Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · May 2004
Early discharge: no evidence of adverse outcomes in three consecutive population-based Australian surveys of recent mothers, conducted in 1989, 1994 and 2000.
Length of postnatal hospital stay has declined dramatically since the 1970s, with ongoing controversy about potential harmful effects. Three population-based surveys of recent mothers conducted in the State of Victoria, Australia have been analysed to assess the impact of shorter length of stay on breast feeding and women's psychological well-being. Women giving birth in Victoria, Australia in 1 week in 1989, 2 weeks in 1993 and 2 weeks in 1999, excluding those who had a stillbirth or neonatal death, were mailed surveys 5-8 months postpartum. ⋯ These confidence intervals are compatible with a 30-40% reduction or a 30-40% increase in odds of depressive symptoms. Based on these findings shorter length of stay does not appear to have an adverse impact on breast feeding or women's emotional well-being. Testing early discharge policies in well-designed randomised trials remains a priority for developing stronger evidence to inform practice.
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Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol · May 2004
The Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort study: background, methods and follow-up information on a new resource for the study of life course and intergenerational influences on health.
In this paper we introduce and describe in detail an addition to the UK's population-based resources for the investigation of biological and social influences on health across the life course and between generations: the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study. We also provide an account of postwar Aberdeen when study members were growing up, report on findings of analyses of data from the original survey on which this study is based and its follow-up, assess the strengths and limitations of the study, and outline current and future research directions. This cohort comprises individuals born in Aberdeen, Scotland (UK) between 1950 and 1956, and is derived from 15 thousand subjects who took part in the Aberdeen Child Development Survey, a cross-sectional study of 'mental subnormality' (learning disability) in a population of all children who were attending Aberdeen primary schools in December 1962. ⋯ Linkages to hospital admissions and other health endpoints captured through the Scottish Morbidity Records system have been completed. This includes an intergenerational linkage to approximately eight thousand deliveries in Scotland occurring to female members of the study population. A postal questionnaire to all traced surviving cohort members has also been distributed.