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Investigators in large-scale population health studies face increasing difficulties in recruiting representative samples of participants. Nonparticipation, item nonresponse, and attrition, when follow-up is involved, often result in highly selected samples even in well-designed studies. We aimed to assess the potential value of multilevel regression and poststratification, a method previously used to successfully forecast US presidential election results, for addressing biases due to nonparticipation in the estimation of population descriptive quantities in large cohort studies. The investigation was performed as an extensive case study using baseline data (2013–2014) from a large national health survey of Australian males (Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health). Analyses were performed in the open-source Bayesian computational package RStan. Results showed greater consistency and precision across population subsets of varying sizes when compared with estimates obtained using conventional survey sampling weights. Estimates for smaller population subsets exhibited a greater degree of shrinkage towards the national estimate. Multilevel regression and poststratification provides a promising analytical approach to addressing potential participation bias in the estimation of population descriptive quantities from large-scale health surveys and cohort studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Past research suggests that adverse experiences at work (such as job stressors and precarious employment) are associated with thoughts about suicide, especially among males. A limitation of this research is that it is largely cross-sectional. Thus, it is unknown whether job stressors are a prior cause of thoughts about suicide. This study examined the baseline association between adverse experiences at work and thoughts about suicide at follow-up in a large nationally representative cohort of employed men. Methods We used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men). The outcome was thoughts about suicide in the prior 12 months (reported in wave 2) and the key exposure variables were: high job demands, low job control, job insecurity, perceived unfairness of pay, occupational skill level, and employment arrangement (all reported in wave 1). We adjusted for possible confounders, including mental health and suicidal thoughts (wave 1). Results In a sample of 8379 and after adjustment, job insecurity (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.13–1.61, P = 0.001), low job control (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06–1.33, P = 0.004), and employment on a casual or on a fixed term basis (OR 1.30, 95% 1.01–1.67, P = 0.041) were associated with a greater odds of thoughts about suicide at follow up. Results for all by job control were maintained after removing those who reported thoughts of suicide at baseline. Conclusion This study suggests that experiences at work may be risk factors for thoughts about suicide among employed men. More research is needed to unpack the complex associations between, employment, and experiences of suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The fifth leading cause of death for Aboriginal people in Australia is suicide. These deaths are preventable, and their impact is significant for family and the wider community. This work aims to increase understanding of suicide deaths among Aboriginal people by describing these deaths by a range of factors, and identifying similarities and differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal deaths by suicide. Methods Suicide deaths in Australia from 2001 to 2019 will be identified from the National Coronial Information System database. Demographic factors, details of the deaths and geographic factors will be described, and comparisons will be made between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal deaths by suicide. Overall suicide rates by Aboriginal status and age- and sex-standardised rates per 100,000 person-years will be calculated using mid-year estimated resident population and death counts stratified by year, age, sex, and Aboriginal status from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Results The analysis for this work is currently underway and will be finalised prior to the conference. Conclusions The results of this research will provide information about sub-groups of the Aboriginal population and areas of Australia with heightened and reduced risks and rates of suicide. The findings will be interpreted with guidance from the Aboriginal Advisory Committee involved in this work. Findings will be shared with service providers, policymakers, communities, and researchers to enable improved targeting of interventions. Key messages Better understanding of Aboriginal deaths by suicide is critical to inform and improve the much-needed targeting of services and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background More than 30 million adults are released from incarceration globally each year. Many experience complex physical and mental health problems, and are at markedly increased risk of preventable mortality. Despite this, evidence regarding the global epidemiology of mortality following release from incarceration is insufficient to inform the development of targeted, evidence-based responses. Many previous studies have suffered from inadequate power and poor precision, and even large studies have limited capacity to disaggregate data by specific causes of death, sub-populations or time since release to answer questions of clinical and public health relevance. Methods We aimed to comprehensively document the incidence, timing, causes and risk factors for mortality in adults released from incarceration. We created the Mortality After Release from Incarceration Consortium (MARIC), a multi-disciplinary collaboration representing 29 cohorts of adults who have experienced incarceration from 11 countries. Findings across cohorts will be analysed using a two-step, individual participant data meta-analysis methodology. Results Using linked data from the 29 individual cohorts, the combined sample includes 1,337,993 individuals (89% male), with 75,795 deaths recorded over 9,191,393 person-years of follow-up. Preliminary analyses indicate a marked elevation in mortality risk following release from incarceration, with this risk beginning on the day of release. At the time of writing, more detailed analyses are underway regarding all-cause and cause-specific deaths – along with risk and protective factors – and findings will be presented at the WCE conference. Conclusions The MARIC consortium represents an important advancement in the field, bringing international attention to this problem. Key messages The MARIC consortium will provide internationally relevant evidence to guide policymakers and clinicians in reducing preventable deaths in this marginalised population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Towards a Healthy Diet' phase of the Shepparton Healthy Heart Project was evaluated. The principal goal of this phase was to promote public policy initiatives that promoted healthy diet, supported by changes in community opinion and interest in healthy diet. Changing individual behaviour was a secondary goal only. These public policy initiatives were directed at eating places, schools and the health services. The eating places initiative promoted healthy practices in food preparation and presentation as well as customer healthy food choice behaviours. These initiatives were accompanied by media-based health education and community events. The evaluation employed a two-community, quasi-experimental study design which assessed process, formative and impact (but not outcome) dimensions relevant to the program's objectives. Community opinion as well as dietary behaviour and cognition about healthy diet were assessed using a panel mail questionnaire survey of 1137 residents in the two communities. Community awareness and response to Towards a Healthy Diet were assessed at its completion in a separate cross-sectional mail questionnaire survey of 703 residents of Shepparton. Supermarket sales figures supplemented assessment of behaviour. Fifty-one eating places were assessed using interviews of a panel of proprietors/managers as well as on-site inspections. Initiatives aimed at schools were assessed by on-site interviews, those at general practitioners by a panel mail questionnaire survey. Towards a Healthy Diet achieved its goals only in part. A higher proportion of Shepparton residents reported recent increases in the number of eating places offering healthy food and local residents eating healthy food. There was a significantly greater increase in the number of fruit dishes offered in Shepparton eating places as well as customer requests for fruit. Changes in individual behaviours only differed in the two communities for frequency of eating take-away food... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]