Associations between child maltreatment and hospital admissions for alcohol and other substance use-related disorders up to 40 years of age: Results from the Childhood Adversity and Lifetime Morbidity study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Evidence on the associations between child maltreatment (CM), alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and other substance use disorders (SUDs) comes largely from retrospective studies. These rely on self-reported data, which may be impacted by recall bias. Using prospective CM reports to statutory agencies, we measured associations between CM notifications and inpatient admissions for AUDs and SUDs up to 40 years of age. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Observational study linking administrative health data from Queensland, Australia to prospective birth cohort data comprising both agency-reported and substantiated notifications of CM. MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were inpatient admissions for AUDs and SUDs based on ICD-10-Australian modification (AM)-coded primary diagnoses. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analyses were undertaken. FINDINGS: Ten per cent (n = 609) of the cohort had a history of agency-reported or substantiated CM notifications before age 15. These individuals had higher adjusted odds of being admitted for AUDs and SUDs. For AUDs, the adjusted odds of inpatient admission were 2.86 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.73-4.74] greater where there was any previous agency-reported CM and 3.38 (95% CI = 1.94-5.89) greater where there was any previous substantiated CM. For SUDs, the adjusted odds of inpatient admission were 3.34 (95% CI = 2.42-4.61) greater where there was any previous agency-reported CM and 2.98 (95% CI = 2.04-4.36) greater where there was any previous substantiated CM. CONCLUSIONS: People with a history of child maltreatment appear to have significantly higher odds of inpatient admissions for alcohol use disorders and other substance use disorders up to 40 years of age compared to people with no history of child maltreatment.

Leadership conceptions of nurses and physicians in emergency care: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: The Emergency Department (ED) is a setting where teamwork and leadership is imperative, however, the literature to date is mostly discipline (nursing or medical) specific. This scoping review aimed to map what is known about nurses' and physicians' conceptions of leadership in the ED to understand similarities, differences, and opportunities for leadership development and research. METHOD: Guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute approach, and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) Guidelines, a systematic search of three electronic databases was performed. The Mixed Methods Assessment Tool was used for quality appraisal of included articles. RESULTS: In total, 37 articles were included. Four key findings emerged: 1) leadership was rarely explicitly defined; 2) nurse leaders tended to be characterised as agents of continuity whilst physician leaders tended to be characterised as agents of change and continuity; 3) the clarification of expectations from nurse leaders was more evident than expectations from physician leaders; and 4) leadership discourse tended to be traditional rather than contemporary. CONCLUSION: Despite the proliferation of studies into ED nurse, physician and interprofessional leadership, opportunities exist to integrate learnings from other sectors to strengthen the development of current and next generation of ED leaders.

Economic evaluations of assisted reproductive technologies in high-income countries: a systematic review.

STUDY QUESTION: Which assited reproductive technology (ART) interventions in high-income countries are cost-effective and which are not? SUMMARY ANSWER: Among all ART interventions assessed in economic evaluations, most high-cost interventions, including preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) for a general population and ICSI for unexplained infertility, are unlikely to be cost-effective owing to minimal or no increase in effectiveness. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Approaches to reduce costs in order to increase access have been identified as a research priority for future infertility research. There has been an increasing number of ART interventions implemented in routine clinical practice globally, before robust assessments of evidence on economic evaluations. The extent of clinical effectiveness of some studied comparisons has been evaluated in high-quality research, allowing more informative decision making around cost-effectiveness. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: We performed a systematic review and searched seven databases (MEDLINE, PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANE, ECONLIT, SCOPUS, and CINAHL) for studies examining ART interventions for infertility together with an economic evaluation component (cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, cost-utility, or cost-minimization assessment), in high-income countries, published since January 2011. The last search was 22 June 2022. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Two independent reviewers assessed publications and included those fulfilling the eligibility criteria. Studies were examined to assess the cost-effectiveness of the studied intervention, as well as the reporting quality of the study. The chosen outcome measure and payer perspective were also noted. Completeness of reporting was assessed against the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standard. Results are presented and summarized based on the intervention studied. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: The review included 40 studies which were conducted in 11 high-income countries. Most studies (n = 34) included a cost-effectiveness analysis. ART interventions included medication or strategies for controlled ovarian stimulation (n = 15), IVF (n = 9), PGT-A (n = 7), single embryo transfer (n = 5), ICSI (n = 3), and freeze-all embryo transfer (n = 1). Live birth was the mostly commonly reported primary outcome (n = 27), and quality-adjusted life years was reported in three studies. The health funder perspective was used in 85% (n = 34) of studies. None of the included studies measured patient preference for treatment. It remains uncertain whether PGT-A improves pregnancy rates compared to IVF cycles managed without PGT-A, and therefore cost-effectiveness could not be demonstrated for this intervention. Similarly, ICSI in non-male factor infertility appears not to be clinically effective compared to standard fertilization in an IVF cycle and is therefore not cost-effective. Interventions such as use of biosimilars or HMG for ovarian stimulation are cheaper but compromise clinical effectiveness. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Lack of both preference-based and standardized outcomes limits the comparability of results across studies. The selection of efficacy evidence offered for some interventions for economic evaluations is not always based on high-quality randomized trials and systematic reviews. In addition, there is insufficient knowledge of the willingness to pay thresholds of individuals and state funders for treatment of infertility. There is variable quality of reporting scores, which might increase uncertainty around the cost-effectiveness results. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Investment in strategies to help infertile people who utilize ART is justifiable at both personal and population levels. This systematic review may assist ART funders decide how to best invest to maximize the likelihood of delivery of a healthy child. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): There was no funding for this study. E.C. and R.W. receive salary support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) through their fellowship scheme (EC GNT1159536, RW 2021/GNT2009767). M.D.-T. reports consulting fees from King Fahad Medical School. All other authors have no competing interests to declare. REGISTRATION NUMBER: Prospero CRD42021261537.

Patterns in the provision of government-subsidised hormonal postpartum contraception in Queensland, Australia between 2012 and 2018: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Short birth intervals and unintended pregnancy are associated with poorer maternal and infant outcomes. There is a risk of pregnancy during the immediate postpartum period unless contraception is initiated. This retrospective cohort study aimed to capture the current patterns of hormonal contraceptive provision within 12 months postpartum in a high-income country. METHODS: We used a linked administrative dataset comprising all women who gave birth in Queensland, Australia between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2018 (n=339 265 pregnancies). We described our cohort by whether they were provided with government-subsidised hormonal contraception within 12 months postpartum. The associations between hormonal postpartum contraceptive provision and demographic and clinical characteristics were examined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression and presented in terms of crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: A majority of women (60.2%) were not provided with government-subsidised hormonal postpartum contraception within 12 months postpartum. Women who were younger (<25 years), were overweight or obese, smoked, were born in Australia, were non-Indigenous, gave birth in a public hospital, or were in the lowest socioeconomic status group were more likely to be provided with postpartum contraception after adjusting for other covariates, compared with their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies to increase the provision and uptake of contraception in the immediate postpartum period are needed to prevent short birth intervals and unintended pregnancy and ensure women's fertility intentions are enacted. Ongoing research is needed to examine the factors influencing women's access to contraceptive services and, further, the types of contraception provided.

Development, woman-centricity and psychometric properties of maternity patient-reported experience measures: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Valid and reliable maternity patient-reported experience measures are critical to understanding women's experiences of care. They can support clinical practice, health service and system performance measurement, and research. The aim of this review is to identify and critically appraise the risk of bias, woman-centricity (content validity), and psychometric properties of maternity patient-reported experience measures published in the scientific literature. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, and Embase were systematically searched for relevant records between January 1, 2010 and July 10, 2021. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We searched for articles describing the instrument development of maternity patient-reported experience measures and measurement properties associated with instrument validity and reliability testing. Articles that described patient-reported experience measures developed outside of the maternity context and articles that did not contribute to the instruments' development, content validation, and/or psychometric evaluation were excluded. METHODS: Included articles underwent risk of bias, content validity, and psychometric properties assessments in line with the COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) guidance. Patient-reported experience measure results were summarized according to language subgroups. An overall recommendation for use was determined for each patient-reported experience measure language subgroup. RESULTS: A total of 54 studies reported on the development and psychometric evaluation of 25 maternity patient-reported experience measures, grouped into 45 language subgroups. The quality of evidence underpinning the instruments' development was generally poor. Only 2 (4.4%) patient-reported experience measures reported sufficient content validity, and only 1 (2.2%) received a level "A" recommendation, required for real-world use. CONCLUSION: Maternity patient-reported experience measures demonstrated poor-quality evidence for their measurement properties and insufficient detail about content validity. Future maternity patient-reported experience measure development needs to prioritize women's involvement in deciding what is relevant, comprehensive, and comprehensible to measure. Improving the content validity of maternity patient-reported experience measures will improve overall validity and reliability and facilitate real-world practice improvements. Standardized patient-reported experience measure implementation also needs to be prioritized to support advancements in clinical practice for women.

The impact of assisted reproductive technology and ovulation induction on breech presentation: A whole of population-based cohort study.

AIMS: Multiple studies have suggested a likely association between breech presentation and assisted reproductive technology (ART) for conception. The aims were to determine whether conception via in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and ovulation induction (OI) is associated with fetal malpresentation at birth and to ascertain what mediating factors most significantly contribute to fetal malpresentation. METHODS: This whole-population-based cohort study included 355 990 singleton pregnancies born in Queensland, Australia, between July 2012 and July 2018. Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the adjusted odds of breech, transverse/shoulder and face/brow malpresentations in pregnancies conceived via spontaneous conception, OI (OI group) and IVF with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ART group). RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounding factors, breech presentation occurred approximately 20% more often in singleton pregnancies conceived via both ART (adjusted odds ratio: 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.30, P < 0.001) and OI (1.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.39, P < 0.05). No significant associations were observed between the three modes of conception and transverse/shoulder or face/brow presentations. Low birthweight was found to be the most significant mediating factor for breech presentation in pregnancies conceived via ART and OI. CONCLUSIONS: Similar levels of increased odds of breech presentation are present in pregnancies conceived via OI and ART, suggesting a shared underlying mechanism for the aetiology of breech presentation. For women who are considering or have conceived via these methods, counselling with respect to this increased risk is recommended.

Selecting and Implementing Patient-Reported Outcome and Experience Measures to Assess Health System Performance.

Importance: Psychometrically robust patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are critical to evaluating quality and performance across health services and systems. However, the adoption and implementation of PROMs and PREMs remain a challenge in many countries. The aim of this guide is to support instrument selection and implementation to measure health system performance. Observations: The guide is split into 3 step-by-step sections. Step 1: Knowing What to Measure discusses what PROMs and PREMs capture and how they differ from related instruments. Step 2: Choosing the Right Instrument describes the critical psychometric properties of validity, reliability, and responsiveness, and provides resources to support instrument selection and evaluation. Step 3: Mitigating Potential PROM and PREM Implementation Barriers outlines key barriers and supports for instrument implementation at system, service, and individual levels. Conclusions and Relevance: This guide aims to provide practical resources for the identification of psychometrically robust PROMs and PREMs, as well as support for their implementation to drive improvements across health systems globally.

Health Economics and Equity in Preconception Health Care: A Systematic Review.

Poor pregnancy outcomes affect a child's lifelong health and disadvantaged populations are at higher risk of poor pregnancy outcomes. Preconception care aims to improve pregnancy outcomes by managing conditions and risks prior to conception. Given known inequities in pregnancy outcomes, the adoption of preconception care may benefit disadvantaged populations. Health economics plays an important role in the implementation of interventions, as economic evaluations seek to identify the most efficient and equitable care options. This review aimed to identify the cost-effectiveness of preconception care and how equity has been considered in these evaluations. A systematic review of literature published between 2012-2022 was undertaken to identify studies that evaluate the economic outcomes of preconception care. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were manually searched for consideration of equity in the economic evaluation analysis. Costs were presented and a narrative synthesis of studies reporting on outcomes of equity was conducted. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria, and only two reported on aspects of equity, specifically ethnicity. Considering the significant disparities in pregnancy outcomes among disadvantaged populations, aspects of equity are important to consider when implementing and evaluating preconception interventions. Therefore, it is recommended that future research focuses on the cost-effectiveness of preconception care and that these evaluations incorporate aspects of equity.

'I knew I'd be taken care of': Exploring patient experiences in the Emergency Department.

AIMS: To explore adult Emergency Department patient experiences to inform the development of a new Emergency Department patient-reported experience measure. DESIGN: Descriptive, exploratory qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews with adult Emergency Department patients. METHODOLOGY: Participants were recruited across two Emergency Departments in Southeast Queensland, Australia during September and October 2020. Purposive sampling based on maximum variation was used. Participants were recruited during their Emergency Department presentation and interviewed in 2-weeks via telephone. Inductive thematic analysis followed the approach proposed by Braun and Clarke (2012). RESULTS: Thirty participants were interviewed, and four themes were inductively identified: Caring relationships between patients and Emergency Department care providers; Being in the Emergency Department environment; Variations in waiting for care; and Having a companion in the Emergency Department. Caring relationships between patients and Emergency Department care providers included being treated like a person and being cared for, being informed about and included in care, and feeling confident in care providers. Being in the Emergency Department environment included being around other patients, feeling comfortable and having privacy. Variations in waiting for care included expecting a longer wait, waiting throughout the Emergency Department journey and receiving timely care. Having a companion in the Emergency Department included not feeling alone, and observing care providers engage with companions. CONCLUSION: Patient experiences in the Emergency Department are multifaceted, and themes are not mutually exclusive. These findings demonstrate consistency with the core experiential themes identified in the international literature. IMPACT: Strategies to improve patient engagement in shared decision-making, and communication between patients and care providers about wait times will be critical to optimizing Emergency Department patient experiences, and person-centred practice. These findings holistically conceptualize patient experiences in the Emergency Department which is the first step to developing a new Emergency Department patient-reported experience measure.

Critiquing the evolution of maternity care preferences research: A systematic mixed studies review.

OBJECTIVE: Whether women's preferences for maternity care are informed remains unclear, suggesting that maternal preferences may not accurately represent what women truly want. The aim of this study was to understand and critique research on women's maternity care preferences published since 2010. DESIGN: Systematic mixed studies review. CINHAL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health electronic databases were searched from January 2010 to April 2022. FINDINGS: Thirty-five articles were included. Models of care and mode of birth were the most frequently investigated preference topics. Roughly three-quarters of included studies employed a quantitative design. Few studies assessed women's baseline knowledge regarding the aspects of maternity care investigated, and three provided information to help inform women's maternity care preferences. Over 85% of studies involved women who were either pregnant at the time of investigation or had previously given birth, and 71% employed study designs where women were required to select from pre-determined response options to describe their preferences. Two studies asked women about their preferences in the face of unlimited access and availability to specific maternity care services. KEY CONCLUSIONS: Limited provision of supporting information, the predominant inclusion of women with experience using maternity care services, and limited use of mixed methods may have hindered the collection of accurate information from women about their preferences. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Women's maternity care preferences research since 2010 may only present a limited version of what they want.

Establishing the content validity of a new emergency department patient-reported experience measure (ED PREM): a Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: Patient-reported experience measures aim to capture the patient's perspective of what happened during a care encounter and how it happened. However, due to a lack of guidance to support patient-reported experience measure development and reporting, the content validity of many instruments is unclear and ambiguous. Thus, the aim of this study was to establish the content validity of a newly developed Emergency Department Patient-Reported Experience Measure (ED PREM). METHODS: ED PREM items were developed based on the findings of a systematic mixed studies review, and qualitative interviews with Emergency Department patients that occurred during September and October, 2020. Individuals who participated in the qualitative interviews were approached again during August 2021 to participate in the ED PREM content validation study. The preliminary ED PREM comprised 37 items. A two-round modified, online Delphi study was undertaken where patient participants were asked to rate the clarity, relevance, and importance of ED PREM items on a 4-point content validity index scale. Each round lasted for two-weeks, with 1 week in between for analysis. Consensus was a priori defined as item-level content validity index scores of ≥0.80. A scale-level content validity index score was also calculated. RESULTS: Fifteen patients participated in both rounds of the online Delphi study. At the completion of the study, two items were dropped and 13 were revised, resulting in a 35-item ED PREM. The scale-level content validity index score for the final 35-item instrument was 0.95. CONCLUSIONS: The newly developed ED PREM demonstrates good content validity and aligns strongly with the concept of Emergency Department patient experience as described in the literature. The ED PREM will next be administered in a larger study to establish its' construct validity and reliability. There is an imperative for clear guidance on PREM content validation methodologies. Thus, this study may inform the efforts of other researchers undertaking PREM content validation.

Inequities in vulnerable children's access to health services in Australia.

INTRODUCTION: Children born into families at risk of becoming or remaining poor are at significant risk of experiencing childhood poverty, which can impair their start to life, and perpetuate intergenerational cycles of poverty. This study sought to quantify health service utilisation, costs and funding distribution amongst children born into vulnerable compared to non-vulnerable families. METHODS: This study used a large linked administrative dataset for all women giving birth in Queensland, Australia between July 2012 and July 2018. Health service use included inpatient, emergency department (ED), general practice, specialist, pathology and diagnostic imaging services. Costs included those paid by public hospital funders, private health insurers, Medicare and out-of-pocket costs. RESULTS: Vulnerable children comprised 34.1% of the study cohort. Compared with non-vulnerable children, they used significantly higher average numbers of ED services during the first 5 years of life (2.52±3.63 vs 1.97±2.77), and significantly lower average numbers of specialist, pathology and diagnostic imaging services. Vulnerable children incurred significantly greater costs to public hospital funders compared with non-vulnerable children over the first 5 years of life ($16 053 vs $10 247), and significantly lower private health insurer, Medicare and out-of-pocket costs. CONCLUSION: There are clear inequities in vulnerable children's health service utilisation in Australia. Greater examination of the uptake and cost-effectiveness of maternal and child services is needed, as these services support children's development in the critical first 1000 days of life.

Evaluating the development, woman-centricity and psychometric properties of maternity patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs): A systematic review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Woman-centred care is the right of every woman receiving maternity care, irrespective of where care is being received and who is providing care. This protocol describes a planned systematic review that will identify, describe and critically appraise the psychometric properties of maternity patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs). The woman-centricity of PROM and PREM development and content validation (ie, the extent to which women were involved in these processes) will also be assessed. This information will be used to develop a maternity PROMs and PREMs database to support service and system performance measurement, and value-based maternity care initiatives. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study will be guided by the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guideline for systematic reviews of outcome measurement instruments. Studies identified via MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO and EMBASE describing the development, content validation and/or psychometric evaluation of PROMs and PREMs specifically designed for maternity populations throughout pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal periods will be considered if published from 2010 onward, in English, and available in full text. The COSMIN risk of bias checklist will be used to evaluate the quality of studies reporting on the development, content validation and/or psychometric evaluation of PROMs and PREMs. COSMIN criteria for good content validity will be used to assess the woman-centricity of PROM and PREM development and content validation studies. COSMIN standards of good psychometric properties will be used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the identified instruments. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical permission for this research is not required. The findings of this research will be submitted for publication in an international, peer-reviewed journal. Abstracts for national and international conference presentations will also be submitted. The proposed maternity PROMs and PREMs database will be freely accessible online, and developed with consumer input to ensure its usefulness to a range of maternity care stakeholders. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021288854.

Options for improving low birthweight and prematurity birth outcomes of indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse infants: a systematic review of the literature using the social-ecological model.

BACKGROUND: Prematurity and low birthweight are more prevalent among Indigenous and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse infants. METHODS: To conduct a systematic review that used the social-ecological model to identify interventions for reducing low birthweight and prematurity among Indigenous or CALD infants. Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, and Medline electronic databases were searched. Studies included those published in English between 2010 and 2021, conducted in high-income countries, and reported quantitative results from clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, case-control studies or cohort studies targeting a reduction in preterm birth or low birthweight among Indigenous or CALD infants. Studies were categorized according to the level of the social-ecological model they addressed. FINDINGS: Nine studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Six of these studies reported interventions targeting the organizational level of the social-ecological model. Three studies targeted the policy, community, and interpersonal levels, respectively. Seven studies presented statistically significant reductions in preterm birth or low birthweight among Indigenous or CALD infants. These interventions targeted the policy (n = 1), community (n = 1), interpersonal (n = 1) and organizational (n = 4) levels of the social-ecological model. INTERPRETATION: Few interventions across high-income countries target the improvement of low birthweight and prematurity birth outcomes among Indigenous or CALD infants. No level of the social-ecological model was found to be more effective than another for improving these outcomes.

Quantifying the differences in birth outcomes and out-of-pocket costs between Australian Defence Force servicewomen and civilian women: A data linkage study.

OBJECTIVES: Servicewomen in Defence Forces the world over are constrained in their health service use by defence healthcare policy. These policies govern a woman's ability to choose who she receives maternity care from and where. The aim of this study was to compare Australian Defence Force (ADF) servicewomen and children's birth outcomes, health service use, and out-of-pocket costs to those of civilian women and children. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using linked administrative data for women giving birth between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2018 in Queensland, Australia (n = 365,138 births). Women serving in the ADF at the time of birth were identified as having their care funded by the Department of Defence (n = 395 births). Propensity score matching was used to identify a mixed public/private civilian sample of women to allow for comparison with servicewomen, controlling for baseline characteristics. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted using a sample of civilian women accessing only private maternity care. FINDINGS: Nearly all servicewomen gave birth in the private setting (97.22%). They had significantly greater odds of having a caesarean section (OR 1.71, 95%CI 1.29-2.30) and epidural (OR 1.56, 95%CI 1.11-2.20), and significantly lower odds of having a non-instrumental vaginal birth (OR 0.57, 95%CI 0.43-0.75) compared to women in the matched public/private civilian sample. Compared to civilian children, children born to servicewomen had significantly higher out-of-pocket costs at birth ($275.93 ± 355.82), in the first ($214.98 ± 403.45) and second ($127.75 ± 391.13) years of life, and overall up to two years of age ($618.66 ± 779.67) despite similar health service use. CONCLUSIONS: ADF servicewomen have higher rates of obstetric intervention at birth and also pay significantly higher out-of-pocket costs for their children's health service utilisation up to 2-years of age. Given the high rates of obstetric intervention, greater exploration of servicewomen's maternity care experiences and preferences is warranted, as this may necessitate further reform to ADF maternity healthcare policy.

Inequality in early childhood chronic health conditions requiring hospitalisation: A data linkage study of health service utilisation and costs.

BACKGROUND: The cost of socioeconomic inequality in health service use among Australian children with chronic health conditions is poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: To quantify the cost of socioeconomic inequality in health service use among Australian children with chronic health conditions. METHODS: Cohort study using a whole-of-population linked administrative data for all births in Queensland, Australia, between July 2015 and July 2018. Socioeconomic status was defined by an areas-based measure, grouping children into quintiles from most disadvantaged (Q1) to least disadvantaged (Q5) based on their postcode at birth. Study outcomes included health service utilisation (inpatient, emergency department, outpatient, general practitioner, specialist, pathology and diagnostic imaging services) and healthcare costs. RESULTS: Of the 238,600 children included in the analysis, 10.4% had at least one chronic health condition. Children with chronic health conditions in Q1 had higher rates of inpatient (6.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.4, 6.7), emergency department (7.2, 95% CI 7.0, 7.5) and outpatient (20.3, 95% CI 19.4, 21.3) service use compared to children with chronic health conditions in Q5. They also had lower rates of general practitioner (37.5, 95% CI 36.7, 38.4), specialist (8.9, 95% CI 8.5, 9.3), pathology (10.7, 95% CI 10.2, 11.3), and diagnostic imaging (4.3, 95% CI 4.2,4.5) service use. Children with any chronic health condition in Q1 incurred lower median out-of-pocket fees than children in Q5 ($0 vs $741, respectively), lower median Medicare funding ($2710, vs $3408, respectively), and higher median public hospital funding ($31, 052 vs $23, 017, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Children of most disadvantage are more likely to access public hospital provided services, which are accessible free of charge to patients. These children are less likely to access general practitioner, specialist, pathology and diagnostic imaging services; all of which are critical to the ongoing management of chronic health conditions, but often attract an out-of-pocket fee.

Income support for parents of children with chronic conditions and disability: where do we draw the line? A policy review.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to identify and describe whether parents who have had to stop paid employment to care for a child with a chronic condition or disability are eligible for unemployment, family and children, and disability and carer government-provided financial benefits. DESIGN: Policy review. SETTING: Group of seven high-income countries. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All policies related to unemployment, family and children, and disability and carer benefits were included. Information regarding the policy type and description, parent/carer qualification, amount of financial support payable, eligibility criteria and information source were extracted. Payment schedules were converted into 2020 US dollars, using Purchasing Power Parities. Maximum monthly benefit payments were compared with standardised per capita monthly costs of living to determine payment support suitability. RESULTS: Fifty-eight policies relevant to unemployment, family and children, and disability and carer benefit supports were identified. Germany had the highest number of welfare policies for individuals not in employment (n=11), followed by the USA (n=6). Parents or carers of children with chronic conditions or disability who were not in employment qualified for 31 of the 58 policies (53.4%). Most policies required a child to have an impaired ability to function, not just a chronic condition or disability. CONCLUSIONS: Greater support for parents and carers to continue their paid employment alongside caring responsibilities is necessary. Graded benefit schedules will also be critical to supporting the spectrum of childhood chronic conditions and disability, and the subsequent spectrum of caring responsibility.

Using epidemiological and health economic measures to inform maternity staffing decisions: A guide.

BACKGROUND: There is growing concern around unnecessary intervention (particularly caesarean section) at birth in high-income countries. Caseload midwifery care aims to offset this, but is perceived to be costly to health services. AIM: To use epidemiological and health economic techniques to estimate health outcomes and cost-savings of different levels of equivalent full time (EFT) midwives working in caseload midwifery care. METHODS: Two simulations were conducted - one assuming 10 EFT midwives working in a caseload model, with 35 women per caseload, and one assuming 50 EFT midwives working in a caseload model, with 45 women per caseload. Both were based on a sample of 5000 women. The main model inputs included rates of health outcomes for women (caesarean section, epidural anaesthesia, and episiotomy) and infants (low birthweight and admissions to special care nursery (SCN) or neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)), and the cost savings associated with health outcome avoidance. FINDINGS: The first simulation estimated 27 fewer caesarean sections, 12 fewer epidurals, 12 fewer episiotomies, 10 fewer low birthweight births, and 23 fewer infants admitted to SCN or NICU annually, at a total cost saving of AU$1,874,715. The second simulation estimated 173 fewer caesarean sections, 76 fewer epidurals, 76 fewer episiotomies, 65 fewer low birthweight births, and 150 fewer infants admitted to SCN or NICU annually, at a total cost saving of AU$12,051,741. CONCLUSION: This study provides local-level decision-makers with a decision-tool to calculate the potentially avoidable health outcomes and cost savings associated with implementing caseload midwifery care in their own service.