New South Wales Department of Health

Lung cancer incidence, metastatic disease and mortality in people accessing mental health services: Opportunities for screening

Objective: To describe lung cancer incidence, stage and post-diagnosis mortality in people accessing mental health services, focusing on people aged 50–70 targeted by Australia’s new lung cancer screening programme. Methods: Linkage to the New South Wales Cancer Registry identifi...

Initial Review of Government‐Funded Reproductive Carrier Screening for Cystic Fibrosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Fragile X Syndrome

Summary What's already known about this topic? What does this study add?

Association of Oral Health Assessment Tool Findings With Periodontal Screening Outcomes in Adults With Diabetes

ABSTRACT Background Periodontal disease is common among adults with diabetes, yet periodontal screening is rarely incorporated into routine outpatient diabetes care. The Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) is a structured observational tool designed for non‐dental healthcare profe...

Prenatal substance exposure and developmental outcomes at age 5: a population-based cohort of 260 000 children in New South Wales, Australia

Objectives We quantified the risk of developmental support needs at school entry among children with and without prenatal substance exposure, to inform service delivery initiatives in the first 2000 days of children’s lives. Methods We assembled a cohort using population-level pe...

Evaluating the potential impact of a vaccine on gonorrhoea prevalence in a remote Australian Indigenous setting: a mathematical modelling study

BACKGROUND: Neisseria gonorrhoeae has a significant impact on global sexual and reproductive health. Its notification rates are substantially higher among Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples compared with non-Indigenous people (1651 vs 79 per 100,000 population). The...

Psychological surge capacity: an essential but overlooked pillar of Ebola preparedness in Africa

The ongoing Ebola disease outbreak in Central Africa, primarily affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, represents a rapidly evolving public health crisis. First declared o...

Healthcare professionals’ practices, perceptions, and policy contexts of neonatal twin cobedding: a cross-sectional study

Background Twin cobedding is considered a developmental care practice in neonatal settings however little is known in relation to the practices and perceptions of neonatal healthcare professionals. Purpose To explore neonatal twin cobedding practices and healthcare professionals’...

Moving beyond sexual and reproductive health knowledge: an evaluation of a co-designed digital engagement tool to promote sexual and reproductive health among international students in New South Wales, Australia

Background This study evaluates the perceived impact and needed enhancement of a co-designed digital sexual and reproductive health (SRH) tool (‘the Hub’) developed to address SRH literacy gaps among international students (IS) in New South Wales, Australia. Despite Australia’s l...

Combining Implementation and Data Sciences to Accelerate Evidence Integration into Healthcare – ImpleMATE

Background The translation of research evidence into routine healthcare practice is often slow and inconsistent, even timely implementation can significantly improve patient outcomes. While implementation science offers strategies to close this gap, current approaches are frequen...

Clinicians' Perspectives and Experiences of Barriers, Enablers and Implementation of a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Crisis Service: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Safeguards Team Program

BACKGROUND: Presentations of children and young people (CYP) to Emergency Departments (ED) for acute mental health (MH) issues have increased globally and in Australia. The Safeguards Teams Program (STP) was implemented to provide acute, rapid response, recovery-focused, trauma-i...

Assessing organisational commitment and readiness through the DANMM project: a mixed-methods study

Background Low representation and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives remain a persistent challenge for Australian health systems, constraining delivery of culturally safe, person-centred care. Building and sustaining this workforce is essential...

Stroke clinical documentation education program in Australia and New Zealand

Background: Accurate and complete clinical documentation underpins the assignment of International Classification of Disease codes used for epidemiological research, hospital activity based funding, and health service planning. Objective: To develop, implement, and evaluate an ed...

Weighted sliced inverse regression for scalable supervised dimensionality reduction of spatial transcriptomics data

Abstract With the dramatic take-up of spatially resolved transcriptomics biotechnologies, performing spatially-aware analysis of the resulting data is crucial to maximise advances in biological understanding. Dimensionality reduction is a first step in almost any analysis of spat...

Through the Looking-Glass: A Scoping Review of Psychological Mechanisms of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy for Substance Use Disorders

Abstract Purpose of Review Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has re-emerged as a potential intervention for substance use disorders (SUDs), yet the psychological mechanisms underlying behaviour change remain poorly synthesised. This scoping review mapped and evaluated proposed p...

Perceived Accuracy of ‘Undetectable Equals Untransmittable’ (U = U) Affects Openness to HIV Serodifferent Partnering in Australia: National, Cross-Sectional Survey Results

Abstract Background HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and viral suppression to an undetectable level (“Undetectable=Untransmittable” or “U = U”) are highly effective at preventing sexual HIV transmission between serodifferent partners (partners with different HIV statuses). The...

Psychosocial interventions in childhood dementia: a call for action

Abstract Childhood dementia (CD) is a complex, rare, often under-recognised, and incurable neurogenetic group of disorders with neuromotor-behavioural symptoms and poor survival outcomes. Despite profound impacts, CD remains neglected and underfunded compared to other paediatric...

Factors Associated with Extreme Waiting Times for Child Developmental Diagnostic Assessments: A Mixed-Methods Service Evaluation in Sydney

Background: Previous Australian child developmental assessment service (CDAS) cohorts have identified a small proportion of children experiencing extreme waiting times (≥730 days) for standardised developmental assessments. However, factors associated with these extreme waits rem...

Maximising the ‘co’ in co-design through facilitator actions: co-designers’ perspectives on what makes their participation in co-design meaningful

Co-design is a participatory approach to service development and research that is increasingly expected within the mental health sector. It involves end users being involved throughout a design process, not simply by providing opinions, but through shared decision making. Evidenc...

Predictive validity of the Addenbrooke’s cognitive Examination III for on-road driving outcomes in a clinical fitness-to-drive population: a prospective cohort study

Background Evidence-based fitness-to-drive assessment must balance public safety and fairness. Cognitive screens are commonly used, but must be accurate in high-stakes contexts. The predictive utility of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) for driving outcomes r...

Issues in the clinical assessment and management of people living with motor neurone disease (MND): a survey of Australian healthcare professionals

Objective: To inform the development of the Australian MND Guideline, this study aimed to identify challenges Australian healthcare professionals (HCPs) face in the clinical assessment and management of people living with MND (plwMND) including where practice varies from evidence...