Alcohol management practices in community football clubs: association with risky drinking at the club and overall hazardous alcohol consumption

Across the world, it has been estimated that approximately 270 million people participate in community football clubs. However, the community sports club setting is associated with high levels of risky alcohol consumption. The study examined if sporting club alcohol management practices are associated with risky consumption of alcohol by club members while at the club, and also whether such consumption is directly and indirectly associated with club member overall hazardous alcohol consumption.

Socioeconomic differences in outdoor food advertising at public transit stops across Melbourne suburbs.

To assess and compare the number and type of outdoor food advertisements at public transit stops within suburbs of varying levels of socioeconomic disadvantage.

Low body mass and aerobic running fitness increase injury risk in elite Australian football

To assess the relationships between player characteristics (including age, playing experience, ethnicity, physical fitness) and in-season injury in elite Australian football.

Drought and desalination: Melbourne water supply and development choices in the twenty-first century

Sharply reduced catchment inflows across Australia around the end of the twentieth century led to a sequence of water restrictions followed, as the drought persisted, by approximately $10 billion of investments in desalination plants near Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. This Deakin University project jointly with Griffith University, for the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination (NCEDA), follows these new investments. We ask how best to manage bulk water supply and retail supply given the facts and fears of uncertain rainfall, modelled over a 100 year simulation period. We use Monte Carlo style studies aiming to capture the new tensions and trade-offs regarding uncertain climate, rainfall and water supply. There are presently no comprehensive life-cycle approaches to model city water balances that incorporate economic feedbacks, such as tariff adjustment, which can in turn create a financing capacity for such investment responses to low catchment levels, models that could provide significant policy implications for water planners. This project addresses the gap, and presents excerpts from a system dynamics model that augments the usual water utility representation of the physical linkages and water grids. We add inter-connected feedback loops in tariff structures, demand levels and financing capacity. Tariffs are reset in association with drought and the modelling of responses both in terms of reduced consumption and increased revenue to the utility, depending on the elasticities of demand responses to higher tariffs, both short and long term, while also allowing effects from any transitional restrictions. Before reporting on parts of the simulations applied to Melbourne, this paper will first review the general issues surrounding whether desalination is or can be a “game changer” for economic development that hinges on secure water supply. We then explore options in bulk water supply management when desalination augments the choices, including catchments, dams, recycling, pipelines from rivers and savings in irrigation. Finally, the paper addresses the intriguing and important question of the value and cost of providing water for environmental uses.

Domesticating cosmopolitanism: Charmian Clift’s women’s column in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Herald in the 1960s

When novelist Charmian Clift returned to Australia in 1964 after 14 years in England and Greece, she was commissioned to write a women’s column in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Herald. Her topics ranged widely, from food and drink, migrants and hospitality, famine and peace, children and religion, pop music and Aborigines to travel and housewives. By all accounts Clift struck a chord with her readers, her feel for connecting the vagaries of everyday life with historical and global events and social shifts made hers a distinctive voice in the daily press. This article explores the cosmopolitan outlook of Clift’s newspaper column: a world of hospitality and travel based on a common humanity, a perspective that neither feared nor favoured class, caste and colour, all the while not shying away from criticisms of the moral ambiguities of a sophisticated worldliness. It argues that Clift’s cosmopolitan perspective offered women a moral space that circumscribed local conditions. The article adds to an emerging body of knowledge on the gendered dimensions of cosmopolitanism and seeks to understand what kind of cosmopolitan world for women existed in 1960s
Australia.

Implementation of concussion guidelines in community Australian Football and Rugby League– the experiences and challenges faced by coaches and sports trainers

Objectives

While guidelines outlining the appropriate management of sport-related concussion have been developed and adapted for use within community sport, it remains unknown how they are experienced by those responsible for implementing them.
Design

Longitudinal study.
Methods

111 coaches and sports trainers from community-level Australian Football and Rugby League teams completed pre- and post-season surveys assessing their attitudes towards using concussion guidelines. Participants also provided post-season feedback regarding their experiences in using the guidelines.
Results

71% of participants reported using the guidelines in the preceding season. Post-season attitude was related to pre-season attitude (p = 0.002), football code (p = 0.015), and team role (p = 0.045). An interaction between team role and guideline use (p = 0.012) was also found, with coaches who had used the guidelines, and sports trainers who had not, reporting more positive post-season attitudes towards using the concussion guidelines. Implementation challenges included disputing of decisions about return-to-play by players, parents, and coaches, and a perceived lack of time. Recommendations for improved guideline materials included using larger fonts and providing for witnessing of advice given to players.
Conclusions

This is the first study to examine the implementation of concussion guidelines in community sport. Training of coaches/sports trainers needs enhancement. In addition, new education should be developed for parents/players about the importance of the return-to-play advice given to them by those who follow these guidelines. Information provided by those who attempted to use the guidelines will assist the refinement of implementation and dissemination processes around concussion guidelines across sports.

Exploring child dental service use among migrant families in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia

Abstract Background This study describes and explores factors related to dental service use among migrant children. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from Teeth Tales, an exploratory trial implementing a community based child oral health promotion intervention. The sample size and target population was 600 families with 1-4 year old children from Iraqi, Lebanese and Pakistani backgrounds residing in metropolitan Melbourne. Participants were recruited into the study using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Results Most (88%; 550/625) children had never visited the dentist (mean (SD) age 3.06 years (1.11)). In the fully adjusted model the variable most significantly associated with child dental visiting was parent reported 'no reason for child to visit the dentist' (OR = 0.07, p < 0.001). Of those children whose parents reported their child had no reason to visit the dentist, 22% (37/165) experienced dental caries with 8% (13/165) at the level of cavitation. Conclusions Dental service use by migrant preschool children was very low. The relationship between perceived dental need and dental service use is currently not aligned. One in 10 children of select migrant background had visited a dentist, which is in the context of 1 in 3 with dental caries. To improve utilization, health services should consider organizational cultural competence, outreach and increased engagement with the migrant community.

Game and training load differences in elite junior Australian football

Game demands and training practices within team sports such as Australian football (AF) have changed considerably over recent decades, including the requirement of coaching staff to effectively control, manipulate and monitor training and competition loads. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the differences in external and internal physical load measures between game and training in elite junior AF. Twenty five male, adolescent players (mean ±SD: age 17.6 ± 0.5 y) recruited from three elite under 18 AF clubs participated. Global positioning system (GPS), heart rate (HR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) data were obtained from 32 game files during four games, and 84 training files during 19 training sessions. Matched-pairs statistics along with Cohen's d effect size and percent difference were used to compare game and training events. Players were exposed to a higher physical load in the game environment, for both external (GPS) and internal (HR, Session-RPE) load parameters, compared to in-season training. Session time (d = 1.23; percent difference = 31.4% (95% confidence intervals = 17.4 - 45.4)), total distance (3.5; 63.5% (17.4 - 45.4)), distance per minute (1.93; 33.0% (25.8 - 40.1)), high speed distance (2.24; 77.3% (60.3 - 94.2)), number of sprints (0.94; 43.6% (18.9 - 68.6)), mean HR (1.83; 14.3% (10.5 - 18.1)), minutes spent above 80% of predicted HRmax (2.65; 103.7% (89.9 - 117.6)) and Session-RPE (1.22; 48.1% (22.1 - 74.1)) were all higher in competition compared to training. While training should not be expected to fully replicate competition, the observed differences suggest that monitoring of physical load in both environments is warranted to allow comparisons and evaluate whether training objectives are being met. Key pointsPhysical loads, including intensity, are typically lower in training compared to competition in junior elite Australian football.Monitoring of player loads in team sports should include both internal and external measures.Selected training drills should look to replicate game intensities, however training is unlikely to match the overall physical demands of competition.

Predictors of individual player match performance in junior Australian football

PURPOSE: Player match statistics in junior Australian football (AF) are not well documented while contributors to success are poorly understood. A clearer understanding of the relationships between fitness and skill in younger age players participating at the foundation level of the performance pathway in AF has implications for the development of coaching priorities (e.g., physical or technical). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between indices of fitness (speed, power and endurance) and skill (coach rating) on player performance (disposals and effective disposals) in junior AF. METHODS: Junior male AF players (n = 156, 10 - 15 years old) were recruited from 12 teams of a single amateur recreational AF club located in metropolitan Victoria. All players were tested for fitness (20 m sprint, vertical jump, 20 m shuttle run) and rated by their coach on a 6-point Likert scale for skill (within a team in comparison to their teammates). Player performance was assessed during a single match in which disposals and their effectiveness were coded from a video recording. RESULTS: Coach rating of skill displayed the strongest correlations and combined with 20 m shuttle test showed a good ability to predict both disposals and the number of effective disposals. None of the skill or fitness attributes adequately explained the percentage of effective disposals. The influence of team did not meaningfully contribute to the performance of any of the models. CONCLUSION: Skill development should be considered a high priority by coaches in junior AF.

Social connections among parents of pre-school-age children in an inner and outer area of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract
Parents’ social connectedness is an important factor in child health and development outcomes and has been strongly linked to place. This study aimed to compare social connectedness amongst parents in inner versus outer-suburbs of Melbourne using a mixed methods approach. Parents were recruited via playgroups, mother’s groups and preschools and interviewed face- to-face regarding their social networks, with a second open-ended interview focusing on parents’ ideals and experiences of raising children in their current location. Parents in the two areas identified a similar number of contacts, but had differently structured networks. Outer-suburban parents were more likely than inner-suburban parents to have very few contacts, and to name their general practitioner as among their significant contacts. They were less likely to have more extended networks or to include neighbours among their contacts. Parents in both areas had met at least some of their network members through local organisations or services with outer-suburban parents having met a greater proportion of their contacts in this way. Qualitative interview data supported the network analysis revealing the different priorities parents placed on neighbours, barriers experienced in connecting with neighbours in the outer- suburbs and the consequent heavy reliance on organised activities to form social connections. The different types of social connections parents in inner and outer Melbourne made in relation to raising their preschool-aged children revealed in this study have implications for both service delivery and social planning of new developments.

Challenges of diabetes prevention in the real world : results and lessons from the Melbourne diabetes prevention study

OBJECTIVE: To assess effectiveness and implementability of the public health programme Life! Taking action on diabetes in Australian people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Melbourne Diabetes Prevention Study (MDPS) was a unique study assessing effectiveness of Life! that used a randomized controlled trial design. Intervention participants with AUSDRISK score ≥15 received 1 individual and 5 structured 90 min group sessions. Controls received usual care. Outcome measures were obtained for all participants at baseline and 12 months and, additionally, for intervention participants at 3 months. Per protocol set (PPS) and intention to treat (ITT) analyses were performed.

RESULTS: PPS analyses were considered more informative from our study. In PPS analyses, intervention participants significantly improved in weight (-1.13 kg, p=0.016), waist circumference (-1.35 cm, p=0.044), systolic (-5.2 mm Hg, p=0.028) and diastolic blood pressure (-3.2 mm Hg, p=0.030) compared with controls. Based on observed weight change, estimated risk of developing diabetes reduced by 9.6% in the intervention and increased by 3.3% in control participants. Absolute 5-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduced significantly for intervention participants by 0.97 percentage points from 9.35% (10.4% relative risk reduction). In control participants, the risk increased by 0.11 percentage points (1.3% relative risk increase). The net effect for the change in CVD risk was -1.08 percentage points of absolute risk (p=0.013).

CONCLUSIONS: MDPS effectively reduced the risk of diabetes and CVD, but the intervention effect on weight and waist reduction was modest due to the challenges in recruiting high-risk individuals and the abbreviated intervention.

A comparison of participants with non-participants in a population-based epidemiologic study: the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project

PURPOSE: Adequate participation in population-based studies in essential to ensure that the sample is representative of the population under investigation. Participants may differ from non-participants on important variables such as age, sex socioeconomic status, and general health factors. The Melbourne Visual Impairment Project (Melbourne VIP) is a population-based study designed to increase understanding of the prevalence and severity of common ocular disorders affecting people 40 years of age and over. AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the potential for any non-response bias by comparing data from participants and non-participants of the Melbourne VIP. METHODS: Specific demographic and general variables were compared between the two groups. The variables included age, sex, education level, and social status. The reason for non-attendance was also recorded. RESULTS: A total of 3271 (83%) eligible residents from the 9 sample areas were screened; 46% males and 54% females. Language spoken at home was significantly associated with participation. Residents whose main language at home was not English were less likely to attend the screening centre. (OR: 0.60; CI: 0.44-0.81). The main reasons given for non-attendance by eligible residents were lack of interest (6%), too busy to attend (4%), personal illness (2%), and attend own eye specialist (2%). CONCLUSION: We believe these results will not impact significantly on the interpretation of gender and age-specific data from the Melbourne VIP.

Visual impairment in Australia: distance visual acuity, near vision, and visual field findings of the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project

PURPOSE: To describe the age-specific and gender-specific rates of blindness and visual impairment in urban adults aged 40 years and older. METHODS: A population-based sample of residents was recruited. Presenting and best-corrected distance visual acuities were assessed. Functional near vision was measured at each participant's preferred distance. Visual field examination was performed with a Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA); those unable to perform the field analyzer test attempted a Bjerrum screen or confrontation field. RESULTS: The study population comprised 3,271 residents (83% of eligible) from ages 40 to 98 years; 54% were women. Overall, 56% of the study population wore distance correction; this was significantly lower in men but higher in the older age groups. Age-adjusted rates of blindness were 0.066% in men and 0.170% in women. Vision with current correction improved after refraction by gender and age. Direct age-standardized rates of functional near vision did not vary significantly by gender. Forty-six people had significant visual field loss in their better eye. The proportion of participants with constriction of the visual field to within 20 degrees of fixation was similar for men and women when controlled for age (odds ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.44 to 1.49) but increased significantly with age controlled for gender. Visual field abnormalities were detected in 548 right eyes (17%) and 533 left eyes (16%). CONCLUSIONS: Although overall rates of blindness because of visual acuity loss were relatively low, nearly three times more people had visual impairment because of visual field loss than visual acuity loss. These results highlight the need to target blindness prevention programs to the aging population, with a special emphasis on women.

Ocular exposure to UV-B in sunlight: the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project model

Quantification of ocular exposure to ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) has become an important public health issue, with reports that the ozone layer is being depleted worldwide. Ocular exposure to UV-B is determined by ambient UV-B levels, the duration of outdoor exposure, the proportion of ambient UV-B that reaches the eye, and the use of ocular protection. We have developed a simplified model for quantifying lifetime ocular UV-B exposure that can be used in large epidemiological surveys. Exposure to UV-B is assessed and quantified using a model based on personal exposure over the six summer months. Data available for a population-based sample of 1150 people in the age range 40-98 years revealed a distribution in average annual lifetime ocular UV-B exposure similar to that reported in a previous study on which this model is based, and also demonstrate that people can recall lifetime personal behaviour related to ocular protection. It takes 12 minutes on average to collect these data. This model can be employed by researchers worldwide for uniform assessment of ocular UV-B exposure.