The Risk Factors For Ecstasy And Related Drug Overdose: A Case-crossover Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$406,755.00
Summary
Our ability to respond to the emergent harms of Ecstasy and Related Drug (ERD) use is hampered by our lack of understanding of the practices users engage in that place them at risk of harm. This study will examine the risk factors for non-fatal ERD Emergency Department (ED) admission in a sample of non-fatal ERD overdose victims recruited through two hospital EDs in Melbourne. The research involves a case-crossover study of the risk factors for ERD-related ED admission, as well as a detailed cas ....Our ability to respond to the emergent harms of Ecstasy and Related Drug (ERD) use is hampered by our lack of understanding of the practices users engage in that place them at risk of harm. This study will examine the risk factors for non-fatal ERD Emergency Department (ED) admission in a sample of non-fatal ERD overdose victims recruited through two hospital EDs in Melbourne. The research involves a case-crossover study of the risk factors for ERD-related ED admission, as well as a detailed case series of ERD-related ED admissions. The case-crossover investigation will involve a comparison between behaviours occurring prior to the critical drug use episode with typical drug use behaviours and more specifically those occurring prior to a control use episode (another occasion on which ERDs were used). Data will be collected by Researchers positioned in the ED, with information collected on the specifics of the critical and control use episodes through interviews with participants following stabilisation and a return to consciousness. The case series will be established from all ERD-related ED admissions flagged as such by triage nurses. Potential risk factors under study will include the environmental conditions in which the drug was used (eg time of day, physical location), other drug taking behaviour, personal factors (eg asthma, depression) and other dose-related issues (eg amount purchased, source of purchase). Statistical analysis will establish the major differences between the critical, typical and control use episodes. The proposed research will examine risk factors for ERD-related harms within the context of an understanding of the usual practices and behaviour of users of these drugs. Identifying transient change in risk behaviours will provide a foundation for developing contextually-sensitive strategies for harm minimisation. The development of a detailed case series will impact upon the treatment and management of acute ERD-related harms.Read moreRead less
Mortality Among Opioid Dependent Persons In Pharmacotherapy, NSW 1985-2006
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$148,757.00
Summary
Heroin dependence is a long term condition associated with high rates of death, illness and injury. Death rates are much higher than the general Australian population and the causes of death include drug intoxication or overdose, trauma, suicide, complications from blood born viruses such as Hepatitis C and HIV-AIDS and other medical complications of a chaotic drug-using lifestyle. As a part of a harm minimisation approach to heroin dependence, maintenance opioid pharmacotherapies seek to stabil ....Heroin dependence is a long term condition associated with high rates of death, illness and injury. Death rates are much higher than the general Australian population and the causes of death include drug intoxication or overdose, trauma, suicide, complications from blood born viruses such as Hepatitis C and HIV-AIDS and other medical complications of a chaotic drug-using lifestyle. As a part of a harm minimisation approach to heroin dependence, maintenance opioid pharmacotherapies seek to stabilise a chaotic heroin-using lifestyle by providing a regular dose of a legal, high quality opioid under medical supervision. Maintenance treatment uses long-acting opioids such as methadone and buprenorphine to provide consistent blood opioid levels so the client avoids the constant and disruptive cycles of opioid intoxication and withdrawal. Clients in regular maintenance treatments have lower death rates than untreated heroin dependent people and better outcomes with regards to drug use. However, death still occurs in methadone and buprenorphine treatment and minimising death rates is an important goal of treatment programs. This is a large longitudinal study looking at all NSW methadone and buprenorphine clients between 1985 and 2006, an estimated 44,000 people. In particular, the study looks at their mortality. It is a data linkage project, in that it uses two existing databases (a treatment database and a mortality database) and combines the information for each subject to get a better picture of how long methadone and buprenorphine clients survive, how much maintenance treatment they have received, and what the clients die of. This is the first time the mortality of all NSW methadone and buprenorphine recipients will be examined in a systematic way. It will allow us to compare the mortality of subjects receiving methadone and buprenorphine treatments and look at changes in mortality rates and causes of death over time. This will be an important policy resource.Read moreRead less
Prevention Of Injury In Disadvantaged And High Risk Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$451,716.00
Summary
Associate Professor Ivers leads groundbreaking research that examines the burden and risk factors for injury, and works with Government to develop effective prevention programs. Injury is a leading cause of death and disability across Australia and Asia and, working with leading scientists from around the world, her program of research will seek to reduce this burden, particularly for disadvantaged and high risk populations. Focusing on road injury and falls, her work will have important benefit ....Associate Professor Ivers leads groundbreaking research that examines the burden and risk factors for injury, and works with Government to develop effective prevention programs. Injury is a leading cause of death and disability across Australia and Asia and, working with leading scientists from around the world, her program of research will seek to reduce this burden, particularly for disadvantaged and high risk populations. Focusing on road injury and falls, her work will have important benefits for injury prevention globally.Read moreRead less
Epidemiological Investigation Of The Role Of Early Life Environment In The Development Of Immune Function And Allergic And Autoimmune Disease: Knowledge Generation For Future Primary Prevention.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$664,584.00
Summary
Immune diseases, which include allergic and autoimmune diseases, are accounting for an increasing fraction of the disease burden in Australia. It is now increasingly recognised that early life changes to the immune system by environmental factors can impact on the risk of these diseases. The goal of this fellowship is the prevention of allergic and autoimmune disease.
My work focuses on the prevention of vascular disease. A major aim of mine is to improve outcome after stroke. We can test this by assessing whether individualised management plans provided to people with stroke will improve risk factors. Proper risk factor management reduces the risk of stroke recurrence. I also aim to reduce the burden of vascular disease in disadvantaged settings by finding out what risk factors are important in the development of these diseases in people living in poverty.
Through the improved understanding of the determinants of road injury, the identification of effective and efficient preventive strategies and how best to translate the research findings, this Fellowship will facilitate reductions in the burden of road injury in Australia.
Understanding Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) As A Pathway To Cardio-metabolic Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,644.00
Summary
Urinary disorders (such as incontinence, frequently voiding, weak stream, urgency and others) share many risk factors with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and may appear before CVD and T2DM manifest. This proposal will examine which particular urinary symptoms, combined with specific risk factors (e.g. obesity, depression, erectile dysfunction) best predict the occurrence of these high-burden conditions using community-based cohorts of men and women.
The Role Of Bisphenol A In The Development Of Chronic Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$397,549.00
Summary
There is accumulating evidence to suggest that the environment we live in may be important in the development of chronic disease. This project examines a key environmental toxin Bisphenol A (BPA) and explores the role it has in the development of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this project, we will explore whether there is an independent relationship between BPA and the development of diabetes, CVD and obesity in humans in a prospective setting.
Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people. This project aims to identify who and why young people first come in contact with the criminal justice system and what determines the early course of contact. The project will focus on first police contact, as a victim, witness or offender, as a means of identifying young people at-risk of adverse life outcomes. It intends to build on the NSW Child Development Study, a large population-based intergenerational cohort, to de ....Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people. This project aims to identify who and why young people first come in contact with the criminal justice system and what determines the early course of contact. The project will focus on first police contact, as a victim, witness or offender, as a means of identifying young people at-risk of adverse life outcomes. It intends to build on the NSW Child Development Study, a large population-based intergenerational cohort, to develop services and interventions aimed at preventing young people from becoming enmeshed in the criminal justice system.Read moreRead less
An Individual-level Study Of Suicide Method Substitution Over Time
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$218,122.00
Summary
This study will explore patterns of suicide methods _ e.g., whether people who attempt suicide by hanging make subsequent attempts in the following month, and, if so, whether they use the same or different methods. It will track anonymised patients who have been hospitalised for a suicide attempt in 3 Australian states to determine the extent, method and outcome of any subsequent attempts. The study will inform questions about ïbest betsÍ in terms of restricting access to means of suicide.