Changes in the food and drink consumption patterns of Australian women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: This paper uses data from the seventh fortnightly Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey sent to women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health to investigate the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the food and drink consumption of women born in 1946-51, 1973-78 and 1989-95. METHODS: A survey about changes in fruit, vegetable, discretionary food, takeaway and sugary drink consumption during the pandemic was emailed on 22 July 2020 to 28,709 women in three cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Thematic qualitative analysis was conducted on comments about changes in consumption, and basic quantitative analysis was included for context. RESULTS: There were significant associations between age and all categories of food and drink consumption. Women wrote of lifestyle changes and choices during lockdowns, comfort and emotional eating, and access to food and drink changing their consumption behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic and interventions had both positive and negative impacts on the food and drink consumption behaviours of Australian women. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: These findings can be used to directly influence practice around healthy food and drink consumption, highlighting enablers, including being at home, and barriers, including mental health, that should be considered.

The Impact of Education and Lifestyle Factors on Disability-Free Life Expectancy From Mid-Life to Older Age: A Multi-Cohort Study.

Objectives: Low education and unhealthy lifestyle factors such as obesity, smoking, and no exercise are modifiable risk factors for disability and premature mortality. We aimed to estimate the individual and joint impact of these factors on disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) and total life expectancy (TLE). Methods: Data (n = 22,304) were from two birth cohorts (1921-26 and 1946-51) of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and linked National Death Index between 1996 and 2016. Discrete-time multi-state Markov models were used to assess the impact on DFLE and TLE. Results: Compared to the most favourable combination of education and lifestyle factors, the least favourable combination (low education, obesity, current/past smoker, and no exercise) was associated with a loss of 5.0 years TLE, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 3.2-6.8 and 6.4 years DFLE (95%CI: 4.8-7.8) at age 70 in the 1921-26 cohort. Corresponding losses in the 1946-51 cohort almost doubled (TLE: 11.0 years and DFLE: 13.0 years). Conclusion: Individual or co-ocurrance of lifestyle risk factors were associated with a significant loss of DFLE, with a greater loss in low-educated women and those in the 1946-51 cohort.

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome during pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature.

PURPOSE: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome is most commonly seen in women of child bearing age, however little is known about its effects in pregnancy. METHOD: A systematic review was conducted in March 2015 and updated in February 2018. Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, CINHAL, and the Cochrane Library were searched from database inception. The ClinicalTrials.gov site and bibliographies were searched. MeSH and Emtree headings and keywords included; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, and were combined with pregnancy and pregnancy related subject headings and keywords. Searches were limited to English. Eligible articles contained key words within the title and or abstract. Articles were excluded if Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome was not pre-existing. RESULTS: Eleven articles were identified as eligible for inclusion. Studies were appraised using the PRISMA 2009 guidelines. The overall quality of evidence was poor using the NHMRC Evidence Grading Matrix, which was attributed to small sample sizes and mostly observational studies, emphasizing the need for future high quality research. Findings in this review must be used with caution due to the poor quality of the literature available. CONCLUSIONS: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome should not be a contraindication to pregnancy. Symptom course is variable during pregnancy and the post-partum period. Continuing pre-conception medication may help symptoms, with no significant risks reported. Obstetric complications, not Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, should dictate mode of delivery. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome did not appear to affect the rate of adverse events. These results are important in determining appropriate management and care in this population.

Who takes responsibility for contraception, according to young Australian women?

OBJECTIVE: Developments in reversible forms of female contraception are more advanced than developments in male contraception - which are still limited to the condom. These technological advancements have arguably shaped views around who should take responsibility for contraception. We investigate the notion that responsibility relates to gender-specific contraceptives. METHODS: We aimed to explore young women's reports of contraceptive responsibility based on the last time they had sex, using demographic and free-text data from 1906 women who completed a longitudinal survey about contraceptive use. We analysed four patterns of responsibility: the woman took responsibility; the sexual partner took responsibility; both took responsibility; neither took responsibility. RESULTS: Our quantitative analyses found significant differences between the four groups on the following variables: contraceptive use at last sex, relationship status, ever been pregnant, parity, and medical consultations for contraception in the past six months. Our qualitative analysis identified distinct variability within and between the four patterns of responsibility in terms of contraceptive use and gender responsible. CONCLUSIONS: These findings challenge the gendered portrayal of contraceptive responsibility, in that women's responsibility is not necessarily tied to women-specific methods and vice versa. We encourage increased dialogue around contraceptive responsibility and decision-making in both clinical and educational settings.