Skin infection, housing and social circumstances in children living in remote Indigenous communities: testing conceptual and methodological approaches

Abstract

Background: Poor housing conditions in remote Indigenous communities in Australia are a major underlying factor in poor child health, including high rates of skin infections. The aim of this study is to test approaches to data collection, analysis and feedback for a follow-up study of the impact of housing conditions on child health.

Independent Correlates of Reported Gambling Problems Amongst Indigenous Australians

“…Household composition and household structure were also associated with reported gambling problems. Crowding is also a significant factor for remote communities with large numbers of dwellings defined as multifamily households (see Table 3), which is likely to contribute to the social problems associated with gambling (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002Statistics , 2003Statistics , 2004bStatistics , 2007bStatistics , 2008bBailie and Runcie 2001;Bailie et al 2005). This finding may reflect economic organisation of the household.…”

Acute Post-Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis in the Northern Territory of Australia: A Review of 16 Years Data and Comparison with the Literature

“…In Australia, this condition predominantly affects Indigenous Australian children living in remote Indigenous communities in the sub-tropical and semi-arid areas of Australia. In these communities living conditions are often poor, with marked overcrowding of housing 42 and often inadequate sanitation facilities, 43 which together facilitate the rapid spread of GAS. 44 Improving living conditions, housing, and education in remote communities is thus essential to reduce the rates of APSGN and other sequelae of GAS infection.…”

Apparent Contrasting Rates of Pharyngitis and Pyoderma in Regions where Rheumatic Heart Disease is Highly Prevalent

“…30 A relationship between household crowding and pyoderma has also been reported in other studies. 31,32 In the Top End communities, there was no correlation between BHS throat carriage and crowding, and there were too few cases of symptomatic pharyngitis and ARF to make any conclusions. If crowding is less critical to the incidence of GAS pharyngitis than of GAS pyoderma and GAS pyoderma does contribute to the pathogenesis of ARF in the Top End, this may go some way towards explaining the observed differences.…”