Australian Indigenous health status 2011

Overview of Australian Indigenous Health Status 2011, has been published by Australia Indigenous Health Information.  It draws largely on previously published information, some of which has been re-analysed to provide clearer comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people (for more details of statistics and methods, readers should refer to the original sources). Very little information is available separately for Australian Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, but, wherever possible, separate information has been provided.

Information Technology and Mental Illness

Sane Australia has published the results of a survey which raises the question of the use of Internet and mobile technology by Australians with mental illnesses is beneficial or detrimental.  Information Technology and Mental Illness showed how people used technology to manage their lives, to help overcome isolation, and to seek information and online self-help treatments.  

Cancer Incidence Projections – AIHW

Cancer incidence projections Australia, 2011 to 2020 has just been released, and presents projections for males and females at the national level for all cancers combined, as well as the most commonly diagnosed cancers.

The number of cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia is projected to rise over the next decade for both males and females and is expected to reach about 150,000 in 2020—an increase of almost 40% from 2007. Increases in the number of cases diagnosed are due primarily to the ageing and increasing population and are expected to be most evident in older populations.

Red meat consumption and mortality

Receiving press this week was a story from the Harvard School of Public Health, reporting on research by their scientists about the dangers of the over-consumption of red meat.  The study (published in the Archives of Internal Medicine), tracked 120,000 people over a course of twenty years and associated red meat with an increased risk in cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality.  One of the authors, Frank Hu, stated that regular consumption of red meat, and especially if it's processed, contributes to premature death.  There are health benefits from replacing red meat with other sources of protein.

You can read the press release from the HSPH here, and an article in the Sydney Morning Herald here.  The Herald balanced the article by pointing out that Australians don’t consume as much red meat as the Americans in the study, and that there is no need to give it up altogether.

An Pan et al. “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality : Results From 2 Prospective Cohort Studies.  Archives of Internal Medicine, published ahead of print, 12/3/2012. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.228. The full text is freely available at the moment.

Statins and risk

Another controversy in recent days has been the publication of reports of the dangers of statins which may increase the risk of diabetes and dementia.  This followed the announcement of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change the labelling on statins, more clearly outlining the risks.

The Sydney Morning Herald on March 12 published “’Miracle’ drug puts thousands at risk’, which, despite the headline, provided a balanced view on the dangers of statins, including the need to take them if the risk of heart disease is significant.  It included comments and views from various authorities.

The Health Report on Radio National also put forward a balanced view this week, interviewing Associate Professor David Sullivan from the Lipid Clinic at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.  He said he thought the reports were quite alarmist and many people were going off their medication as a result of media headlines.  He suggested people use an Absolute Risk Tool, such as this one from the Heart Foundation, to make sure they absolutely need to keep taking statins.

Cancer drugs not on the PBS – IMJ article

Researchers from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute caused a stir this week when their paper, published in the Internal Medicine Journal, suggested that 43% of cancer treatment regimes used in their hospital were not included in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Access to anti-cancer drugs : many evidence-based treatments are off-label and unfunded by the PBS, by James D. Mellor et al explains that this is due to the drugs not being approved for these particular uses by the TGA, despite the drugs being supported by established treatment guidelines and published research.  The drugs may be approved for use in different ways, but in these instances they are unapproved and therefore not listed on the PBS.   The authors suggest that this is probably because the drug companies are not obliged to go through the costly process of re-submitting an already-approved drug to the TGA to get further approval for a different use.  “This results in a marked inequality of access to appropriate medications for cancer patients across Australia.”

Internal Medicine Journal.  Accepted online article - DOI: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2012.02751.x Please contact your library for the full text of this article.

Reading for mental health – Medical Humanities article

Get into Reading as an intervention for common mental health problems: exploring catalysts for change by Dowrick et al builds on increasing evidence for the efficacy of non-medical strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing.   Two weekly reading groups were held for 12 months, in a general practice and a mental health drop-in centre, for people with a diagnosis of depression. Reductions in depressive symptoms were observed among  group participants, with three potential catalysts for change identified as: literary form and content, group facilitation and group processes.

Medical Humanities, 2012 doi:10.1136/medhum-2011-010083. Please contact your library for access to the full text of this article.

Patient opinion website

Patientopinion.org.au is a new website where members of the public are encouraged to record their experience of the health system in Australia.  Good, bad and indifferent experiences are all published on this site, founded by Associate Professor Michael Greco, who worked on a similar site in the UK.  When your story is published, tags indicate how many people have read the story and whether the health service involved has responded or made a change because of that story.  Each entry is moderated to ensure authenticity, and rated by the website’s health staff as to criticality, but the published entries are anonymous.  

"What nurses want" – Survey results

What Nurses Want is a survey carried out by the Monash University Department of Management. It found a very overstretched and undervalued workforce: - 38% of nurses reported high to very high levels of stress and burnout; half did not trust their employer to keep promises; and only 40% were content with their pay and conditions (compared to 75% from the broader working population).

Many nurses are set to leave the profession with the survey indicating that 15% of nurses intend to leave within the next 12 months.  Excessive workloads due to lack of funded positions for nursing staff and the feeling they lack the recognition they deserve as health care professionals  were among the main reasons given for this.

Clinical Case Scenarios

NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) has developed a number of new clinical case scenarios to help improve and assess users' knowledge of our guidance.  The case scenarios are an educational resource that can be used for individual or group learning. The latest case scenarios on covering NICE guidelines are  on adult and paediatric epilepsy, self harm and colorectal cancer.    

Are medical students influenced by preceptors in making career choices

Increasingly medical students undertake clinical training in distributed learning environments. The driving factor for this is predominantly to address medical workforce shortages. In these environments students are often taught by private practitioners, residents, hospital staff and registrars, as well as faculty. Medical students are exposed to a wider range of preceptors, mentors and role models than has traditionally been the case. The aim of this systematic review was to understand if and how medical students’ career choices are influenced by their interactions with preceptors.

This systematic review has been published by the Rural and Remote Health journal.

Cancer Cluster Statement

The NHMRC has published a statement on Cancer Clusters with the aim to provide the general public with information on the assessment and management of cancer clusters. NHMRC convened a meeting of leading cancer experts, biostatisticians and health and medical researchers to review best practice in the management of cancer cluster assessment.  The Statement was produced with the assistance of relevant State and Territory experts nominated by the State and Territory Chief Health Officers.

What every man needs to know

Andrology Australia has revamped its website at http://www.andrologyaustralia.org/, so that men and health professionals can have easier access to information on male reproductive health and associated conditions.

Ambulance ramping affects paramedics and hospital staff

The underlying causes and knock-on effects of ambulance ramping at Queensland hospitals are explored and analysed in a ground-breaking report published this week by the Griffith Health Institute.

"Essentially, ambulance ramping was found to occur when no suitable emergency department bed was available, nor able to be made available, for patients presenting by ambulance and a patient remained under the care of ambulance personnel," said Dr Ramon Shaban, Senior Research Fellow at Griffith's Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice Innovation.
You can download the report here.

Caring for people who sniff petrol

Caring for people who sniff petrol or other volatile substances: a quick reference guide for health workers is a summary of the NHMRC’s consensus-based clinical practice guideline for the management of volatile substance use in Australia.

This quick reference guide contains information about how to care for people who deliberately become intoxicated by inhaling vapours from solvents, gases or aerosols, which may include petrol, paint stripper and other products used in building and plumbing, glue, nail polish remover, fuel gas, lighter fluid, spray paint and other spray cans.