Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Vitamin K-1 Intake And Incident Diabetes In The Danish Diet, Cancer, And Health Study, Pratik Pokharel, Jamie W. Bellinge, Frederik Dalgaard, Kevin Murray, Marc Sim, Bu B. Yeap, Emma Connolly, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst, Catherine P. Bondonno, Joshua R. Lewis, Gunnar Gislason, Anne Tjønneland, Kim Overvad, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Carl Schultz, Nicola P. Bondonno

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Context: Observational studies have reported lower risks of type 2 diabetes with higher vitamin K1 intake, but these studies overlook effect modification due to known diabetes risk factors. Objective: To identify subgroups that might benefit from vitamin K1 intake, we examined associations between vitamin K1 intake and incident diabetes overall and in subpopulations at risk of diabetes. Methods: Participants from the prospective cohort, the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study, with no history of diabetes were followed up for diabetes incidence. The association between intake of vitamin K1, estimated from a food frequency questionnaire completed at baseline, and incident diabetes …

Is Learning Being Supported When Information Is Provided To Informal Carers During Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation? A Qualitative Study, Elizabeth A. Lynch, Jessica Nolan, Lemma N. Bulto, John Mitchell, Annette Mcgrath, Simon Lane, Gill Harvey, Dominique A. Cadilhac, Rachel Harling, Erin Godecke

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: To explore how health professionals provide information to informal carers during inpatient stroke rehabilitation and whether these practices align with adult learning principles. Methods: Informal carers and survivors of stroke who had completed inpatient rehabilitation, and health professionals working in inpatient stroke rehabilitation were interviewed. Directed qualitative content analysis was conducted using an adult learning model, to determine how closely reported practices aligned to adult learning principles. Results: 14 carers, 6 survivors of stroke and 17 health professionals participated. Carers (79% female, 57% spouse/partner) reported having incomplete knowledge during rehabilitation, lacking information about mechanisms of stroke recovery, rehabilitation processes, …

Six Modes Of Giving Pedagogy For Engagement And Wellbeing – For Teachers And Students, Thomas W. Nielsen, Jennifer S. Ma

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The present study took place across two outdoor education trips to the Great Barrier Reef with two groups of college students (N = 36; 16-19 years), five staff, and one of the authors (TWN). The aim was to explore how an explicit understanding and implementation of the wellbeing research around cultivating generous behaviour for meaningful happiness could be ‘experienced’ by staff and students and articulated as an educational framework, or ‘pedagogy’. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to record and interpret pedagogical transactions of giving. Six repeated themes were identified: (1) exploration, (2) modelling, (3) explicit instruction, (4) incidental learning, (5) crisis …

Genomic Epidemiology And Transmission Dynamics Of Recurrent Clostridioides Difficile Infection In Western Australia, Daniel R. Knight, Korakrit Imwattana, Deirdre A. Collins, Su-Chen Lim, Stacey Hong, Papanin Putsathit, Thomas V. Riley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Recurrent cases of Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) remain one of the most common and serious challenges faced in the management of CDI. The accurate distinction between a relapse (caused by infection with the same strain) and reinfection (caused by a new strain) has implications for infection control and prevention, and patient therapy. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the epidemiology of 94 C. difficile isolates from 38 patients with rCDI in Western Australia. The C. difficile strain population comprised 13 sequence types (STs) led by ST2 (PCR ribotype (RT) 014, 36.2 %), ST8 (RT002, 19.1 %) and ST34 (RT056, …

Survey Of Attitudes Toward Performing And Reflecting On Required Team Service-Learning (Sasl): Psychometric Data And Reliability/Validity For Healthcare Professions Students In Preclinical Courses, Lon J. Van Winkle, Shane L. Rogers, Bradley O. Thornock, Brian D. Schwartz, Alexis Horst, Jensen A. Fisher, Nicole Michels

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: Previously we assessed healthcare professional students’ feelings about team-based learning, implicit bias, and service to the community using an in-house paper survey. In this study, we determined whether this survey is a reliable and valid measure of prospective medical students’ attitudes toward required service-learning in an Immunology course. To our knowledge, no published questionnaire has been shown to be dependable and useful for measuring such attitudes using only eight survey items. Methods: Fifty-eight prospective medical students in Colorado (CO) and 15 in Utah (UT) completed the same Immunology course using remote technology. In addition to the usual course content, …

Enabling Social Care Services For Older Adults During Periods Of Long-Term Social Isolation: Service Provider Perspectives, Amy Budrikis, Cate Parry, Claire Adams, Eyal Gringart, Moira Sim, Daniel Mcaullay, Natalie Strobel

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objective: To investigate how small, local organisations were impacted by and responded to COVID-19 in their delivery of social care services to older adults (70 years and older). Lessons learnt and future implications are discussed. Methods: Six representatives from four social care services (five females and one male) participated in individual semistructured interviews. Responses were analysed thematically. Results: The key themes identified were service providers' experience, perceived needs of older adults and adapting services. Service providers positioned themselves as front-line essential workers for their older adult clients, resulting in some emotional toll and distress for the service providers. They provided …

Ctla4 Mrna Is Downregulated By Mir-155 In Regulatory T Cells, And Reduced Blood Ctla4 Levels Are Associated With Poor Prognosis In Metastatic Melanoma Patients, Prasanna Kumar Vaddi, Douglas Grant Osborne, Andrew Nicklawsky, Nazanin K. Williams, Dinoop Ravindran Menon, Derek Smith, Jonathan Mayer, Anna Reid, Joanne Domenico, Giang Huong Nguyen, William A. Robinson, Melanie Ziman, Dexiang Gao, Zili Zhai, Mayumi Fujita

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is an immune checkpoint expressed in regulatory T (Treg) cells and activated T lymphocytes. Despite its potential as a treatment strategy for melanoma, CTLA-4 inhibition has limited efficacy. Using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) melanoma database and another dataset, we found that decreased CTLA4 mRNA was associated with a poorer prognosis in metastatic melanoma. To investigate further, we measured blood CTLA4 mRNA in 273 whole-blood samples from an Australian cohort and found that it was lower in metastatic melanoma than in healthy controls and associated with worse patient survival. We confirmed these findings …

Efficacy And Safety Of Acupuncture For Depression: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Binglei Chen, Carol C. Wang, Khui Hung Lee, Jianhong C. Xia, Zongting Luo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Acupuncture is widely accepted as a therapeutic option for managing depression. However, evidence from clinical trials remains controversial. This review aims to synthesize the best available evidence on the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in managing depression. The review was performed according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. Five databases and the relevant trial registries were searched from the inception to October 2021. Randomized clinical trials of acupuncture for managing depression, published in English, were selected for inclusion. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Netmeta and dmetar …

Detectable Ctdna At The Time Of Treatment Cessation Of Ipilimumab And Nivolumab For Toxicity Predicts Disease Progression In Advanced Melanoma Patients, Lydia Warburton, Anna Reid, Benhur Amanuel, Leslie Calapre, Michael Millward, Elin Gray

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) has led to unprecedented outcomes for melanoma patients but is associated with toxicity. ICI resumption after high grade irAEs poses a significant challenge in the clinical management of melanoma patients and there are no biomarkers that can help identify patients that might benefit from resuming treatment. This study aims to determine if circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels at the time of treatment-limiting irAE could guide treatment decisions in this clinical context. Methods: This is a retrospective exploratory biomarker study from 34 patients treated with combination ICI for stage IV melanoma. Patients had a treatment-limiting toxicity …

It's Quite Good Fun: A Qualitative Study Of A Singing/Songwriting Programme For People With Parkinson's Disease And Their Spouses, Deborah Hersh, Shi J. Kong, Jessica Smith

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: : Group singing for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) is an established intervention not only to improve voice and speech difficulties but also for emotional and social benefit. Less is known about the experiences of group singing on the couple—the person with PD and their spouse or partner together—and studies have not specifically tracked impact through time or in combination with songwriting. Aims: : To understand the impact of group singing/songwriting on couples (participants with PD and their spouses) to unpack whether this broader view might help explain why such interventions are reported as beneficial. Using a trajectory approach, …

North-Central Nigerian Women’S Experiences Of Obstetric Fistula Risk Factors And Their Perceived Treatment Services: An Interpretive Description, Lydia Babatunde Bulndi, Sara J. Bayes, Esther A. Adama, Deborah M. Ireson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background

An obstetric fistula also known as vesico vaginal fistula (VVF), or recto-vaginal fistula (RVF) is an abnormal opening between the urogenital tract and intestinal tract caused by prolonged obstructed labour; when the head of the baby presses on the soft tissues in the pelvis leading to loss of blood flow to the women’s bladder, vagina, and rectum. This can cause necrosis of the soft tissues resulting in debilitating fistula formations.

Aim

This study aimed to uncover North-central Nigerian women’s experiences of obstetric fistula and their perceived treatment services.

Design

Qualitative, interpretive descriptive methodology underpinned by symbolic interactionism involving face-to-face …

Nurses’ Perception Of Missed Nursing Care In A Western Australian Teaching Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study, Afia A. Sarpong, Diana Arabiat, Lucy Gent, Ebenezer Afrifa-Yamoah, Mandy Towell-Barnard Phd, Mnursing

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background

Missed nursing care (MNC) has gained increasing emphasis in nursing literature because of its association with nurse and patient outcomes in healthcare settings. While missed care has been widely studied, little evidence is available on the types and frequency of missed care, reasons for its occurrence, and predictors of missed care in Western Australia.

Aims

To determine nurses’ perceptions of the types of MNC, reasons for missed care and to identify factors predicting missed care occurrence in Western Australian acute care settings.

Methods

A cross-sectional study in medical and surgical wards was performed. The nurse MISSCARE survey tool was …

Electrocardiogram Changes Following Intravenous Bisphosphonate Infusion: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Alex Shoung, Nicholas Shoung, Rachael Hii, Nitesh Nerlekar, Peter R. Ebeling, Alexander J. Rodríguez

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Bisphosphonates are first-line treatments for several bone and mineral disorders. Studies have reported an increased incidence of serious atrial fibrillation in patients receiving bisphosphonates; however, uncertainty remains as to whether electrical disturbances are precipitated by bisphosphonates. We aimed to review the literature for studies reporting electrocardiogram (ECG) findings in patients receiving intravenous bisphosphonates for any indication. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE from inception until January 14, 2023, for studies reporting ECG parameters after intravenous bisphosphonate infusion. We excluded studies that only reported atrial fibrillation. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Continuous data were meta-analyzed if reported in at …

The Voice Of Lived Experience Guiding Impactful Change In Edith Cowan University's Whole-Of-Institution Approach To Mental Health, Susan Edgar, Fiona Navin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This case study presents the background to the establishment of Edith Cowan University (ECU)’s Student and Staff Mental Health Strategy 2021-2024 as well as the early stages of its implementation. The value of lived experience storytelling is explored, including its role in recovery programs in the mental health sector and early examples of its use in higher education health promotion initiatives. ECU’s experience adopting the Lived Experience Project is presented, including examples of how student voices have been incorporated within a range of strategic initiatives during the Foundation Phase of the University’s Mental Health Strategy. Future uses are also considered …

Law Enforcement Recruit Health Database, Myles C. Murphy, Simone Radavelli-Bagatini, Garth Allen, Nicolas Hart, Andrea Mosler

Research Datasets

Our study established clear demographic, mental health/physical injury, and physical performance data to be collected in a law enforcement recruit training program for injury surveillance and performance monitoring. Furthermore, we identified several items that were classified as relevant, but unlikely to be reported truthfully. These items which can help inform current practice and assist clinicians to determine the trustfulness of information received by patients when working within law enforcement environments.

A Critical Control Approach To Preventing Fatalities In Construction, Roberta J. Selleck

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Workplace fatalities continue to occur within the Australian construction industry at an unacceptably high rate. Most fatalities can be attributed to worker exposure to fatal energies while conducting high risk tasks in a dynamic work environment. Construction fatalities are usually single fatality events related to occupational safety hazards which are either not recognised by workers or not consistently controlled through existing safety practices. By comparison other resources industries have lower fatality rates because of their focus on identifying the controls and verification activities needed to address Major Accident Events (MAEs) and Principal Hazards in a manner that prevents fatalities.

The …

Physiological Plateaus During Childbirth: A Constructivist Grounded Theory And Novel Definition, Marina J. Weckend

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: During childbirth, one of the most common diagnoses of pathology is ‘failure to progress,’ frequently resulting in labour augmentation and intervention cascades. However, ‘failure to progress’ is poorly defined and some evidence suggests that plateauing labour (slowing, stalling and pausing of labour processes) may represent a typical and physiological occurrence during normal childbirth. Therefore, this study aimed to explore what exactly midwives define as ‘physiological plateaus’ and which significance such plateaus may have for the labour trajectory and birth outcome.

Methods: This study followed a constructivist grounded theory approach, assuming a position of ontological critical realism combined with epistemological …

An Examination Of Kinanthropometric And Physical Injury Risk Factors In Elite Australian Football, Callum J. Mccaskie

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Kinanthropometric assessment is an integral part of understanding an athlete’s physical profile and readiness for competition. This typically includes a variety of different assessments which serve to quantify body shape, proportion, and composition in a bid to understand human physiology. Common assessments include stature, body mass, limb ratios, body circumferences, body mass index, skinfold testing, body composition testing, and musculoskeletal morphological evaluations. Specifically, kinanthropometric evaluations have involved the characterisation of athletes according to sport, sex, competition level and playing position. While this has provided researchers and practitioners with greater insight into athletic phenotypes, more purposeful kinanthropometric assessments which focus on …

An Interpretive Description Study Of The Views And Experience Of Obstetric Fistula Risk Factors Among Women Attending Evangel Vesico Vagina Fistula Centre In Nigeria, Lydia Babatunde-Bulndi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

An obstetric fistula is a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, which is caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without intervention. Sufferers of obstetric fistula may experience chronic urinary and/or faecal incontinence. Although obstetric fistula is directly caused by prolonged obstructed labour, factors such as unskilled birth assistance can increase fistula risk indirectly. Harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation, lack of formal education, illiteracy, poverty, limited social role for women, malnutrition, early marriage before the full development of the pelvis, and a lack of emergency obstetric services are some of the additional factors associated with …

Exploring Demographic, Clinical And Exercise Prescription Moderators Of Resistance Exercise Effects On Objectively Measured And Patient-Reported Outcomes In Men With Prostate Cancer, Pedro Lopez Da Cruz

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Information on specific prognostic factors such as the association of body composition with survival and tailored strategies considering demographic and clinical factors as well as the influence of exercise tolerance and compliance are required to establish targeted exercise prescription in men with prostate cancer. As a result, the purpose of this doctoral research is to: (i) investigate the role of body composition on overall survival in men with prostate cancer; (ii) determine which type of exercise/physical activity and/or dietary intervention is most effective for improving body composition outcomes in this population; (iii) examine the demographic and clinical characteristics of resistance …

Towards Establishing A Fit-For-Purpose Regulatory Framework For Radiation Protection In Western Australia's Mining Industry: Evaluating Mine Worker Exposures To Naturally Occurring Radionuclides, Martin I. Ralph

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Mining in the state of Western Australia (WA) formally commenced in the 1840s, and over the ensuing 180 years has evolved to be the epicentre of the Australian mining industry and a significant contributor to the national economy. The lithology of WA is replete with mineralisation that hosts uranium and “critical minerals” required for the global renewable energy sector. The state’s first uranium mine is under development, and high levels of activity are occurring in the state’s nascent critical minerals sector, with 168 WA-based companies pursuing rare earths-bearing minerals, 51 of which are actively drilling on their tenements.

WA’s mineral …

Mining For Sleep Data: An Investigation Into The Sleep Of Fly-In Fly-Out Shift Workers In The Mining Industry And Potential Solutions, Gemma Maisey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Shift work in the mining industry is a risk factor for sleep loss leading to impaired alertness, which may adversely impact health and safety risks. This risk is being increasingly recognised by leaders and shift workers in the mining industry, however, there is limited knowledge available on the extent of sleep loss and other potential contributing factors. Furthermore, knowledge of the efficacy of individual interventions to assist shift workers to improve their sleep, and the management of risk at an organisational level is scarce. This PhD thesis involved three studies. The first two studies involved the recruitment of 88 shift …

An Overview Of Blood-Based Biomarkers In Ad, Steve Pedrini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly whose main neuropathological features are the presence of extracellular senile plaques in the brain and the intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau filaments. However, a relatively cheap and non-invasive method for the diagnosis of AD remains elusive. Recent studies have indicated that cerebral biochemical changes take place decades before the clinical onset of the disease, but current methodologies, brain scan (PET amyloid imaging) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, are unsuited for community-wide screening. Brain scanning methods non-invasively assess amyloid load but are extremely expensive and cannot be used …

Woman-Centred Ethics: A Feminist Participatory Action Research, Katherine A. Buchanan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: The maternity system has a complexity of everyday ethical issues. The bioethical principles: non maleficence, beneficence justice and autonomy, that govern health care practice have been criticised as abstract, patriarchal and even rhetorical in maternity care practice (MacLellan, 2014) and consequently may be insufficient in guiding care of childbearing women. Midwifery-led care is guided by the International Confederation of Midwives International Code of Ethics, which considers more than the bioethical principles, such as the importance of relationship. Care ethics is a relational based feminist ethics first described by Gilligan (1983) and has been theorised as an alternate paradigm for …

Treatment Integrity And Differentiation In The Very Early Rehabilitation In Speech (Verse) Trial, Emily Brogan, Natalie Ciccone, Erin Godecke

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Key elements of treatment fidelity include treatment integrity (adherence to the treatment protocol) and treatment differentiation (the difference in treatment ingredients in the control and intervention groups). The Very Early Rehabilitation in SpEech (VERSE) trial established treatment fidelity at the macro level for key components of therapy.

Aims:

To complete a detailed analysis of treatment integrity and differentiation at the utterance level of a therapeutic interaction.

Methods:

This was an observational study of therapy videos collected as part of the VERSE trial. Participants were people with aphasia in the very early phase of recovery post stroke (n = 44) …

Differential Dna Methylation Of Steatosis And Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease In Adolescence, Phillip E. Melton, M. A. Burton, K. A. Lillycrop, K. M. Godfrey, S. Rauschert, D. Anderson, G. C. Burdge, T. A. Mori, L. J. Beilin, O. T. Ayonrinde, J. M. Craig, John K. Olynyk, J. D. Holbrook, C. E. Pennell, W. H. Oddy, E. K. Moses, L. A. Adams, R. C. Huang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background and aims:

Epigenetic modifications are associated with hepatic fat accumulation and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, few epigenetic modifications directly implicated in such processes have been identified during adolescence, a critical developmental window where physiological changes could influence future disease trajectory. To investigate the association between DNA methylation and NAFLD in adolescence, we undertook discovery and validation of novel methylation marks, alongside replication of previously reported marks.

Approach and results:

We performed a DNA methylation epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) on DNA from whole blood from 707 Raine Study adolescents phenotyped for steatosis score and NAFLD by ultrasound at …

The Effect Of Regular Consumption Of Reformulated Breads On Glycemic Control: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Randomized Clinical Trials, Alena M. Schadow, Ingrid Revheim, Ulrike Spielau, Jutta Dierkes, Lukas Schwingshackl, Jan Frank, Jonathan M. Hodgson, André Moreira-Rosário, Chris J. Seal, Anette E. Buyken, Hanne Rosendahl-Riise

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Bread is a major source of grain-derived carbohydrates worldwide. High intakes of refined grains, low in dietary fiber and high in glycemic index, are linked with increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and other chronic diseases. Hence, improvements in the composition of bread could influence population health. This systematic review evaluated the effect of regular consumption of reformulated breads on glycemic control among healthy adults, adults at cardiometabolic risk or with manifest T2DM. A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Eligible studies employed a bread intervention …

Acceptability, Feasibility And Preliminary Efficacy Of Low-Moderate Intensity Constraint Induced Aphasia Therapy And Multi-Modality Aphasia Therapy In Chronic Aphasia After Stroke, John E. E. Pierce, Robyn Ohalloran, Leanne Togher, Lyndsey Nickels, David Copland, Erin Godecke, Marcus Meinzer, Tapan Rai, Dominique A. Cadilhac, Joosup Kim, Melanie Hurley, Abby Foster, Marcella Carragher, Cassie Wilcox, Gillian Steel, Miranda L. Rose

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: High-intensity Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy Plus (CIAT-Plus) and Multi-Modality Aphasia Therapy (M-MAT) are effective interventions for chronic post-stroke aphasia but challenging to provide in clinical practice. Providing these interventions may be more feasible at lower intensities, but comparative evidence is lacking. We therefore explored feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the treatments at a lower intensity. Methods: A multisite, single-blinded, randomized Phase II trial was conducted within the Phase III COMPARE trial. Groups of participants with chronic aphasia from the usual care arm of the COMPARE trial were randomized to M-MAT or CIAT-Plus, delivered at the same dose as the …

The Impact Of Pandemics On Healthcare Providers' Workloads: A Scoping Review, Gemma Doleman, Annemarie De Leo, Dianne Bloxsome

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aims: To review and synthesize available evidence exploring the impact of pandemics on direct healthcare providers' workloads in the acute care setting. Design: Scoping review. Data Sources: A review of English research articles published up to August 2022 that examined the impact of pandemics on healthcare providers’ workloads was undertaken. Studies were identified by searching four electronic databases: Medline (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science and PsychInfo (EBSCO). Fifty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Review Methods: The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Scoping Review checklist. Results: Healthcare workers experience an increase in workload pressures …

The Definition Of A Community Paramedic: An International Consensus, Brendan Shannon, Sasch Baldry, Peter O'Meara, Nicole Foster, Angela Martin, Matthew Cook, Karen Stewart, Alecka Miles

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Community paramedicine is a globally evolving model of care where paramedics provide community-based, preventative and primary healthcare services. With increased global interest and adaptation of the community paramedicine model, there is a lack of a clear definition of the role of a community paramedic. This study sought to come to an international consensus on the definition of a community paramedic. A four-phase Delphi methodology was utilised to achieve a global consensus on the definition of a community paramedic. A systematic approach to expert identification was performed and reported in line with the Conducting and REporting of DElphi Studies standard. A …