Weight Change and Accumulation of Chronic Conditions in Women During Reproductive Years.

Objective: We examined the association between BMI change and risk of multimorbidity among women of reproductive age and estimated annual weight gain before and after diagnosis of chronic conditions.

Methods: Data were from 8895 women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health who had no chronic conditions at baseline. BMI from Survey 1 (ages 18-23) and Survey 3 (ages 25-30) defined BMI change categories.

Paternal prepubertal passive smoke exposure is related to impaired lung function trajectories from childhood to middle age in their offspring.

Introduction: Paternal prepubertal passive smoke exposure may increase the risk of childhood asthma. However, its association with impaired lung function trajectories at risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in offspring was not investigated. We assessed the association between paternal prepubertal passive smoke exposure and lung function from childhood to middle age in their offspring.

Prediabetes transitions to normoglycaemia or type 2 diabetes and associated risk factors in the Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Collaboration: an individual-level pooled analysis of 19 prospective cohort studies.

Background: With the increasing global burden of type 2 diabetes, prevention strategies that target prediabetes, a state of hyperglycaemia that puts individuals at high risk of type 2 diabetes, are required. We aimed to estimate global rates of transition from prediabetes to normoglycaemia or type 2 diabetes, stratified by age, sex, and race and ethnicity. We also aimed to quantify the effect of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors on these transitions.

Exploring healthcare providers' perspectives on the factors that facilitate primary health care access among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people: a qualitative study in Southeast Queensland.

Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 15-24 years of age often encounter challenges accessing and utilising primary health care (PHC). Providing health care responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people requires the active involvement of healthcare providers (HCPs), who play a central role in healthcare delivery. This study explored perspectives of HCPs working in urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Health Organisations (ATSICCHOs) on the factors that facilitate Aboriginal and Torres Strait young people accessing and utilising PHC services.

The association of infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, and parity with osteoporosis: a pooled analysis of five cohort studies.

Objective: To test, among women with natural menopause, whether: infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, and low parity are associated with a higher risk of osteoporosis; menopause age can partly explain their associations.

Design: Pooled analysis of five retrospective and prospective cohorts within the International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events.

Subjects: A total of 141,222 naturally postmenopausal women with data on fertility factors (i.

Device-Measured Sleep Characteristics, Daily Step Count, and Cardiometabolic Health Markers: Findings From the Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting, and Sleep (ProPASS) Consortium.

Background: Sleep and physical activity (PA) are important lifestyle-related behaviors that impact cardiometabolic health. This study investigated the joint associations of daily step count and sleep patterns (regularity and duration) with cardiometabolic biomarkers in adults.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using pooled data from the Prospective PA, Sitting, and Sleep Consortium, comprising 6 cohorts across Europe and Australia with thigh-worn accelerometry data collected between 2011 and 2021.

What Happens After Menopause (WHAM)? A Progress Report of a Prospective Controlled Study of Women After Pre-Menopausal Risk-Reducing Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy.

Surgical menopause, the removal of both ovaries prior to natural menopause, may impact short-and long-term physical and emotional health. An increasingly common cause of surgical menopause is risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in those at high inherited risk of ovarian cancer. The WHAM (What Happens After Menopause?) study is the largest prospective controlled study of RRSO.

Intergenerational patterns of multimorbidity: Evidence from the Australian longitudinal study on women's health.

Objectives: The prevalence of multimorbidity is increasing in many countries due to population aging and other factors. Most studies are cross-sectional, so they do not capture generational differences in multimorbidity. We used longitudinal data over more than 20 years to examine patterns of multimorbidity among cohorts of women of different ages in Australia, and the impact of multimorbidity on their health-related quality of life and use of health services.

Validation of self-reported endometriosis.

Objectives: To assess the validity and reliability of self-reported diagnoses of endometriosis.

Study Design: The study included 8572 women from two Australian birth cohorts (1989-95 and 1973-78), using data from the Genetic variants, Early Life exposures, and Longitudinal Endometriosis Symptoms Study (GELLES), a sub-study of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Validity was assessed using predictive values, and reliability was evaluated with kappa statistics.

The experience of intimate partner violence and age at the onset of multimorbidity: a population-based cohort study in Australian women.

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with increased risk of various chronic conditions, yet its association with multimorbidity and its onset age is unknown. This population-based study investigated these associations.

Methods: Data from 12949 women born between 1946 and 1951 who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were analysed.

Women's reproductive mental health: currently available evidence and future directions for research, clinical practice and health policy.

Sex and gender differences in the epidemiology of mental disorders are well documented. Less well understood are the drivers of these differences. Reproductive health represents one of the gendered determinants of mental health that may affect women throughout their life course.

Generational differences in associations between health conditions in young women and BMI categories.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the associations between BMI categories and the age-specific prevalence of health conditions common in young women differed across generations.

Methods: Data were from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health for participants born between 1973 and 1978 or 1989 and 1995 and recruited in 1996 and 2013, respectively. Women were included if they reported their weight and height at waves conducted when they were aged 18 to 23, 22 to 27, and 25 to 30 years.

Beyond bereavement: Women's healthcare experiences and cardiovascular disease risk in the years after stillbirth and recurrent early pregnancy loss.

Problem: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women.

Background: Adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as stillbirth and recurrent pregnancy loss, are sex-specific risk factors for CVD. Little research investigates CVD preventive healthcare following bereavement.

Association between endometriosis and type and age of menopause: a pooled analysis of 279 948 women from five cohort studies.

Study Question: What is the association between endometriosis and the type and age of menopause?

Summary Answer: Women with endometriosis had a 7-fold increased risk of undergoing surgical menopause rather than natural menopause and were more likely to experience premature or early menopause, both surgically and naturally.

What Is Known Already: Endometriosis is associated with reduced ovarian reserve, but evidence on its relationship with the type of menopause (surgical vs natural) and timing (especially premature and early menopause) is limited. Women with endometriosis are more likely to undergo hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy (either unilateral or bilateral), but the average age of these surgeries remains unclear.

Hospitalisations and length of stays in women with endometriosis: a data linkage prospective cohort study.

Background: Women with endometriosis have more hospitalisations compared to those without the condition. However, no longitudinal study has examined hospital admission rates and lengths of stay before and after diagnosis. We examined all-cause hospital admissions and lengths of stay among women with, versus without, endometriosis, and before, versus after, diagnosis.

The need for preconception care: Australian women's health beliefs, expectations, and trust in healthcare.

Introduction: Preconception care aims to improve the health outcomes of parents and their children by optimising health prior to pregnancy. However, inconsistent adoption of preconception care guidelines and low uptake among women highlights the need for further exploration.

Aim: This study aims to explore women's perceptions of the need for preconception care and the factors influencing these perceptions, including competing demands and expectations perceived by women while planning for pregnancy.

Two-decade health-related quality of life and performance on physical function tests in midaged women: findings from a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is more commonly measured in younger populations than objective physical function tests. However, associations between HRQoL and the performance on physical function tests are unclear. This study investigates the association between HRQoL measures across adulthood and performance on physical function tests in midaged women.

Patterns of health service use before and after diagnosis of endometriosis: a data linkage prospective cohort study.

Study Question: What are the patterns of health service use (HSU) before and after endometriosis diagnosis?

Summary Answer: Women with endometriosis had higher rates of visits to general practitioners (GPs), specialists, and diagnostic imaging before and after diagnosis compared to those without the condition; however, after diagnosis, their visits to GPs and specialists other than obstetricians/gynaecologists decreased compared to before, while visits to obstetricians/gynaecologists and use of diagnostic imaging increased.

What Is Known Already: Women with endometriosis have higher rates of healthcare use compared to those without the condition; however, no longitudinal study has examined patterns of HSU over a prolonged period before and after diagnosis.

Study Design, Size, Duration: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health linked to a national administrative health record.

Menstrual disorders and the risk of asthma: A prospective study of women from their early twenties to their mid-forties.

Aim: To examine whether experiencing menstrual disorders during reproductive years is associated with current asthma among women in their 40s.

Methods: Data were from 1240 participants (born between 1973 and 1978) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Information on menstrual disorders was collected in 1996 and every three years from 2000 to 2018.

SAHELI: Study and Action on Hysterectomy: Evidence on women's health through the life course in India. Protocol for a mixed-methods study.

Unlabelled: Hysterectomy, removal of the uterus, is a commonly performed surgery for gynaecological morbidities. Emerging evidence indicates that hysterectomy performed before age 45 (early hysterectomy), is associated with considerable risks to women's health. While most evidence on hysterectomy is from high-income settings, national surveys from India report high prevalence of early hysterectomy in specific regions, as well as higher prevalence amongst women in rural areas and with less education.

Women who experience heavy menstrual bleeding: prevalence and characteristics from young adulthood to midlife, Australia, 2000-2021: a longitudinal cohort survey study.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of heavy menstrual bleeding among Australian women from young adulthood to midlife (22-48 years) and investigate the characteristics of women who experience this condition; to investigate the relationship of heavy menstrual bleeding and health-related quality of life.

Study Design: Longitudinal cohort survey study (Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, ALSWH).

Setting, Participants: Australia; baseline cohort of 14 247 women born during 1973-1978, recruited in 1996; eight post-baseline surveys undertaken at 3-year intervals, 2000-2021.

Is there a difference in preventive health checks and healthy lifestyle practices based on preconception status? Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

Introduction: While preventive healthcare guidelines recommend that pregnant women or those planning pregnancy engage in preventive care and maintain healthy lifestyles, it is unknown whether women engage in these activities before conception. We examined the association between maternal status and participation in preventive health checks and healthy lifestyle practices.

Methods: We included 4447 women from 1989 to 95 cohort of Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, categorised into three groups: pregnant women, women in preconception period, and women who were neither pregnant nor trying to become pregnant between surveys one to six.

Assessing the Accuracy of Cardiovascular Disease Prediction Using Female-Specific Risk Factors in Women Aged 45 to 69 Years in the UK Biobank Study.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in women. We aimed to assess whether adding female-specific risk factors to traditional factors could improve CVD risk prediction.

Methods: We used a cohort of women from the UK Biobank Study aged 45 to 69 years, free of CVD at baseline (2006-2010) followed until the end of 2019.