BACKGROUND: Early environmental risk factors associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been increasingly suggested. Our study investigates the maternal, pregnancy, and newborn risk factors by gender for children prescribed stimulant medication for treatment of ADHD in Western Australia. METHODS: This is a population-based, record linkage case–control study. The records of all non-Aboriginal children and adolescents born in Western Australia and aged <25 years who were diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed stimulant medication (cases = 12 991) were linked to the Midwives Notification System (MNS) to obtain maternal, pregnancy, and birth information. The control population of 30 071 children was randomly selected from the MNS. RESULTS: Mothers of children with ADHD were significantly more likely to be younger, be single, have smoked in pregnancy, have labor induced, and experience threatened preterm labor, preeclampsia, urinary tract infection in pregnancy, or early term delivery irrespective of the gender of the child, compared with the control group. In the fully adjusted model, a novel finding was of a possible protective effect of oxytocin augmentation in girls. Low birth weight, postterm pregnancy, small for gestational age infant, fetal distress, and low Apgar scores were not identified as risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking in pregnancy, maternal urinary tract infection, being induced, and experiencing threatened preterm labor increase the risk of ADHD, with little gender difference, although oxytocin augmentation of labor appears protective for girls. Early term deliveries marginally increased the risk of ADHD. Studies designed to disentangle possible mechanisms, confounders, or moderators of these risk factors are warranted.

While it is well accepted that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable disorder, not all of the risk is genetic. It is estimated that between 10 and 40% of the variance associated with ADHD is likely to be accounted for by environmental factors. There is considerable interest in the role that the prenatal environment might play in the development of ADHD with previous reviews concluding that despite demonstration of associations between prenatal risk factors (e.g. prematurity, maternal smoking during pregnancy) and ADHD, there remains insufficient evidence to support a definite causal relationship. This article provides an update of research investigating the relationship between prenatal risk factors and ADHD published over the past 3 years. Recently, several epidemiological and data linkage studies have made substantial contributions to our understanding of this relationship. In particular, these studies have started to account for some of the genetic and familial confounds that, when taken into account, throw several established findings into doubt. None of the proposed prenatal risk factors can be confirmed as causal for ADHD, and the stronger the study design, the less likely it is to support an association. We need a new benchmark for studies investigating the etiology of ADHD whereby there is an expectation not only that data will be collected prospectively but also that the design allows the broad range of genetic and familial factors to be accounted for.

Objectives Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose the greatest threat to human health globally. The dramatic rise in early onset NCDs – such as childhood obesity, the allergy epidemic and an increasing burden of mental ill health in children and youth – reflect the profound early impact of modern environments on developing systems. The ORIGINS Project is a research platform enabling world class investigation of early antecedent pathways to NCDs, and how to curtail these. As well as facilitating strategic long-term research capacity, ORIGINS is a pipeline for short-term productivity through a series of clinical trials, early interventions, mechanistic studies, and targeted research questions to improve maternal and paternal health and the early environment. Methods ORIGINS is a decade-long collaborative initiative between the Joondalup Health Campus (JHC) and the Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) to establish a Western Australian (WA) birth cohort of 10,000 families, enrolled during pregnancy. It is currently funded to follow up participating children and their families to five years of age. Comprehensive data and biological samples are collected from participants at up to 15 different timepoints, from the first antenatal clinic visit. In the process, ORIGINS is creating a major research platform, consisting of an extensive, world class biobank and databank. Of key strength and novelty, ORIGINS includes a series of harmonised nested sub-projects integrated with clinical and diagnostic services and providing real-time feedback to improve the health of individuals and the community. Conclusions At its core, ORIGINS aims to improve the health and quality of life of the next generation through improved pathways to optimise the early environment and reduce adversity by promoting primary prevention, early detection and early intervention. This dynamic, interactive, community-based project not only provides novel research capacity, productivity, collaboration and translational impact on future generations – it is also anticipated to have flow on benefits for community engagement, cohesion and purpose. This will provide a sentinel example for tailored replication in other communities around the world as part of interconnected grass root strategies to improve planetary health.

ObjectiveTo define recent trends (1993‐1996) in incidence of endstage renal disease (ESRD) among Australian Aboriginal people in the Top End of the Northern Territory (NT). DesignAnalysis of hospital and clinical records of the Darwin‐based ESRD treatment program from 1993 to 1996 and comparison with data accumulated since 1978. ParticipantsAll people entering the ESRD treatment program from 1978 to 1996. Main outcome measuresNumber of patients treated for ESRD; their ethnicity, age and sex; comorbidities in Aboriginal patients; treatment methods and outcomes. ResultsMore Aboriginal people presented with ESRD between 1993 and 1996 (87) than in the previous 15 years of the program (68). The incidence of ESRD in Aboriginals reached 838 per million in 1996, and is doubling every 4 years. Aboriginal people presenting with ESRD are younger than non‐Aboriginal people with ESRD, and, in contrast to non‐Aboriginals, ESRD rates are higher in women than men. The numbers and proportions of Aboriginal ESRD patients who have hypertension, type 2 diabetes and cardiac disease are rising. Haemodialysis remains the most common form of treatment, and the number of dialysis treatments is doubling every 2.5 years. Only 9% of Aboriginal patients entering the program in 1993‐1996 were treated with chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and only 3% received transplants. Despite their younger age, survival of Aboriginal people on dialysis is low (median 3.3 years v. 6.5 years in non‐Aboriginals), and graft survival after transplant is poor (37% at 5 years v. 88% in non‐Aboriginals). Survival has not improved in the past 4 years, with fewer deaths from infection offset by more deaths from cardiovascular disease. Better living conditions and education, robust and integrated primary healthcare programs, and systematic screening for early renal disease and treatment of those with established disease are all matters of urgency. ConclusionsThe predicted doubling of ESRD incidence among Aboriginal people by the year 2000 will add an enormous burden to limited resources. Risk factors for renal disease underlie all the excess morbidity and mortality in NT Aboriginal adults, and arise out of accelerated lifestyle changes and socioeconomic disadvantage.

Objective To determine the health impact of swimming pools built with the aim of improving quality of life and reducing high rates of pyoderma and otitis media. Design Intervention study assessing prevalence of ear disease and skin infections before and at six monthly intervals after opening of swimming pools. Setting Two remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. Participants 84 boys and 78 girls aged < 17 years. Main outcome measures Changes in prevalence and severity of pyoderma and perforation of tympanic membranes with or without otorrhoea over 18 months after opening of pools. Results In community A, 61 children were seen before the pool was opened, and 41, 46, and 33 children were seen at the second, third, and fourth surveys. Equivalent figures for community B were 60, 35, 39, and 45. Prevalence of pyoderma declined significantly from 62% to 18% in community A and from 70% to 20% in community B during the 18 months after the pools opened. Over the same period, prevalence of severe pyoderma fell from 30% to 15% in community A and from 48% to 0% in community B. Prevalence of perforations of the tympanic membrane fell from 32% in both communities to 13% in community A and 18% in community B. School attendance improved in community A. Conclusion Swimming pools in remote communities were associated with reduction in prevalence of pyoderma and tympanic membrane perforations, which could result in long term benefits through reduction in chronic disease burden and improved educational and social outcomes.