Queensland Family Cohort: a study protocol

Abstract

IntroductionThe perinatal–postnatal family environment is associated with childhood outcomes including impacts on physical and mental health and educational attainment. Family longitudinal cohort studies collect in-depth data that can capture the influence of an era on family lifestyle, mental health, chronic disease, education and financial stability to enable identification of gaps in society and provide the evidence for changes in government in policy and practice.Methods and analysisThe Queensland Family Cohort (QFC) is a prospective, observational, longitudinal study that will recruit 12 500 pregnant families across the state of Queensland (QLD), Australia and intends to follow-up families and children for three decades. To identify the immediate and future health requirements of the QLD population; pregnant participants and their partners will be enrolled by 24 weeks of gestation and followed up at 24, 28 and 36 weeks of gestation, during delivery, on-ward, 6 weeks postpartum and then every 12 months where questionnaires, biological samples and physical measures will be collected from parents and children. To examine the impact of environmental exposures on families, data related to environmental pollution, household pollution and employment exposures will be linked to pregnancy and health outcomes. Where feasible, data linkage of state and federal government databases will be used to follow the participants long term. Biological samples will be stored long term for future discoveries of biomarkers of health and disease.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the Mater Research Ethics (HREC/16/MHS/113). Findings will be reported to (1) QFC participating families; (2) funding bodies, institutes and hospitals supporting the QFC; (3) federal, state and local governments to inform policy; (4) presented at local, national and international conferences and (5) disseminated by peer-review publications.

Exploring the diets of mothers and their partners during pregnancy: Findings from the Queensland Family Cohort pilot study

“…Further, the FFQ was not repeated across pregnancy to reduce participant burden so changes to macro and micronutrient intake was not captured. Despite some studies suggesting stability of dietary intake across pregnancy, 48 lack of multiple data collection points across pregnancy and the postnatal period precludes potential analyses regarding associations between dietary patterns, biological measures, and outcomes within and beyond pregnancy as is the goal of the wider cohort study 24 . Repeated dietary intake assessment, at a minimum, at the end of each trimester and within the postnatal period would be recommended to account for impact of morning sickness (early), satiety (late), development of conditions that change dietary intake (gestational diabetes mellitus), and/or educational interventions.…”

“…23 Thus, the goal of this study was to describe pregnancy dietary intake and gestational weight gain patterns in a contemporary cohort of women birthing at a tertiary Queensland perinatal centre, and dietary intakes of their partners. We utilised data from women and their families collected as part of the Queensland Family Cohort Pilot Study, 24 which will inform further data collection in the main Queensland Family Cohort study, a large birth cohort study based at the Mater Mothers' Hospitals in Brisbane. 24 Specific aims of the current analysis were to examine (i) dietary intake during pregnancy of women and their partners, including dietary nutrient and food group intake, how these health behaviours compare with Australian Dietary Guidelines and NRVs, and explore the relationship between women's and partner's dietary intake, and (ii) to describe gestational weight gain of women across pregnancy and alignment with current guidelines.…”

“… 23 Thus, the goal of this study was to describe pregnancy dietary intake and gestational weight gain patterns in a contemporary cohort of women birthing at a tertiary Queensland perinatal centre, and dietary intakes of their partners. We utilised data from women and their families collected as part of the Queensland Family Cohort Pilot Study, 24 which will inform further data collection in the main Queensland Family Cohort study, a large birth cohort study based at the Mater Mothers' Hospitals in Brisbane. 24 …”

“…We utilised data from women and their families collected as part of the Queensland Family Cohort Pilot Study, 24 which will inform further data collection in the main Queensland Family Cohort study, a large birth cohort study based at the Mater Mothers' Hospitals in Brisbane. 24 …”

Associations between COVID-19 lockdown and post-lockdown on the mental health of pregnant women, postpartum women and their partners from the Queensland family cohort prospective study

“…The data for this sub-study was collected as part of an ongoing life-course pregnancy study known as the Queensland Family Cohort being conducted at the Mater Mother’s Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. The Queensland Family Cohort was commenced in August 2018 and its protocol has been published in detail [ 7 ]. Pregnant women and their partners (any gender or sex), and single women were prospectively recruited to the study before 24 weeks gestation at Mater Mothers Hospital (MMH) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ( n = 454 families).…”