Journal Article

Health outcomes for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children born preterm, low birthweight or small for gestational age: A nationwide cohort study

Mensah, Fiona K., Nicholson, Jan M., D'Esposito, Fabrizio, Westrupp, Elizabeth M., Freemantle, Jane

2019

Overview

To examine health outcomes in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experiencing perinatal risk and identify protective factors in the antenatal period. Baby/Child cohorts of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, born 2001-2008, across four annual surveys (aged 0-8 years, N = 1483). Children with 'mild' and 'moderate-to-high' perinatal risk were compared to children born normal weight at term for maternal-rated global health and disability, and body-mass-index measured by the interviewer. Almost one third of children had experienced mild (22%) or moderate-to-high perinatal risk (8%). Perinatal risk was associated with lower body-mass-index z-scores (regression coefficients adjusted for pregnancy and environment factors: mild = -0.21, 95% CI = -0.34, -0.07; moderate-to-high = -0.42, 95% CI = -0.63, -0.21). Moderate-to-high perinatal risk was associated with poorer global health, with associations becoming less evident in models adjusted for pregnancy and environment factors; but not evident for disability. A range of protective factors, including cultural-based resilience and smoking cessation, were associated with lower risk of adverse outcomes. Perinatal risks are associated with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait children experiencing adverse health particularly lower body weight. Cultural-based resilience and smoking cessation may be two modifiable pathways to ameliorating health problems associated with perinatal risk.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Aboriginal Australians / Age / Alcohol / Analysis / Australia - epidemiology / Australia - ethnology / Babies / Birth defects / Birth weight / Blood pressure / Body Mass Index / Body weight / Child / Child health / Child, Preschool / Children / Children & youth / Childrens health / Cohort analysis / Cohort Studies / Correlation analysis / Diabetes / Drug addiction / Families & family life / Female / Gestational age / Global health / Health / Health aspects / Health disparities / Health problems / Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data / Health Services, Indigenous / Health Surveys / Humans / Hypertension / Identification methods / Infant / Infant, Low Birth Weight / Infant, Newborn / Infant, Small for Gestational Age / Longitudinal Studies / Male / Medicine and Health Sciences / Native peoples / People and Places / Physical Sciences / Pregnancy / Premature Birth - epidemiology / Public health / Regression coefficients / Research and Analysis Methods / Resilience / Risk / Risk factors / Small for gestational age / Smoking / Smoking cessation / Systematic review / Type 2 diabetes / Womens health