressed on T2DM history and adjusted for CVD and risk factors. Prevalence of EEBP (age, sex, preexercise BP, hypertension history, CVD history and aerobic capacity adjusted) was 12% to 51% greater in T2DM versus no T2DM (prevalence ratio [95% CI], stage 1, 1.12 [1.02–1.24] stage 2, 1.51 [1.41–1.61] stage 3, 1.25 [1.10–1.42] peak, 1.18 [1.09–1.29]). At stages 1 to 3, 8.6% to 15.8% (4.8%–9.7% T2DM versus 3.5% to 6.1% no-T2DM) of people with ‘normal’ preexercise BP ( /90 mm Hg) were identified with EEBP. Exercise systolic BP relative to aerobic capacity (stages 1–4 and peak) was higher in T2DM with adjustment for all CVD risk factors. People with T2DM have higher prevalence of EEBP and exercise systolic BP independent of CVD and many of its known risk factors. Clinicians supervising exercise testing should be alerted to increased likelihood of EEBP and thus poor BP control warranting follow-up care in people with T2DM.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 21-03-2023
Abstract: The origins of sex differences in cardiovascular diseases are not well understood. We examined the contribution of childhood risk factors to sex differences in adult carotid artery plaques and intima‐media thickness (carotid IMT). Children in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey were followed up when they were aged 36 to 49 years (2014–19, n=1085–1281). Log binomial and linear regression examined sex differences in adult carotid plaques (n=1089) or carotid IMT (n=1283). Childhood sociodemographic, psychosocial, and biomedical risk factors that might contribute to sex differences in carotid IMT laques were examined using purposeful model building with additional adjustment for equivalent adult risk factors in sensitivity analyses. Women less often had carotid plaques (10%) than men (17%). The sex difference in the prevalence of plaques (relative risk [RR] unadjusted 0.59 [95% CI, 0.43 to 0.80]) was reduced by adjustment for childhood school achievement and systolic blood pressure (RR adjusted 0.65 [95% CI, 0.47 to 0.90]). Additional adjustment for adult education and systolic blood pressure further reduced sex difference (RR adjusted 0.72 [95% CI, 0.49 to 1.06]). Women (mean±SD 0.61±0.07) had thinner carotid IMT than men (mean±SD 0.66±0.09). The sex difference in carotid IMT (β unadjusted −0.051 [95% CI, −0.061 to −0.042]) reduced with adjustment for childhood waist circumference and systolic blood pressure (β adjusted −0.047 [95% CI, −0.057 to −0.037]) and further reduced with adjustment for adult waist circumference and systolic blood pressure (β adjusted −0.034 [95% CI, −0.048 to −0.019]). Some childhood factors contributed to adult sex differences in plaques and carotid IMT. Prevention strategies across the life course are important to reduce adult sex differences in cardiovascular diseases.
Publisher: Korean Society for Preventive Medicine
Date: 31-03-2021
DOI: 10.3961/JPMPH.20.559
No related grants have been discovered for Alison Venn.