ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5075-0737
Current Organisations
University of Adelaide
,
Deakin University Warrnambool Rural Clinical School
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Public Health and Health Services | Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology | Family and Household Studies | Public Health And Health Services Not Elsewhere Classified | Cardiology (Incl. Cardiovascular Diseases) | Epidemiology | Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified | Health Information Systems (incl. Surveillance) | Urban Design | Global Information Systems
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Demography | Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified | Behaviour and Health | Social Structure and Health | Health and support services not elsewhere classified | Cardiovascular system and diseases | Public Services Policy Advice and Analysis | Rural health | Health Policy Economic Outcomes |
Related Links
Publications
Relative residential property value as a socio-economic status indicator for health research
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2013
Walkability of local communities: Using geographic information systems to objectively assess relevant environmental attributes
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.HEALTHPLACE.2005.11.001
Abstract: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to objectively measure features of the built environment that may influence adults' physical activity, which is an important determinant of chronic disease. We describe how a previously developed index of walkability was operationalised in an Australian context, using available spatial data. The index was used to generate a stratified s ling frame for the selection of households from 32 communities for the PLACE (Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments) study. GIS data have the potential to be used to construct measures of environmental attributes and to develop indices of walkability for cities, regions or local communities.
Application of Geographic Modeling Techniques to Quantify Spatial Access to Health Services Before and After an Acute Cardiac Event: The Cardiac Accessibility and Remoteness Index for Australia (ARIA) Project
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 24-04-2012
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.083394
Abstract: Access to cardiac services is essential for appropriate implementation of evidence-based therapies to improve outcomes. The Cardiac Accessibility and Remoteness Index for Australia (Cardiac ARIA) aimed to derive an objective, geographic measure reflecting access to cardiac services. An expert panel defined an evidence-based clinical pathway. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the team developed a numeric/alphabetic index at 2 points along the continuum of care. The acute category (numeric) measured the time from the emergency call to arrival at an appropriate medical facility via road ambulance. The aftercare category (alphabetic) measured access to 4 basic services (family doctor, pharmacy, cardiac rehabilitation, and pathology services) when a patient returned to his or her community. The numeric index ranged from 1 (access to principal referral center with cardiac catheterization service ≤1 hour) to 8 (no ambulance service, hours to medical facility, air transport required). The alphabetic index ranged from A (all 4 services available within a 1-hour drive-time) to E (no services available within 1 hour). The panel found that 13.9 million Australians (71%) resided within Cardiac ARIA 1A locations (hospital with cardiac catheterization laboratory and all aftercare within 1 hour). Those outside Cardiac 1A were overrepresented by people years of age (32%) and indigenous people (60%). The Cardiac ARIA index demonstrated substantial inequity in access to cardiac services in Australia. This methodology can be used to inform cardiology health service planning and could be applied to other common disease states within other regions of the world.
Prevalence of overweight and obesity, and associations with socio-demographic factors in Kuwait
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-04-2021
DOI: 10.1186/S12889-021-10692-1
Abstract: Kuwait is amongst countries in the Gulf region with high income economy. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in five adults in the Gulf region is obese. This study sought to evaluate the prevalence and magnitude of association between overweight, obesity, central obesity, and socio-demographic factors in Kuwait. A population-based cross-sectional survey of diabetes and obesity in Kuwait – part of the Kuwait Diabetes Epidemiology Program – was conducted between 2011 and 2014, targeting adults aged 18–82 years using the WHO STEPwise approach to non-communicable disease surveillance. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated to classify overweight and obesity, and waist circumference (WC) used to express central obesity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate relationships between socio-demographic factors, overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m 2 ), obesity (≥30.0 kg/m 2 ) or central obesity (WC ≥ 80 cm women WC ≥ 94 cm men). Records for gender (56% Men), age, BMI, governorate, and nationality existed for 4901 in iduals. Mean age and BMI were 43 years and 30 kg/m 2 , respectively. Non-Kuwaiti nationals were more prevalent than Kuwaitis (76% vs 24%). Prevalence rates for overweight, obesity and central obesity were 40.6% (95%CI: 38.4–42.8%), 42.1% (95%CI: 40.0–44.3%) and 73.7% (95%CI: 71.7–75.6%), respectively. The youngest age group (18–29 years) had rates of 38.2% (95%CI: 29.2–47.7%), 27.2% (95%CI: 19.0–36.7%) and 49.9% (95%CI: 40.6–59.1%) for overweight, obesity and central obesity, respectively. In covariate-adjusted analyses, the odds of being overweight was 26% greater for men than for women. Conversely, women had a 54% (95%CI: 19–99%) and 7-fold (95%CI, 5–10-fold) greater odds of obesity/central obesity, respectively, than men. Greater educational attainment, physical activity, and non-Kuwaiti status were associated with lower odds of obesity/central obesity. History of smoking, elevated blood pressure, higher income, being married, greater age and female sex related to greater odds of obesity/central obesity. Overweight was greater in men, obesity greater in women. Overweight and obesity prevalence were high in young adults aged 18–29 years, a significant public health concern. Efforts to integrate mandatory physical education to the school curriculum and promoting the creation of recreation spaces arks to promote physical activities, will play a vital role in the early prevention of overweight/obesity in Kuwait.
Fast-food exposure around schools in urban Adelaide
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 14-06-2016
DOI: 10.1017/S1368980016001385
Abstract: To assess whether exposure to fast-food outlets around schools differed depending on socio-economic status (SES). Binary logistic regression was used to investigate the presence and zero-inflated Poisson regression was used for the count (due to the excess of zeroes) of fast food within 1000 m and 15000 m road network buffers around schools. The low and middle SES tertiles were combined due to a lack of significant variation as the ‘disadvantaged’ group and compared with the high SES tertile as the ‘advantaged’ group. School SES was expressed using the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics, socio-economic indices for areas, index of relative socio-economic disadvantage. Fast-food data included independent takeaway food outlets and major fast-food chains. Metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. A total of 459 schools were geocoded to the street address and 1000 m and 1500 m road network distance buffers calculated. There was a 1·6 times greater risk of exposure to fast food within 1000 m (OR=1·634 95 % 1·017, 2·625) and a 9·5 times greater risk of exposure to a fast food within 1500 m (OR=9·524 95 % CI 3·497, 25·641) around disadvantaged schools compared with advantaged schools. Disadvantaged schools were exposed to more fast food, with more than twice the number of disadvantaged schools exposed to fast food. The higher exposure to fast food near more disadvantaged schools may reflect lower commercial land cost in low-SES areas, potentially creating more financially desirable investments for fast-food developers.
The impact of built and social environmental characteristics on incidence and estimated risk of dementia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ALZ.055380
Abstract: Dementia is a public health priority 1 and the current study designed to investigate associations between built and social environmental characteristics and dementia incidence, and the estimated future risk of dementia. Further we investigated spatial variations in dementia risk and dementia incidence to identify unmet areas for policy intervention. We used 25,511 patients (aged 65 years and older) records in Adelaide between 2011‐2015. In addition to dementia incidence, we calculated a dementia risk score based on risk and protective factors for patients not diagnosed with dementia. The following built and social environment exposures were estimated for each statistical area level 1 (SA1) 2 : social fragmentation, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), public open spaces, walkability, socio‐economic status and the length of main roads. We performed multilevel regression analyses to allow for the hierarchical nature of the data and applied spatial cluster analysis to identify areas with high and low risk of dementia. We found that a one standard deviation (SD) increase in NO2 and walkability score was associated with 10% higher odds of any versus no dementia (95% confidence interval (CI): 1%, 21% for NO2 and 0%, 22% for walkability score). For estimated future risk of dementia, a 1‐SD increase in social fragmentation (mobility component) and NO2 was associated with a 1% increase in dementia risk (95% CI: 0, 1%). 1‐SD increases in public open space and socioeconomic status were associated with 3% (95% CI: 0.95, 0.98) and 1% decreases (95% CI: 0.98, 0.99) in dementia risk, respectively. There was spatial heterogeneity in the pattern of dementia incidence and dementia risk. Associations of neighbourhood NO2 level, walkability, public open space and social fragmentation with dementia incidence and estimated future risk of dementia were statistically significant, indicating the potential to reduce the risk through changes in built and social environments. Mapping the estimated future risk of dementia and diagnosed cases of dementia offers a novel approach to identifying areas of unmet need. 1. Towards a dementia plan: a WHO guide. Geneva: WHO 2018. 2. Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 ‐ Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, 2016.
Aeromedical retrievals of people for mental health care and the low level of clinical support in rural and remote Australia.
Publisher: AMPCo
Date: 25-07-2019
DOI: 10.5694/MJA2.50272
Abstract: To characterise the people retrieved by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) for treatment of mental and behavioural disorders, and to assess mental health care provision in rural and remote areas. Prospective review of routinely collected RFDS and Health Direct data. RFDS aeromedical retrievals of patients from anywhere in Australia except Tasmania during 1 July 2014 - 30 June 2017 for the treatment of mental or behavioural disorders. Retrievals by ICD-10 mental and behavioural disorder diagnoses. 2257 patients were retrieved by the RFDS for treatment of mental or behavioural disorders, including 1394 males (62%) and 863 females (38%) 60% of patients were under 40 years of age, 35% identified as Indigenous Australians. The most frequent mental and behavioural disorders were schizophrenia (227 retrievals, 16.5% of retrievals with ICD diagnoses), bipolar affective disorder (185, 13.5%), and depressive episodes (153, 11.2%). Psychoactive substance misuse triggered 194 retrievals (14.2%), including misuse of multiple drugs (85, 6.2%), alcohol (61, 4.5%), and cannabinoids (25, 1.8%). The mean age of patients retrieved for treatment of substance misuse (29.6 years SD, 11.6 years) was lower than for retrieved patients overall (37.0 years SD, 19.3 years) 38 of 194 patients retrieved after psychoactive substance misuse (19.6%) were under 19 years of age. Most retrieval sites were rural and remote communities with low levels of mental health care support. Mental and behavioural disorders are an important problem in rural and remote communities, and acute presentations trigger a considerable number of RFDS retrievals.
Comparison of general and cardiac care-specific indices of spatial access in Australia
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 25-07-2019
Measuring national accessibility to cardiac services using geographic information systems
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2012
Public open space exposure measures in Australian health research: a critical review of the literature
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-01-2019
Composition and context drivers of residential property location value as a socioeconomic status measure
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 22-10-2018
Abstract: Research applying residential property value as a socioeconomic status measure is increasing. The literature includes several measures of residential property value socioeconomic status, all of which highlight location as an important component. This paper examines the drivers of the location component of residential property value that form the basis of its application as a socioeconomic status measure. The metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia, is used as a study area to analyse the composition and context embodied in residential property location value. The focus of this paper is to provide an understanding of the drivers of residential property value calculated as the relative location factor, deliberately constructed to reflect the effect on value due to location. The analysis reduced the traditional composition measures of social structure into a smaller number of factors using principal component analysis and regressed these against relative location factor. A spatial lens was applied to the results using Moran’s I to visualise the composition and context influence embodied in relative location factor. The results provided a significantly enhanced understanding of both the composition and context of socioeconomic status wealth that may be a more suitable socioeconomic status measure than the traditional composition measures of income, education and occupation. This paper provides an original interpretation of the contribution and use of residential property location value enabling a broader understanding of socioeconomic status, concluding that relative location factor provided a more informed measure of socioeconomic status, capable of enhancing social science and health research and policy formation.
Residential area sociodemographic and breast cancer screening venue location built environmental features associated with women's use of closest venue in greater Sydney, Australia
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 27-10-2021
Abstract: Understanding environmental predictors of women’s use of closest breast screening venue versus other site(s) may assist optimal venue placement. This study assessed relationships between residential-area sociodemographic measures, venue location features, and women’s use of closest versus other venues. Data of 320,672 Greater Sydney screening attendees were spatially joined to residential state suburbs (SSCs) (n = 799). SSC-level sociodemographic measures included proportions of: women speaking English at home university-educated full-time employed and dwellings with motor-vehicles. A geographic information system identified each woman’s closest venue to home, and venue co-location with bus-stop, train-station, hospital, general practitioner, and shop(s). Multilevel logistic models estimated associations between environmental measures and closest venue attendance. Attendance at closest venue was 59.4%. Closest venue attendance was positively associated with SSC-level women speaking English but inversely associated with SSC-level women university-educated, full-time employed, and dwellings with motor-vehicles. Mobile venue co-location with general practitioner and shop was positively, but co-location with bus-stop and hospital was inversely associated with attendance. Attendance was positively associated with fixed venue co-location with train-station and hospital but inversely associated with venue co-location with bus-stop, general practitioner, and shop. Program planners should consider these features when optimising service locations to enhance utilisation. Some counterintuitive results necessitate additional investigation.
Place and health infrastructure in the Gulf Cooperation Council: A systematic scoping review of GIS applications in health
Publisher: PAGEPress Publications
Date: 29-12-2020
DOI: 10.4081/GH.2020.887
Abstract: The rising burden of non-communicable diseases is taxing health systems globally. Using data science and information systems is necessary to support public health practices. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are key to inform and help guide public health policies related to place (i.e. location or where one lives) and how it affects health. Despite the increasing use of GIS for public health globally, its applications to health in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states remains largely unknown. This systematic scoping review aimed to uncover how GIS has been used in the GCC states to understand “place” and “health”. A comprehensive search of the literature was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded, ScienceDirect, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library during June 2020. All journal articles involving the use of GIS for human health applications in the GCC states published in English in peerreviewed scientific journals were considered. After removing duplicates and applying eligibility criteria, qualitative content analysis was performed for 24 of 630 studies. GIS uses in the GCC states were categorized as health access and planning (n=9), health risk analysis (n=8), disease surveillance (n=6) and community health profiling (n=1). The majority of the uncovered evidence in this study focused on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results of this study indicate a deficiency of published evidence regarding the use of GIS in support of public health in other GCC states. This stands to compromise planning and strategic decision making in health risk analysis, disease surveillance, community health profiling, health services provision and health interventions.
Associations between breast cancer screening participation and residential area sociodemographic features, geographic accessibility, and features of screening venue location in Greater Sydney, Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.1016/J.YPMED.2021.106774
Abstract: Breast cancer screening (BCS) participation rates are often suboptimal and vary geographically. Environmental features may influence BCS participation, but few studies have assessed this relationship. This study assessed the associations between BCS participation, residential area sociodemographic characteristics, distance to BCS venue, and venue location attributes. Data for 384,433 women residing in Greater Sydney, Australia, invited to BCS during 2011-2014 were spatially joined to their state suburb (SSC) (n = 800). SSC sociodemographic measures included women's median age, proportion women speaking English at home, full-time employed, and university educated and proportion dwellings with motor-vehicles. Road network distance was calculated to each BCS venue. BCS venues were coded as co-located with bus-stop, train-station, hospital, general practitioner (GP), and shop. Hot spots were calculated to quantify spatial clustering of BCS participation. Multilevel logistic models were used to estimate the associations between environmental predictors and BCS participation, accounting for SSC-level clustering. BCS participation was 53.9% and spatially clustered. BCS was positively associated with SSC-level median age for women, proportions women speaking English and university educated, and dwellings with motor-vehicles. Distance to venue was inversely associated with BCS. Venue co-location with GP was positively associated and co-location with bus-stop, train-station, and shop, hospital were negatively associated with BCS. Residential sociodemographic features, geographic access, and venue location attributes are associated with BCS participation. These findings implicate the relevance of social and built environmental factors to programmatic aims to raise BCS participation. Additional research on venue location features is required to understand where best to site BCS venues.
Association of Built Environmental Features with Rates of Infectious Diseases in Remote Indigenous Communities in the Northern Territory, Australia
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-01-2022
DOI: 10.3390/HEALTHCARE10010173
Abstract: The health of Indigenous Australians is far poorer than non-Indigenous Australians, including an excess burden of infectious diseases. The health effect of built environmental (BE) features on Indigenous communities receives little attention. This study’s objective was to determine associations between BE features and infectious disease incidence rates in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia. Remote Indigenous communities (n = 110) were spatially joined to 93 Indigenous Locations (ILOC). Outcomes data were extracted (NT Notifiable Diseases System) and expressed as ILOC-specific incidence rates. Counts of buildings were extracted from community asset maps and grouped by function. Age-adjusted infectious disease rates were dichotomised, and bivariate binomial regression used to determine the relationships between BE variables and infectious disease. Infrastructure Shelter BE features were universally associated with significantly elevated disease outcomes (relative risk 1.67 to 2.03). Significant associations were observed for Services, Arena, Community, Childcare, Oval, and Sports and recreation BE features. BE groupings associated with disease outcomes were those with communal and/or social design intent or use. Comparable BE groupings without this intent or use did not associate with disease outcomes. While discouraging use of communal BE features during infectious disease outbreaks is a conceptually valid countermeasure, communal activities have additional health benefits themselves, and infectious disease transmission could instead be reduced through repairs to infrastructure, and more infrastructure. This is the first study to examine these associations simultaneously in more than a handful of remote Indigenous communities to illustrate community-level rather than aggregated population-level associations.
Geographic variation in and contextual factors related to biguanide adherence amongst medicaid enrolees with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
Examining adherence to activity monitoring devices to improve physical activity in adults with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 15-10-2018
Abstract: Activity monitoring devices are currently being used to facilitate and monitor physical activity. No prior review has examined adherence to the use of activity monitoring devices amongst adults with cardiovascular disease. Literature from June 2012 to October 2017 was evaluated to examine the extent of adherence to any activity monitoring device used to collect objective physical activity data. Randomized control trials comparing usual care against the use of an activity monitoring device, in a community intervention for adults from any cardiovascular diagnostic group, were included. A systematic search of databases and clinical trials registers was conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Of 10 eligible studies, two studies reported pedometer use and eight accelerometer use. Six studies addressed the primary outcome. Mean adherence was 59.1% (range 39.6% to 85.7%) at last follow-up. Studies lacked equal representation by gender (28.6% female) and age (range 42 to 82 years). This review indicates that current research on activity monitoring devices may be overstated due to the variability in adherence. Results showed that physical activity tracking in women and in young adults have been understudied.
Public open spaces and walking for recreation: Moderation by attributes of pedestrian environments
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.YPMED.2014.01.030
Abstract: This study examined whether attributes of pedestrian environments moderate the relationships between access to public open spaces (POS) and adults' recreational walking. Data were collected from participants of the North West Adelaide Health Study in 2007. Recreational walking was determined using self-reported walking frequency. Measures of POS access (presence, count, and distance to the nearest POS) were assessed using a Geographic Information System. Pedestrian environmental attributes included aesthetics, walking infrastructure, barrier/traffic, crime concern, intersection density, and access to walking trails. Regression analyses examined whether associations between POS access and recreational walking were moderated by pedestrian environmental attributes. The s le included 1574 participants (45% men, mean age: 55). POS access measures were not associated with recreational walking. However, aesthetics, walking infrastructure, and access to walking trail were found to moderate the POS-walking relationships. The presence of POS was associated with walking among participants with aesthetically pleasing pedestrian environments. Counter-intuitively, better access to POS was associated with recreational walking for those with poorer walking infrastructure or no access to walking trails. Local pedestrian environments moderate the relationships between access to POS and recreational walking. Our findings suggest the presence of complex relationships between POS availability and pedestrian environments.
Methods for accounting for neighbourhood self-selection in physical activity and dietary behaviour research: a systematic review
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-2020
DOI: 10.1186/S12966-020-00947-2
Abstract: Self-selection into residential neighbourhoods is a widely acknowledged, but under-studied problem in research investigating neighbourhood influences on physical activity and diet. Failure to handle neighbourhood self-selection can lead to biased estimates of the association between the neighbourhood environment and behaviour. This means that effects could be over- or under-estimated, both of which have implications for public health policies related to neighbourhood (re)design. Therefore, it is important that methods to deal with neighbourhood self-selection are identified and reviewed. The aim of this review was to assess how neighbourhood self-selection is conceived and accounted for in the literature. Articles from a systematic search undertaken in 2017 were included if they examined associations between neighbourhood environment exposures and adult physical activity or dietary behaviour. Exposures could include any objective measurement of the built (e.g., supermarkets), natural (e.g., parks) or social (e.g., crime) environment. Articles had to explicitly state that a given method was used to account for neighbourhood self-selection. The systematic review was registered with the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (number CRD42018083593) and was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Of 31 eligible articles, almost all considered physical activity (30/31) few examined diet (2/31). Methods used to address neighbourhood self-selection varied. Most studies (23/31) accounted for items relating to participants’ neighbourhood preferences or reasons for moving to the neighbourhood using multi-variable adjustment in regression models (20/23) or propensity scores (3/23). Of 11 longitudinal studies, three controlled for neighbourhood self-selection as an unmeasured confounder using fixed effects regression. Most studies accounted for neighbourhood self-selection by adjusting for measured attributes of neighbourhood preference. However, commonly the impact of adjustment could not be assessed. Future studies using adjustment should provide estimates of associations with and without adjustment for self-selection consider temporality in the measurement of self-selection variables relative to the timing of the environmental exposure and outcome behaviours and consider the theoretical plausibility of presumed pathways in cross-sectional research where causal direction is impossible to establish.
Access to Cardiac Rehabilitation Does Not Equate to Attendance
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 17-04-2014
Abstract: Timely access to appropriate cardiac care is critical for optimizing positive outcomes after a cardiac event. Attendance at cardiac rehabilitation (CR) remains less than optimal (10%-30%). Our aim was to derive an objective, comparable, geographic measure reflecting access to cardiac services after a cardiac event in Australia. An expert panel defined a single patient care pathway and a hierarchy of the minimum health services for CR and secondary prevention. Using geographic information systems a numeric/alpha index was modelled to describe access before and after a cardiac event. The aftercare phase was modelled into five alphabetical categories: from category A (access to medical service, pharmacy, CR, pathology within 1 h) to category E (no services available within 1 h). Approximately 96% or 19 million people lived within 1 h of the four basic services to support CR and secondary prevention, including 96% of older Australians and 75% of the indigenous population. Conversely, 14% (64,000) indigenous people resided in population locations that had poor access to health services that support CR after a cardiac event. Results demonstrated that the majority of Australians had excellent 'geographic' access to services to support CR and secondary prevention. Therefore, it appears that it is not the distance to services that affects attendance. Our 'geographic' lens has identified that more research on socioeconomic, sociological or psychological aspects to attendance is needed.
Practical utility of general practice data capture and spatial analysis for understanding COPD and asthma
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-11-2018
Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Obese Phenotypes among Arabs and South Asians: Prevalence and Relationship with Cardiometabolic Indicators
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-02-2022
DOI: 10.3390/NU14050915
Abstract: Obesity is a public health crisis in Kuwait. However, not all obese in iduals are metabolically unhealthy (MuHO) given the link between obesity and future cardiovascular events. We assessed the prevalence of the metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotype and its relationship with high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in Arab and South Asian ethnic groups in Kuwait. The national cross-sectional survey of diabetes and obesity in Kuwait adults aged 18–60 years were analysed. The harmonised definition of metabolic syndrome was used to classify metabolic health. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to model the relationship between the MHO and MuHO phenotypes and hs-CRP, ALT and HOMA-IR levels. Overall, the prevalence of MHO for body mass index (BMI)- and waist circumference (WC)-defined obesity was 30.8% and 56.0%, respectively it was greater in women (60.4% and 61.8%, respectively) than men (39.6% and 38.2%, respectively). Prevalence rates were also lower for South Asians than for Arabs. The MHO phenotype had hs-CRP values above 3 µg/mL for each age group category. Men compared to women, and South Asians compared to Arabs had a lower relative risk for the MHO group relative to the MuHO group. This study shows there is high prevalence of MHO in Kuwait.
Residential Living Structure as a Basis for the Spatial Delineation of Residential Submarkets
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2006
Effectiveness of discharge education on outcomes in acute coronary syndrome patients: a systematic review protocol
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 04-2018
DOI: 10.11124/JBISRIR-2017-003543
Abstract: The question of this review is what is the effectiveness of discharge education on outcomes in acute coronary syndrome patients?
Adherence to activity monitoring devices or smartphone applications for improving physical activity in adults with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review protocol
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 08-2018
Visualising 30 Years of Population Density Change in Australia’s Major Capital Cities
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-09-2016
Cardiac aria: A geographic approach to measure accessibility to cardiac services in Australia before and after an acute cardiac event
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2011
Breast screen service characteristics as a measure of accessibility
Publisher: Scholink Co, Ltd.
Date: 29-11-2018
Abstract: em Breast Screen Australia is a national breast cancer screening program which aims to reduce illness and death from breast cancer through early detection using mammography. Through this program women aged 40 and over in Australia are eligible for a free mammogram every two years. Around 55% of the target population participate in the program. Understanding the accessibility of breast screen services has the potential to improve the uptake of screening services. Spatial analysis of in idual breast screen services: opening hours, disability and accessibility infrastructure, parking and transport data can be used to describe the accessibility of breast screen services. Through highlighting regional accessibility to breast screen services it is possible to identify regions where accessibility to services could be increased to improved equity in health service provision. /em
Introduction to Antipodean Health Geographies
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2019
International variation in neighborhood walkability, transit, and recreation environments using geographic information systems: the IPEN adult study
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2014
Gender-specific associations between perceived and objective neighbourhood crime and metabolic syndrome
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 26-07-2018
Does where you live influence your socio-economic status?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Operationalising the 20-minute neighbourhood
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-02-2022
DOI: 10.1186/S12966-021-01243-3
Abstract: Recent rapid growth in urban areas and the desire to create liveable neighbourhoods has brought about a renewed interest in planning for compact cities, with concepts like the 20-minute neighbourhood (20MN) becoming more popular. A 20MN broadly reflects a neighbourhood that allows residents to meet their daily (non-work) needs within a short, non-motorised, trip from home. The 20MN concept underpins the key planning strategy of Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, however the 20MN definition has not been operationalised. This study aimed to develop and operationalise a practical definition of the 20MN and apply this to two Australian state capital cities: Melbourne (Victoria) and Adelaide (South Australia). Using the metropolitan boundaries for Melbourne and Adelaide, data were sourced for several layers related to five domains: 1) healthy food 2) recreational resources 3) community resources 4) public open space and 5) public transport. The number of layers and the access measures required for each domain differed. For ex le, the recreational resources domain only required a sport and fitness centre (gym) within a 1.5-km network path distance, whereas the public open space domain required a public open space within a 400-m distance along a pedestrian network and 8 ha of public open space area within a 1-km radius. Locations that met the access requirements for each of the five domains were defined as 20MNs. In Melbourne 5.5% and in Adelaide 7.6% of the population were considered to reside in a 20MN. Within areas classified as residential, the median number of people per square kilometre with a 20MN in Melbourne was 6429 and the median number of dwellings per square kilometre was 3211. In Adelaide’s 20MNs, both population density (3062) and dwelling density (1440) were lower than in Melbourne. The challenge of operationalising a practical definition of the 20MN has been addressed by this study and applied to two Australian cities. The approach can be adapted to other contexts as a first step to assessing the presence of existing 20MNs and monitoring further implementation of this concept.
Are changes in depressive symptoms, general health and residential area socio-economic status associated with trajectories of waist circumference and body mass index?
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 08-01-2020
Is walkability associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.HEALTHPLACE.2013.01.009
Abstract: Walkability of residential environments has been associated with more walking. Given the health benefits of walking, it is expected that people living in locations with higher measured walkability should have a lower risk of cardiometabolic diseases. This study tested the hypothesis that higher walkability was associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk (CMR) for two administrative spatial units and three road buffers. Data were from the North West Adelaide Health Study first wave of data collected between 2000 and 2003. CMR was expressed as a cumulative sum of six clinical risk markers, selected to reflect components of the metabolic syndrome. Walkability was based on an established methodology and operationalised as dwelling density, intersection density, land-use mix and retail footprint. Walkability was associated with lower CMR for the three road buffer representations of the built environment but not for the two administrative spatial units. This may indicate a limitation in the use of administrative spatial units for analyses of walkability and health outcomes.
Anthropometric cut-points for discriminating diabetes and metabolic syndrome among Arabs and Asians: the Kuwait Diabetes Epidemiology Program
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 04-03-2022
DOI: 10.1017/S0007114521000751
Abstract: This study aimed to determine anthropometric cut-points for screening diabetes and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Arab and South Asian ethnic groups in Kuwait and to compare the prevalence of the MetS based on the ethnic-specific waist circumference (WC) cut-point and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute WC criteria. The national population-based survey data set of diabetes and obesity in Kuwait adults aged 18–60 years was analysed. Age-adjusted logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to evaluate for 3589 in iduals the utility of WC, waist:height ratio (WHtR) and BMI to discriminate both diabetes and ≥3 CVD risk factors. Areas under the ROC curve were similar for WC, WHtR and BMI. In Arab men, WC, WHtR and BMI cut-offs for diabetes were 106 cm, 0·55 and 28 kg/m 2 and for ≥3 CVD risk factors, 97 cm, 0·55 and 28 kg/m 2 , respectively. In Arab women, cut-offs for diabetes were 107 cm, 0·65 and 33 kg/m 2 and for ≥3 CVD risk factors, 93 cm, 0·60 and 30 kg/m 2 , respectively. WC cut-offs were higher for South Asian women than men. IDF-based WC cut-offs corresponded to a higher prevalence of the MetS across sex and ethnic groups, compared with Kuwait-specific cut-offs. Any of the assessed anthropometric indices can be used in screening of diabetes and ≥3 CVD risk factors in Kuwaiti Arab and Asian populations. ROC values were similar. The WC threshold for screening the MetS in Kuwaiti Arabs and South Asians is higher for women.
Validating and measuring public open space is not a walk in the park
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-03-2016
Residents’ perceptions of walkability attributes in objectively different neighbourhoods: a pilot study
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.HEALTHPLACE.2004.05.005
Abstract: Physical attributes of local environments may influence walking. We used a modified version of the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale to compare residents' perceptions of the attributes of two neighbourhoods that differed on measures derived from Geographic Information System databases. Residents of the high-walkable neighbourhood rated relevant attributes of residential density, land-use mix (access and ersity) and street connectivity, consistently higher than did residents of the low-walkable neighbourhood. Traffic safety and safety from crime attributes did not differ. Perceived neighbourhood environment characteristics had moderate to high test-retest reliabilities. Neighbourhood environment attribute ratings may be used in population surveys and other studies.
Local descriptive norms for overweight/obesity and physical inactivity, features of the built environment, and 10-year change in glycosylated haemoglobin in an Australian population-based biomedical cohort
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2016
Neighborhood Walkability and the Walking Behavior of Australian Adults
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.AMEPRE.2007.07.025
Abstract: The physical attributes of residential neighborhoods, particularly the connectedness of streets and the proximity of destinations, can influence walking behaviors. To provide the evidence for public health advocacy on activity-friendly environments, large-scale studies in different countries are needed. Associations of neighborhood physical environments with adults' walking for transport and walking for recreation must be better understood. Walking for transport and walking for recreation were assessed with a validated survey among 2650 adults recruited from neighborhoods in an Australian city between July 2003 and June 2004, with neighborhoods selected to have either high or low walkability, based on objective measures of connectedness and proximity derived from geographic information systems (GIS) databases. The study design was stratified by area-level socioeconomic status, while analyses controlled for participant age, gender, in idual-level socioeconomic status, and reasons for neighborhood self-selection. A strong independent positive association was found between weekly frequency of walking for transport and the objectively derived neighborhood walkability index. Preference for walkable neighborhoods moderated the relationship of walkability with weekly minutes, but not the frequency of walking for transport--walkability was related to higher frequency of transport walking, irrespective of neighborhood self-selection. There were no significant associations between environmental factors and walking for recreation. Associations of neighborhood walkability attributes with walking for transport were confirmed in Australia. They accounted for a modest but statistically significant proportion of the total variation of the relevant walking behavior. The physical environment attributes that make up the walkability index are potentially important candidate factors for future environmental and policy initiatives designed to increase physical activity.
Comparative Effectiveness of Population Interventions to Improve Access to Reperfusion for ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Australia
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 12-2596
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.112.965111
Abstract: Improving timely access to reperfusion is a major goal of ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction care. We sought to compare the population impact of interventions proposed to improve timely access to reperfusion therapy in Australia. Australian hospitals, population, and road network data were integrated using Geographical Information Systems. Hospitals were classified into those that provided primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) or fibrinolysis. Population impact of interventions proposed to improve timely access to reperfusion (PPCI, fibrinolysis, or both) were modeled and compared. Timely access to reperfusion was defined as the proportion of the population capable of reaching a fibrinolysis facility ≤60 minutes or a PPCI facility ≤120 minutes from emergency medical services activation. The majority (93.2%) of the Australian population has timely access to reperfusion, mainly (53%) through fibrinolysis. Only 40.2% of the population had timely access to PPCI, and access to PPCI services is particularly limited in regional and nonexistent in remote areas. Optimizing the emergency medical services’ response or increasing PPCI services resulted in marginal improvement in timely access (1.8% and 3.7%, respectively). Direct transport to PPCI facilities and interhospital transfer for PPCI improves timely access to PPCI for 19.4% and 23.5% of the population, respectively. Prehospital fibrinolysis markedly improved access to timely reperfusion in regional and remote Australia. Significant gaps in timely provision of reperfusion remain in Australia. Systematic implementation of changes in service delivery has potential to improve timely access to PPCI for a majority of the population and improve access to fibrinolysis to those living in regional and remote areas.
Related Organisations
Deakin University Warrnambool Rural Clinical School
Location: Australia
Related Funding Activities
Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0775217
Start Date: 08-2007
End Date: 12-2012
Amount: $158,688.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP170100751
Start Date: 05-2017
End Date: 12-2021
Amount: $300,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE220100028
Start Date: 12-2023
End Date: 12-2025
Amount: $315,024.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity