Biomedical subjects

Gail M Williams

Publications and source records attributed to Gail M Williams.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

Long-term increase in sunscreen use in an Australian community after a skin cancer prevention trial.

BACKGROUND: Given the public health burden of skin cancer in white populations, an increase in sun protective behavior is needed. In a high-risk community, we assessed long-term sunscreen use among people who had participated in a randomized trial of daily sunscreen application for prevention of skin cancer. METHODS: In 1992, 1621 residents of the subtropical Australian township of Nambour were randomly allocated to either daily or discretionary sunscreen use until 1996. From 1997 to 2002, we monitored by questionnaires their ongoing sunscreen use. RESULTS: People who had never or irregularly used sunscreen when in summer sun before the trial were more likely (P < 0.0001) to be sustaining regular application especially to their face (20% vs. 11%) and forearms (14% vs. 5%) if they had been allocated to daily, not discretionary, use of sunscreen for 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Regular voluntary sunscreen use for skin cancer prevention can be sustained by sun-sensitive people in the long term. Habit formation appears to be an important goal for sun protection programs among those living, or on vacation, in sunny places.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Early predictors of adult drinking: a birth cohort study.

Few studies have explored early predictors of problem drinking in youth, and fewer still have simultaneously considered the role of biologic, familial, and intrapersonal factors. The present study explored early life course and later life course predictors of alcohol abuse and dependence in young adulthood. Data were taken from a cohort of 2,551 mothers and their children recruited as part of the longitudinal Mater University Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes (MUSP) carried out in Brisbane, Australia, from 1981 to 1984. Data were collected prenatally and then postnatally at 6 months and at 5, 14, and 21 years. A range of biologic, familial, and intrapersonal factors was considered. A series of logistic regression models with inverse probability weighting was used to explore pathways to problem drinking from adolescence to early adulthood. For males and females, no association was found between either birth factors or childhood factors and a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol disorders at age 21 years. Externalizing symptoms and maternal factors at age 14 years were significantly associated with alcohol problems. For youth aged 14 years, maternal moderate alcohol consumption accounted for the highest percentage of attributable risk among those exposed. Results show that exposure to maternal drinking in adolescence is a strong risk factor for the development of alcohol problems in early adulthood.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Effect of body mass index changes between ages 5 and 14 on blood pressure at age 14: findings from a birth cohort study.

Weight reduction in clinical populations of severely obese children has been shown to have beneficial effects on blood pressure, but little is known about the effect of weight gain among children in the general population. This study compares the mean blood pressure at 14 years of age with the change in overweight status between ages 5 and 14. Information from 2794 children born in Brisbane, Australia, and who were followed up since birth and had body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure measurements at ages 5 and 14 were used. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure at age 14 was the main outcomes and different patterns of change in BMI from age 5 to 14 were the main exposure. Those who changed from being overweight at age 5 to having normal BMI at age 14 had similar mean blood pressures to those who had a normal BMI at both time points: age- and sex-adjusted mean difference in systolic blood pressure 1.54 (-0.38, 3.45) mm Hg and in diastolic blood pressure 0.43 (-0.95, 1.81) mm Hg. In contrast, those who were overweight at both ages or who had a normal BMI at age 5 and were overweight at age 14 had higher blood pressure at age 14 than those who had a normal BMI at both times. These effects were independent of a range of potential confounding factors. Our findings suggest that programs that successfully result in children changing from overweight to normal-BMI status for their age may have important beneficial effects on subsequent blood pressure.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Air pollution and child respiratory health: a case-crossover study in Australia and New Zealand.

RATIONALE: The strength of the association between outdoor air pollution and hospital admissions in children has not yet been well defined. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the impact of outdoor air pollution on respiratory morbidity in children after controlling for the confounding effects of weather, season, and other pollutants. METHODS: The study used data on respiratory hospital admissions in children (three age groups: < 1, 1-4, and 5-14 years) for five cities in Australia and two in New Zealand. Time series of daily numbers of hospital admissions were analyzed using the case-crossover method; the results from cities were combined using a random-effects meta-analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Significant increases across the cities were observed for hospital admissions in children for pneumonia and acute bronchitis (0, 1-4 years), respiratory disease (0, 1-4, 5-14 years), and asthma (5-14 years). These increases were found for particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5) and less than 10 microm (PM10), nephelometry, NO2, and SO2. The largest association found was a 6.0% increase in asthma admissions (5-14 years) in relation to a 5.1-ppb increase in 24-hour NO2. CONCLUSIONS: This study found strong and consistent associations between outdoor air pollution and short-term increases in childhood hospital admissions. A number of different pollutants showed significant associations, and these were distinct from any temperature (warm or cool) effects.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Predictors of depression in very young children--a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: There have been only a few previous population-based studies of symptoms of depression in young children. There are no previous population-based studies which examine the factors which might be casually associated with depression in very young children. METHODS: Data are from a cohort study of pregnant women who gave birth to a live singleton baby in a large public hospital in Brisbane, Australia. The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) involves a 5-year follow-up, with mothers completing a short form of Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) describing the mental health of their child. Five groups of variables (socio-demographic, pre- and perinatal, maternal mental health, maternal lifestyle and maternal attitude to the child) were used to predict CBCL depression scores at the 5-year follow-up. RESULTS: There are many factors associated with maternal reports of symptoms of depression in 5-year-old children. These include marital partner changes, mother's health problems in pregnancy, child health over the first six months of life, maternal anxiety and marital satisfaction early in the child's development and the mother's attitude towards caregiving. A multiple risk factor model indicates higher rates of depression for children experiencing multiple exposures to risk. While a number of exposures are associated with increased risk, many of those children perceived to be depressed appear to lack any measured exposures. CONCLUSION: Many children as young as 5 years of age are observed to experience multiple symptoms of depression. The majority of children exposed to high levels of risk do not appear to become depressed; they appear to be resilient. The majority of children who experience multiple symptoms of depression appear to lack any known exposures to risk.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Positive maternal attitude to the family eating together decreases the risk of adolescent overweight.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether maternal attitude towards the family regularly eating together and maternal report of how often the family eat together are associated with adolescent offspring overweight. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A cross-sectional mother-child-linked analysis was carried out using 14-year follow-up data from a population-based prospective birth cohort of 3795 children (52% males) who were participants in the Mater-University study of pregnancy, Brisbane, Australia. Maternal reports on family eating pattern reported at age 14 were used. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight at age 14 was 24.1% (95% confidence interval (CI), 22.3, 26.1) for males and 27.1% (CI, 25.1, 29.2) for females. The majority of mothers (78%) reported that the family ate together at least once a day, but only 43% reported that they felt that family eating together was important. The offspring of women who felt that the family eating together was not important had increased odds of being overweight at age 14 (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05, 1.53) in age- and sex-adjusted models. Adjustment for potential confounding factors had no substantive effect on the association. There was no association between maternal reports of how often the family actually did eat together and overweight at age 14 in the offspring. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that maternal attitude towards family eating patterns, but not maternal report of how often the family do eat together, are associated with childhood overweight status. Maternal attitude towards family eating (as opposed to a report of actual frequency at one time-point) may reflect broader maternal influences (beyond family eating pattern) on their child's diet and eating patterns over a long time course.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Is there really a 'J-shaped' curve in the association between alcohol consumption and symptoms of depression and anxiety? Findings from the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy and its outcomes.

AIMS: To determine the nature of the association between alcohol consumption and symptoms of anxiety and depression in women. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of women (n = 4527) who received antenatal care at a major public hospital (Mater Misericordiae Hospital) in South Brisbane between 1981 and 1984 and who have follow-up data on alcohol use, depressive and anxiety symptoms over a 14-year period. FINDINGS: At the 5-year follow-up there was a 'J-shaped' association between alcohol consumption and both symptoms of depression and of anxiety. However, at the baseline assessment and the 14-year follow-up alcohol consumption was linearly and positively associated with depressive symptoms with increasing prevalence of symptoms with greater consumption. At the 5-year follow-up the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among those who were abstainers at both baseline and 5-year follow-up was similar to that among those who had been previous drinkers and then become abstainers (P = 0.67). Similarly, the prevalence of these symptoms was the same at the 14-year follow-up comparing those who had been abstainers at baseline, 5-year and 14-year follow-up to those who had previously consumed alcohol but were then abstainers. CONCLUSIONS: The nature of the association between alcohol consumption and symptoms of depression and anxiety may vary across their life course in women. Previous drinkers who become abstainers do not appear to be at any higher risk of symptoms of depression or anxiety compared to those who always abstained, suggesting that increased symptoms in abstainers at age 30 is not due to 'sick quitters'. The association of high alcohol consumption with symptoms of depression and anxiety may be confounded by low income and smoking.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Early life predictors of adolescent smoking: findings from the Mater-University study of pregnancy and its outcomes.

In this study we have examined the early life predictors of smoking at age 14 in a birth cohort of individuals born in Brisbane, Australia between 1981 and 1984. In stratified and multivariable analyses maternal smoking throughout pregnancy and when the child was aged 14 were both associated with the child smoking: fully adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] comparing maternal smoking throughout pregnancy with never smoking was 1.40 [1.25, 1.65] and that comparing maternal smoking when the child was aged 14 with not smoking was 1.57 [1.19, 2.06]. The association of maternal smoking throughout pregnancy was specific for adolescent smoking and was not associated with alcohol consumption, TV viewing or self-report of poor school performance at age 14. Maternal and paternal educational attainment were also associated with smoking at age 14, with these associations attenuating towards the null with adjustment for childhood behavioural problems and cognitive function. There was no association of family income with smoking at age 14 once other explanatory variables were taken into account.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Intrauterine growth and intelligence within sibling pairs: findings from the Mater-University study of pregnancy and its outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between intrauterine growth and intelligence. DESIGN: Population based birth cohort study of sibling pairs born within a maximum of three years of each other. SETTING: Mater-University women and children's hospital, Brisbane, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 235 (470 children) sibling pairs. RESULTS: Among one randomly selected sibling from each pair verbal comprehension at age 5, general intelligence at age 14, and reading ability at age 14 increased linearly with increasing gestational age and sex standardised birth weight z scores. With adjustment for maternal age, race, and smoking during pregnancy, birth order, family income, and parental education the associations with verbal comprehension at age 5 and general intelligence at age 14 remained, whereas the association with reading ability at age 14 was attenuated to the null. Within sibling pairs, differences in intrauterine growth were positively associated with differences in verbal comprehension at age 5 (test score difference per one unit difference in birth weight z score = 1.52 (0.11 to 3.26)) and general intelligence at age 14 (1.09 (0.01 to 2.18)), but not with reading ability at age 14. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic position or other fixed maternal characteristics do not seem to explain the positive association between intrauterine growth and childhood intelligence.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Associations of parental, birth, and early life characteristics with systolic blood pressure at 5 years of age: findings from the Mater-University study of pregnancy and its outcomes.

BACKGROUND: We examined the associations of a range of parental and early life characteristics with systolic blood pressure at 5 years of age. METHODS AND RESULTS: Information from 3864 children who were followed up prospectively from their mother's first antenatal clinic assessment was used. Maternal age, body mass index, and smoking during pregnancy were all positively associated with offspring systolic blood pressure at 5 years of age. The systolic blood pressure of children whose mothers had smoked throughout pregnancy was on average 0.92 mm Hg (95% CI 0.17 to 1.68) greater than that of children whose mothers had never smoked, after full adjustment. Children who had been breast fed until at least 6 months had lower systolic blood pressure than those who were breast fed for a shorter duration. Paternal body mass index and child's weight, height, and body mass index were all positively associated with blood pressure at age 5. CONCLUSIONS: Because childhood blood pressure tracks into adulthood, interventions aimed at early life risk factors, such as quitting smoking during pregnancy, breast feeding, and prevention of obesity in all family members, may be important for reducing the population distribution of blood pressure and thus cardiovascular disease risk.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

The generational transmission of socioeconomic inequalities in child cognitive development and emotional health.

Socioeconomic inequalities in the health of adults have been largely attributed to lifestyle inequalities. The cognitive development (CD) and emotional health (EH) of the child provides a basis for many of the health-related behaviours which are observed in adulthood. There has been relatively little attention paid to the way CD and EH are transmitted in the foetal and childhood periods, even though these provide a foundation for subsequent socioeconomic inequalities in adult health. The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) is a large, prospective, pre-birth cohort study which enrolled 8556 pregnant women at their first clinic visit over the period 1981-1983. These mothers (and their children) have been followed up at intervals until 14 years after the birth. The socioeconomic status of the child was measured using maternal age, family income, and marital status and the grandfathers' occupational status. Measures of child CD and child EH were obtained at 5 and 14 years of age. Child smoking at 14 years of age was also determined. Family income was related to all measures of child CD and EH and smoking, independently of all other indicators of the socioeconomic status of the child. In addition, the grandfathers' occupational status was independently related to child CD (at 5 and 14 years of age). Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families (previous generations' socioeconomic status as well as current socioeconomic status) begin their lives with a poorer platform of health and a reduced capacity to benefit from the economic and social advances experienced by the rest of society.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and physical outcomes up to 5 years of age: a longitudinal study.

AIM: To examine whether alcohol exposure in pregnancy affects weight and head circumference (HC) at birth and 5 years, and whether these effects are independent of cigarette exposure in pregnancy and social disadvantage. STUDY DESIGN: The Mater-University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) involves a prospective cohort of 8556 mothers who were enrolled at first antenatal visit. The quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption in early and late pregnancy and a measure of binge drinking in early pregnancy were recorded. Weight and HC were measured on children seen at birth and at 5 years. Level of cigarette use in early pregnancy and maternal age and level of education and family income were also measured. RESULTS: Light and moderate alcohol consumption in early or later pregnancy had no independent effects on weight or HC at birth or 5 years. Binge drinking in early pregnancy was not associated with restricted HC, and there was no effect modification by concurrent cigarette use in early pregnancy. An apparent effect of alcohol in late pregnancy on birth weight was due to confounding by cigarette use, with social risk being an independent predictor. CONCLUSION: Alcohol ingestion up to moderate levels in pregnancy was not associated with deficits in either weight or HC at birth or at 5 years.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

A mother's attitude towards her infant and child behaviour five years later.

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between maternal attitude to the infant at 6 months of age and behavioural outcomes at 5 years is explored, controlling for numerous demographic, child and psychosocial family factors. METHOD: Data was used from the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy, an Australian longitudinal study of over 7000 mothers and children followed from pregnancy to when the children were 5 years. Measures ranging from the key variables of maternal attitude and child behaviour as well as numerous confounders were dichotomised. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between maternal negative attitude toward the infant and clinically significant levels of child behaviour problems and other infant risks, early social risks, and concurrent social risks. RESULTS: The results suggest that maternal negative attitude towards the infant at 6 months is an independent predictor of child behaviour problems at 5 years. This association remained significant for boys' externalizing behaviours and girls' internalizing behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: The findings lend support to the concept of a sensitive period in early infancy; the need for a broad perspective in the assessment of the mother-infant relationship and the need for early intervention with dysfunctional mother-infant dyads.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Learning, cognitive, and attentional problems in adolescents born small for gestational age.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the presence, severity, or symmetry of growth restriction in term infants is an independent risk factor for learning, cognitive, and attentional problems in adolescence. METHODS: A total of 7388 term infants have been followed prospectively since birth. At 14 years, 5059 mothers completed a Child Behavior Checklist and provided information on their child's school progress. A total of 5051 adolescents completed a Youth Self Report, with 3703 also undergoing psychometric testing with Ravens Progressive Matrices and Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) reading subtest. Outcomes were compared on the basis of birth weight groups and measures of body symmetry and were adjusted for the level of social risk at birth. RESULTS: Adolescents who were born small for gestational age (SGA), when compared with their appropriately grown counterparts (>10th percentile), were more likely to experience learning difficulties, with a higher prevalence in those of birth weight < or =3rd percentile. Girls of birth weight < or =3rd percentile were more likely to have attentional problems and low WRAT reading scores. There was no significant difference in Ravens IQ or mean WRAT reading scores between SGA and non-SGA groups. There was no association between body symmetry and any of the outcomes studied. CONCLUSIONS: SGA status seems to have only modest independent effects on learning, cognition, and attention in adolescence. Severity but not symmetry of growth restriction predicted learning difficulties.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Schistosomiasis.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Mathematical modelling of schistosomiasis japonica: comparison of control strategies in the People's Republic of China.

We present the first mathematical model on the transmission dynamics of Schistosoma japonicum. The work extends Barbour's classic model of schistosome transmission. It allows for the mammalian host heterogeneity characteristic of the S. japonicum life cycle, and solves the problem of under-specification of Barbour's model by the use of Chinese data we are collecting on human-bovine transmission in the Poyang Lake area of Jiangxi Province in China. The model predicts that in the lake/marshland areas of the Yangtze River basin: (1) once-yearly mass chemotherapy of humans is little better than twice-yearly mass chemotherapy in reducing human prevalence. Depending on the heterogeneity of prevalence within the population, targeted treatment of high prevalence groups, with lower overall coverage, can be more effective than mass treatment with higher overall coverage. Treatment confers a short term benefit only, with prevalence rising to endemic levels once chemotherapy programs are stopped; (2) depending on the relative contributions of bovines and humans, bovine treatment can benefit humans almost as much as human treatment. Like human treatment, bovine treatment confers a short-term benefit. A combination of human and bovine treatment will dramatically reduce human prevalence and maintains the reduction for a longer period of time than treatment of a single host, although human prevalence rises once treatment ceases; (3) assuming 75% coverage of bovines, a bovine vaccine which acts on worm fecundity must have about 75% efficacy to reduce the reproduction rate below one and ensure mid-term reduction and long-term elimination of the parasite. Such a vaccination program should be accompanied by an initial period of human treatment to instigate a short-term reduction in prevalence, following which the reduction is enhanced by vaccine effects; (4) if the bovine vaccine is only 45% efficacious (the level of current prototype vaccines) it will lower the endemic prevalence, but will not result in elimination. If it is accompanied by an initial period of human treatment and by a 45% improvement in human sanitation or a 30% reduction in contaminated water contact by humans, elimination is then possible.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Maternal anxiety and depression, poverty and marital relationship factors during early childhood as predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescence.

BACKGROUND: This paper examines the degree to which symptoms of anxiety and depression at age 14 years are associated with early childhood experience of maternal anxiety and depression, poverty, and mother's marital relationship distress and break-up. METHODS: In a longitudinal study, 4434 families were followed-up from infancy to adolescence. RESULTS: Maternal anxiety and depression during early childhood were found to have small, but significant, influences upon the development of high anxiety-depression symptoms at age 14, after controlling for the effects of poverty and marital relationship factors. This effect was greater with repeated exposure to high maternal anxiety and depression. Poverty, distressed marital relationship and marital break-up during the child's first five years also produced small, but significant, increases in risk of high anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescence. Stable, single-parent status was not found to be a risk factor. There was no evidence of marked gender differences in risk factors, other than poverty, which had a stronger impact for girls than boys. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggest that maternal anxiety and depression, poverty, parent relationship conflict and marital break-up during early childhood are associated with small, but significant, increased risk of anxiety-depression symptoms in adolescence.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

The risk of Ross River and Barmah Forest virus disease in Queensland: implications for New Zealand.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the incidence of Ross River (RR) and Barmah Forest (BF) virus disease in Queensland and determine the risk of importation of RR virus from Queensland into New Zealand (NZ) via viraemic travellers. METHODS: Based on routine RR and BF virus notification data of seven major urban tropical and subtropical Queensland populations, incidence rates adjusted for age, sex, season and a baseline level of immunity were used to examine the annual and seasonal risk of disease in the specific populations and selected subgroups. The risk for NZ was determined by estimating the number of infections among major visitor groups travelling from Queensland to NZ, using seroconversion rates. RESULTS: In Queensland, annual rates of RR and BF virus disease ranged between 31.5-288.3 and 3.4-37.4/100,000 person years respectively and increased to between 48.4-423.5 and 3.8-40.4/100,000 person years at risk when adjusted for immunity. Our estimates indicate that more than 100 viraemic travellers may enter NZ from Queensland each year. Estimates were greatest among New Zealanders returning home. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Usefulness of notification data could be maximised by presenting more detailed information to the local governments responsible for the control and public health awareness of these pathogens. Given the high number of viraemic persons entering NZ, the abundance of possums and the emergence of Oc. camptorhynchus, transmission of RR virus within NZ is probable. Health authorities should prepare for a virgin soil epidemic of RR virus by initiating serological and clinical surveillance in key areas, enhance public and professional awareness and elevate national resources necessary to invoke emergency vector control and case management.

Adolescent↗