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Research

Early parent-child interactions have a critical impact on the developmental outcomes of the child. It has been reported that infants with a family history of autism and their parents may engage in different patterns of behaviours during interaction compared to those without a family history of autism. This study investigated the association of parent-child interactions with child developmental outcomes of those with typical and elevated likelihood of autism.

Research

Handedness has been studied for association with language-related disorders because of its link with language hemispheric dominance. No clear pattern has emerged, possibly because of small samples, publication bias, and heterogeneous criteria across studies.

Research

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability of childhood worldwide. Historically the diagnosis was made between 12 and 24 months, meaning data about effective early interventions to improve motor outcomes are scant. In high-income countries, two in three children will walk. This evaluator-blinded randomised controlled trial will investigate the efficacy of an early and sustained Goals-Activity-Motor Enrichment approach to improve motor and cognitive skills in infants with suspected or confirmed CP.

Research

This study examined how families with young children access and use different types of blue spaces and the health and development benefits, and potential negative effects.

Research

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices have demonstrated efficacy in adults and more recently in youths and older adults with type 1 diabetes. In adults with type 1 diabetes, the use of real-time CGM compared with intermittently scanned CGM was associated with improved glycemic control, but there are limited data available for youths. 

Research

Within the first 4 months of the Western Australian COVID-19 immunisation programme, 49 suspected anaphylaxis cases were reported to the vaccine safety surveillance system. Twelve reports met Brighton Collaboration case definition, corresponding to rates of 15.9 and 17.7 per million doses of Vaxzevria and Comirnaty administered respectively.

Research

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions. Due to variable rates of language growth in children under 5 years, the early identification of children with DLD is challenging. Early indicators are often outlined by speech pathology regulatory bodies and other developmental services as evidence to empower caregivers in the early identification of DLD.

Research

MECP2 duplication syndrome (MDS) is a rare, X-linked, neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from the duplication of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene. The clinical features of MDS include severe intellectual disability, global developmental delay, seizures, recurrent respiratory infections, and gastrointestinal problems. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how the parents of children with MDS manage their child's seizures, recurrent respiratory infections, and gastrointestinal symptoms, and the impact on them as parents.

Research

Despite advances in neonatal intensive care, babies admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) suffer from adverse outcomes. We aim to describe the longer-term respiratory infectious morbidity of infants discharged from NICU using state-wide population-based linked data in Western Australia.

Research

Asthma is among the commonest noncommunicable diseases of childhood and often occurs with other atopic comorbidities. A previous case-control study found evidence that compared to children who received acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines in early infancy, children who received one or more doses of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine had lower risk of developing IgE-mediated food allergy. We hypothesized that wP vaccination in early infancy might protect against atopic asthma in childhood.