Reports and Findings

Research

The Philippines reports a high prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections despite the implementation of nationwide mass drug administration since 2006. The spatial variation of STH infections in the Philippines was last described using the 2005-2007 national STH and schistosomiasis survey. This study aimed to identify sociodemographic and environmental factors that drive STH transmission and predict high-risk areas in the Philippines.

Research

This study investigates the interaction between caregiver burden, mutuality, and family resilience in colorectal cancer management, and determines whether mutuality affects the effect of caregiver burden on family resilience.

Research

This paper provides the first causal evidence on the impact of retirement on housing choices. Our empirical strategy exploits the discontinuity in the eligibility ages for state pension as an instrument for the endogenous retirement decision and controls for time-invariant individual characteristics. The results show that retirement leads to a statistically significant and sizable increase in the probability of making a residential move or the likelihood of becoming outright homeowners.

Research

Childhood outcomes following preterm birth are widely published, however long-term adult outcomes are less well described. We aimed to determine the quality of life and burden of co-morbidities experienced by preterm-born young adults in Western Australia.

Research

Concerns regarding adverse events following immunisation are a barrier to vaccine uptake. Health professionals use vaccine safety surveillance systems (VSSSs) to monitor vaccines and inform the public of safety data. With little known about public attitudes, perceptions, and experiences with VSSS, we examined them in the context of COVID-19 vaccinations in Western Australia.

Research

Airway management is required during general anaesthesia and is essential for life-threatening conditions such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Evidence from recent trials indicates a high incidence of critical events during airway management, especially in neonates or infants. It is important to define the optimal techniques and strategies for airway management in these groups.

Research

Individuals exhibiting pronounced autistic traits (e.g., social differences and specialised interests) may struggle with cognitive empathy (i.e., the ability to infer others' emotions), although the relationship with affective empathy (i.e., the ability to share others' emotions) is less clear in that higher levels of autistic traits may be linked with increased affective empathy for negative emotions but reduced affective empathy for positive emotions. The current study investigates this empathy profile and whether alexithymia and emotion dysregulation help to explain it.

Research

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. The gut microbiota and its associated metabolites may be involved in the development and progression of CVD, although the mechanisms and impact on clinical outcomes are not fully understood. This study investigated the gut microbiome profile and associated metabolites in patients with chronic stable angina and acute coronary syndrome compared with healthy controls.

Research

Maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes, although less is known for wildfire smoke. This systematic review evaluated the association between maternal exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and the risk of perinatal, obstetric, and early childhood health outcomes. 

Research

Early diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is one of the key strategies to achieve the WHO End TB targets. This study aimed to develop and validate a simple, convenient risk score to diagnose pulmonary TB among presumptive TB cases.