ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to develop a scale to measure cultural safety in hospitals from an Aboriginal patient perspective. MethodsThe Cultural Safety Survey was designed to measure five key characteristics of cultural safety that contribute to positive hospital experiences among Aboriginal hospital patients. Investigators developed a range of different methods to assess the validity and reliability of the scale using a sample of 316 participants who had attended a New South Wales hospital in the past 12 months. Targeted recruitment was conducted at two hospital sites. Opportunistic recruitment took place through a local health district, discharge follow-up service and online via social media. ResultsThe Cultural Safety Survey Scale was a robust measurement tool that demonstrated a high level of content and construct validity. ConclusionThe Cultural Safety Survey Scale could be a useful tool for measuring cultural safety in hospitals from the Aboriginal patient perspective. What is known about the topic?There are increasing calls by governments around the world for health institutions to enhance the cultural safety of their services as one way of removing access barriers and increasing health equity. However, currently there are no critical indicators or systematic methods of measuring cultural safety from the patient perspective. What does this paper add?The cultural safety scale, an Australian first, presents the first empirically validated tool that measures cultural safety from the Aboriginal patient perspective. What are the implications for practitioners?This measurement model will allow hospitals to measure the cultural safety of their services and ascertain whether current efforts aimed to improve cultural safety are resulting in Aboriginal patients reporting more culturally safe experiences. Over time it is hoped that the tool will be used to benchmark performance and eventually be adopted as a performance measure for hospitals across New South Wales.

BackgroundElectronic health (eHealth) interventions for children often rely on parent-reported child anthropometric measures. However, limited studies have assessed parental accuracy in reporting child height and weight via Web-based approaches.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of parent-reported child height and weight, as well as body mass index and weight category that we calculated from these data. We also aimed to explore whether parent report was influenced by age, sex, weight status, or exposure to participation in a 12-week brief Web-based family lifestyle intervention.MethodsThis study was a secondary analysis of data from a 12-week childhood obesity pilot randomized controlled trial in families with children aged 4 to 11 years in Australia. We asked parents to report demographic information, including child height and weight, using an online survey before their child’s height and weight were objectively measured by a trained research assistant at baseline and week 12. We analyzed data using the Lin concordance correlation coefficient (ρc, ranging from 0 [poor] to ±1 [perfect] concordance), Cohen kappa coefficient, and multivariable linear regression models.ResultsThere were 42 families at baseline and 35 families (83%) at week 12. Overall, the accuracy of parent-reported child height was moderate (ρc=.94), accuracy of weight was substantial (ρc=.96), and accuracy of calculated body mass index was poor (ρc=.63). Parents underreported child height and weight, respectively, by 0.9 cm and 0.5 kg at baseline and by 0.2 cm and 1.6 kg after participating in a 12-week brief Web-based family lifestyle intervention. The overall interrater agreement of child body mass index category was moderate at baseline (κ=.59) and week 12 (κ=.54). The weight category calculated from 74% (n=31) and 70% (n=23) of parent-reported child height and weight was accurate at baseline and week 12, respectively. Parental age was significantly (95% CI –0.52 to –0.06; P=.01) associated with accuracy of reporting child height. Child age was significantly (95% CI –2.34 to –0.06; P=.04) associated with reporting of child weight.ConclusionsMost Australian parents were reasonably accurate in reporting child height and weight among a group of children aged 4 to 11 years. The weight category of most of the children when calculated from parent-reported data was in agreement with the objectively measured data despite the body mass index calculated from parent-reported data having poor concordance at both time points. Online parent-reported child height and weight may be a valid method of collecting child anthropometric data ahead of participation in a Web-based program. Future studies with larger sample sizes and repeated measures over time in the context of eHealth research are warranted. Future studies should consider modeling the impact of calibration equations applied to parent-reported anthropometric data on study outcomes.

Introduction Innovative eHealth solutions that improve access to child weight management interventions are crucial to address the rising prevalence of childhood obesity globally. The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a 12-week online telehealth nutrition intervention to improve child weight and dietary outcomes, and the impact of additional text messages (SMS) targeted to mothers and fathers. Methods Families with children aged 4 to 11 were randomised across three groups: Telehealth, Telehealth+SMS, or Waitlist control. Telehealth and Telehealth+SMS groups received two telehealth consultations delivered by a dietitian, 12 weeks access to a nutrition website and a private Facebook group. The Telehealth+SMS group received additional SMS. Feasibility was assessed through recruitment, retention, and intervention utilisation. Efficacy was assessed through changes in measured child body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and diet. Results Forty-four (96%) and 36 (78%) families attended initial and second telehealth consultations, respectively. Thirty-six families (78%) completed week 12 assessments. Child BMI and waist circumference changes from baseline to week 12 were not statistically different within or between groups. Children in Telehealth+SMS had significantly reduced percentage energy from energy-dense nutrient-poor food (95% CI −21.99 to −0.03%E; p = .038) and increased percentage energy from healthy core food (95% CI −0.21 to 21.89%E; p = .045) compared to Waitlist control. Discussion A family-focused online telehealth nutrition intervention is feasible. While the modest sample size reduced power to detect between-group changes in weight status, some improvements in child dietary intakes were identified in those receiving telehealth and SMS.

Background To investigate the prognostic significance of positron emission tomography (PET) parameters from F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans performed pre- and post- chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) for squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (AC). Methods From January 2013 to January 2017, 19 patients with non-metastatic AC enrolled on a prospective trial underwent FDG-PET/CT imaging before and 12 weeks following CRT. A computer-generated volume of interest (VOI) was snapped around the primary tumour using six different standard uptake value (SUV) thresholds and the following parameters were extracted: SUV max, mean, median, standard deviation and peak as well as metabolic tumour volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis. Exact logistic regression and ROC AUC analyses were performed for each metric at each timepoint. Results With a median follow up of 15.8 months, 3/19 patients had a local recurrence and 5/19 had any recurrence. On post-CRT PET, the median SUV within a VOI bounded by an SUV of 3 correlated with local recurrence ( p < 0.01) and demonstrated excellent discrimination (ROC AUC 1.00, perfect separation was achieved at a median SUV of 3.38). The mean SUV at this threshold did not quite reach significance for prediction of local recurrence ( p = 0.06) but demonstrated excellent discrimination (ROC AUC 0.91). The MTV bounded by a threshold of 41% SUVmax on the pre-CRT PET predicted for any recurrence ( p = 0.03) and showed excellent discrimination (ROC AUC 0.89). Conclusions FDG-PET parameters are predictive of recurrence in AC. FDG-PET may represent a valuable tool for prognostication and response assessment in AC. Trial registration ANZCTR, ACTRN12614001219673 . Registered 19 November 2014 - Retrospectively registered.

Objective:To explore if better diet quality scores as a measure of adherence to the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) and the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) are associated with a lower incidence of hypertension and non-fatal CVD.Design:Prospective analysis of the 1946–1951 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH). The Australian Recommended Foods Score (ARFS) was calculated as an indicator of adherence to the ADG; the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) measured adherence to the MedDiet. Outcomes included hypertension and non-fatal CVD. Generalised estimating equations estimated OR and 95 % CI across quartiles of diet quality scores.Setting:Australia, 2001–2016.Participants:1946–1951 cohort of the ALSWH (n 5324), without CVD, hypertension and diabetes at baseline (2001), with complete FFQ data.Results:There were 1342 new cases of hypertension and 629 new cases of non-fatal CVD over 15 years of follow-up. Multivariate analysis indicated that women reporting better adherence to the ARFS (≥38/74) had 15 % (95 % CI 1, 28 %; P = 0·05) lower odds of hypertension and 46 % (95 % CI 6, 66 %; P = 0·1) lower odds of non-fatal CVD. Women reporting better adherence to the MDS (≥8/17) had 27 % (95 % CI 15, 47 %; P = 0·0006) lower odds of hypertension and 30 % (95 % CI 2, 50 %; P = 0·03) lower odds of non-fatal CVD.Conclusions:Better adherence to diet quality scores is associated with lower risk of hypertension and non-fatal CVD. These results support the need for updated evidenced based on the ADG as well as public health nutrition policies in Australia.