BACKGROUND: In routine antenatal care, blood pressure is used as a screening tool for preeclampsia and its associated adverse outcomes. As such women with a blood pressure greater than 140/90 mm Hg undergo further investigation and closer follow-up, whereas those with lower blood pressures receive no additional care. In the nonpregnant setting, the American College of Cardiology now endorses lower hypertensive thresholds and it remains unclear whether these lower thresholds should also be considered in pregnancy. OBJECTIVE: (1) To examine the association between lower blood pressure thresholds (as per the American College of Cardiology guidelines) and pregnancy outcomes and (2) to determine whether there is a continuous relationship between blood pressure and pregnancy outcomes and identify the point of a change at which blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of such outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective study of singleton pregnancies at Monash Health, Australia. Data were obtained with regards to maternal characteristics and blood pressure measurements at varying gestational ages. Blood pressures were then categorized as (1) mean arterial pressure and (2) normal, elevated, stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension, as per the American College of Cardiology guidelines.Multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify associations between blood pressure categories and pregnancy outcomes. RESULTS: This study included 18,243 singleton pregnancies. We demonstrated a positive doseeresponse relationship between mean arterial pressure and the development of preeclampsia in later pregnancy. Across all gestational ages, the risk of preeclampsia was greater in those with "elevated blood pressure" and "stage 1 hypertension" in comparison with the normotensive group (adjusted risk ratio; 2.45, 95% confidence interval, 1.74e3.44 and adjusted risk ratio, 6.60; 95% confidence interval, 4.98e8.73 respectively, at 34e36 weeks' gestation). There was also an association between stage 1 hypertension, preterm birth, and adverse perinatal outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that preeclampsia and the associated adverse outcomes are not exclusive to those with blood pressures greater than 140/90 mm Hg. As such, those with prehypertensive blood pressures may also benefit from closer monitoring. Further research is essential to determine whether lowering the blood pressure threshold in pregnancy would improve detection and outcomes.

More deprived areas have a higher outpatient DNA rate for cleft patients resulting in suboptimal follow-up. Ultimately, causation of poorer outcomes in this group is likely to be multi-factorial but the financial implication of travelling to multiple clinics should be considered and it may be that resource reallocation is the answer to address the current inequality of health care provision.

The recognition of dysthymic disorder and anxiety disorders and their management in primary school-age children with ADHD-CT is generally poorly understood. The identification and elucidation of composite anxiety and depressive phenomena that may be systematically investigated through longitudinal studies of epidemiologically derived samples is needed in this particular group of children.

In this study, standardized assessments of maternal psychopathology, family functioning and marital adjustment were compared between 115 medication naïve, clinically referred primary school age children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder combined type (ADHD-CT) alone and 29 children with comorbid dysthymic disorder (DD) and ADHD-CT. The mothers of children with ADHD-CT and DD reported higher rates of anxiety and depression than those of children with ADHD-CT alone. These results reinforce the need for early recognition of comorbid DD when working with children with ADHD-CT. Increased rates of maternal anxiety and depression in children with ADHD-CT and DD may contribute to the children's symptoms, require specific psychological and/or medication treatments and careful ongoing monitoring of these specific treatments.

Background ASD and ADHD are prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders that frequently co-occur and have strong evidence for a degree of shared genetic aetiology. Behavioural and neurocognitive heterogeneity in ASD and ADHD has hampered attempts to map the underlying genetics and neurobiology, predict intervention response, and improve diagnostic accuracy. Moving away from categorical conceptualisations of psychopathology to a dimensional approach is anticipated to facilitate discovery of data-driven clusters and enhance our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic aetiology of these conditions. The Monash Autism-ADHD genetics and neurodevelopment (MAGNET) project is one of the first large-scale, family-based studies to take a truly transdiagnostic approach to ASD and ADHD. Using a comprehensive phenotyping protocol capturing dimensional traits central to ASD and ADHD, the MAGNET project aims to identify data-driven clusters across ADHD-ASD spectra using deep phenotyping of symptoms and behaviours; investigate the degree of familiality for different dimensional ASD-ADHD phenotypes and clusters; and map the neurocognitive, brain imaging, and genetic correlates of these data-driven symptom-based clusters. Methods The MAGNET project will recruit 1,200 families with children who are either typically developing, or who display elevated ASD, ADHD, or ASD-ADHD traits, in addition to affected and unaffected biological siblings of probands, and parents. All children will be comprehensively phenotyped for behavioural symptoms, comorbidities, neurocognitive and neuroimaging traits and genetics. Conclusion The MAGNET project will be the first large-scale family study to take a transdiagnostic approach to ASD-ADHD, utilising deep phenotyping across behavioural, neurocognitive, brain imaging and genetic measures.

Aim We aimed to introduce a low‐cost combined online referral and immediate appointment selection system (CORIAS) to empower referrers and parents by allowing them to schedule an appointment at a time and location of their choosing in conjunction with the referrer at the time of referral. This was because an unacceptably high rate of reported lost referrals, combined with a high rate of failure to attend initial appointments (FTAs), was noted at a six‐site community paediatric clinic service. We aimed to analyse the impact of CORIAS on important outcomes including timely appointment scheduling, attendance, loss of referrals, user acceptance, overall cost and administrative burden. Methods For 3‐month periods before and after the implementation of CORIAS, data were collected regarding all new referrals received and initial appointments scheduled, as well as reports of lost referrals. The number of attended initial appointments, FTAs, failures in successfully scheduling appointments, referrer background, CORIAS cost and qualitative feedback received from relevant parties was collated and analysed. Results The proportion of referrals reported lost was 6% following the implementation of the combined online system in comparison to 17% pre‐implementation. The FTA rate for scheduled initial appointments pre‐implementation was 16%; post‐implementation, the FTA rate was 9%. Qualitative benefits included a decrease in the administrative burden associated with appointment scheduling and increased service access for culturally and linguistically diverse families. Conclusion Appropriately designed and implemented novel online systems may improve timely and equitable access to health care by providing secure, reliable pathways for referrers and by empowering and improving communication with patients and families.

No abstract

Background ASD and ADHD are prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders that frequently co-occur and have strong evidence for a degree of shared genetic aetiology. Behavioural and neurocognitive heterogeneity in ASD and ADHD has hampered attempts to map the underlying genetics and neurobiology, predict intervention response, and improve diagnostic accuracy. Moving away from categorical conceptualisations of psychopathology to a dimensional approach is anticipated to facilitate discovery of data-driven clusters and enhance our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic aetiology of these conditions. The Monash Autism-ADHD Genetics and Neurodevelopment (MAGNET) Project is one of the first large-scale, family-based studies to take a truly transdiagnostic approach to ASD and ADHD. Using a comprehensive phenotyping protocol capturing dimensional traits central to ASD and ADHD, the MAGNET Project aims to identify data-driven clusters across ADHD-ASD spectra using deep phenotyping of symptoms and behaviours; investigate the degree of familiality for different dimensional ASD-ADHD phenotypes and clusters; and map the neurocognitive, brain imaging, and genetic correlates of these data-driven symptom-based clusters. Methods The MAGNET Project will recruit 1,200 families with children who are either typically developing, or who display elevated ASD, ADHD, or ASD-ADHD traits, in addition to affected and unaffected biological siblings of probands, and parents. All children will be comprehensively phenotyped for behavioural symptoms, comorbidities, neurocognitive and neuroimaging traits and genetics. Conclusion The MAGNET Project will be the first large-scale family study to take a transdiagnostic approach to ASD-ADHD, utilising deep phenotyping across behavioural, neurocognitive, brain imaging and genetic measures.