Cost of stroke in Australia from a societal perspective: results from the north east Melbourne stroke incidence study (NEMESIS)

Background and Purpose—— Accurate information about resource use and costs of stroke is necessary for informed health service planning. The purpose of this study was to determine the patterns of resource use among stroke patients and to estimate the total costs (direct service use and indirect production losses) of stroke (excluding SAH) in Australia for 1997.

Methods—— An incidence-based cost-of-illness model was developed, incorporating data obtained from the North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study (NEMESIS). The costs of stroke during the first year after stroke and the present value of total lifetime costs of stroke were estimated.

Results—— The total first-year costs of all first-ever-in-a lifetime strokes (SAH excluded) that occurred in Australia during 1997 were estimated to be A$555 million (US$420 million), and the present value of lifetime costs was estimated to be A$1.3 billion (US$985 million). The average cost per case during the first 12 months and over a lifetime was A$18 956 (US$14 361) and A$44 428 (US$33 658), respectively. The most important categories of cost during the first year were acute hospitalization (A$154 million), inpatient rehabilitation (A$150 million), and nursing home care (A$63 million). The present value of lifetime indirect costs was estimated to be A$34 million.

Conclusions—— Similar to other studies, hospital and nursing home costs contributed most to the total cost of stroke (excluding SAH) in Australia. Inpatient rehabilitation accounts for {approx}27% of total first-year costs. Given the magnitude of these costs, investigation of the cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation services should become a priority in this community.

How is gender-based violence covered in the sporting news? An account of the Australian Football League sex scandal

Despite the significant amount of feminist and sociological research devoted to the question of sexual harassment and assault in sport, there has been little accompanying exploration of how the media discuss gender-based violence by sportsmen. This study examines the narratives of gendered behaviour that emerge in stories about Australian rules footballers and violence against women in the sport sections of two major Australian newspapers. As the audience for sport news is primarily male, the way that sexual misconduct by footballers is reported in this section of the newspaper provides an important dimension in theorising how media institutions influence public discourse and understandings of gender.

Conservation management and diets of Powerful Owls (Ninox strenua) in outer urban Melbourne, Australia

The Powerful Owl Ninox strenua is Australia’s largest owl, and is mainly found east of the Great Dividing Range on the mainland in tall-open forests. The species is considered rare, both nationally and in the State of Victoria; and threatened in the Greater Melbourne area. Recovery plans for the future conservation management of N. strenua are being prepared in 2 states.

Historically, Powerful Owls have been thought to require large homes ranges (about 1000 ha per pair) in suitable old-growth forest, which provides nest hollows for the owls and their arboreal marsupial prey. Recent research, however, has found N. strenua may be more numerous and breed more successfully in a wider range of habitats than previously believed. In particular, the birds have been found living in forests and woodlands within the greater metropolitan areas of cities. The most extreme case is where a nest tree has been found within 800m of urban settlement and 6km from the centre of Brisbane.

In this paper we report on the diet, habitat use, and conservation management by a number of breeding pairs of owls in outer urban Melbourne. Study sites range from a relatively undisturbed rainforest habitat 80km from central Melbourne, through dry sclerophyll, eucalyptus-dominated open forest with some disturbance to a site 8km from central Melbourne in highly disturbed urban parkland.

Diets of the families of owls were determined by analyzing remains in regurgitated pellets. The data confirm that arboreal marsupials constitute the major prey items, especially the Common Ringtail Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus. There were differences in diets depending on the availability of prey species, which suggest a level of opportunism not previously suspected. Our study is also the first to confirm the owls capture adult Common Brushtail Possums Trichosurus vulpecula (15% of pellets containing the remains of this large opossum have bones of mature adults at 1 site) and thus take prey up to two and a half times their own weight. As well our data suggest Powerful Owls are not restricted to hollow-dwelling prey, as in some sites the marsupials rested during the day either in leafy nests called dreys (P. peregrinus) or in house roofs (T. vulpecula).

In the most heavily disturbed sites, breeding success has been reduced, and we have evidence that in one particular year the young were eaten by one of the parents. This followed construction of a bicycle track under the nest during the breeding season. Recommendations are made for the future conservation and habitat management of Powerful Owls in the Yarra Valley corridor.