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Alison K Macpherson

Publications and source records attributed to Alison K Macpherson.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Compliance with the Australian national physical activity guidelines for children: relationship to overweight status.

Childhood obesity incidence has increased substantially and it has been argued that decreasing physical activity levels, coinciding with an increase in sedentary behaviours, are responsible. Australian guidelines were published in 2004, recommending that children participate in a minimum of 60 min of physical activity daily and spend no more than 2h a day using electronic media for entertainment. We aimed to compare compliance with these guidelines amongst children of differing weight status. The Childhood Injury Prevention Study (CHIPS) collected data from a randomly selected sample of Brisbane primary and preschool children aged 5-12 years. The following data were available for 518 participants: age, gender, measured height and weight and estimated time per week from a parent-completed 7 days diary in physical activity out of school and sedentary leisure activities including television viewing and computer use. Using age standardised body mass index estimates, approximately 20% of the cohort were overweight. Non-compliance with guidelines was 14.7% for out of school physical activity participation, and 30.9% for excess electronic media entertainment use. There was a 63% increase in the odds of overweight status amongst children who were non-compliant with the electronic entertainment recommendations than those who were compliant (adjusted odds ratio=1.63; 95% CI=1.05-2.54). Female gender and school level socioeconomic category were also independently associated with overweight status. Non-compliance with the minimal physical activity guideline increased the odds of being overweight by 28%, however this difference was not statistically significant. One in seven children from the Greater Brisbane area are at risk for being insufficiently active whilst a third overuse electronic media. Given that overuse of electronic entertainment was positively associated with childhood obesity, these children should be the target of public health campaigns to promote alternative leisure time activities.

Child↗
PubMed2006

Quantifying the association between physical activity and injury in primary school-aged children.

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity is strongly advocated in children, with recommendations suggesting up to several hours of daily participation. However, an unintended consequence of physical activity is exposure to the risk of injury. To date, these risks have not been quantified in primary school-aged children despite injury being a leading cause for hospitalization and death in this population. OBJECT: Our goal was to quantify the risk of injury associated with childhood physical activity both in and out of the school setting and calculate injury rates per exposure time for organized and non-organized activity outside of school. METHODS: The Childhood Injury Prevention Study prospectively followed a cohort of randomly selected Australian primary school-and preschool-aged children (4 to 12 years). Over 12 months, each injury that required first aid attention was registered with the study. Exposure to physical activity outside school hours was measured by using a parent-completed 7-day diary. The age and gender distribution of injury rates per 10 000 hours of exposure were calculated for all activity and for organized and non-organized activity occurring outside school hours. In addition, child-based injury rates were calculated for physical activity-related injuries both in and out of the school setting. RESULTS: Complete diary and injury data were available for 744 children. There were 504 injuries recorded over the study period, 396 (88.6%) of which were directly related to physical activity. Thirty-four percent of physical activity-related injuries required professional medical treatment. Analysis of injuries occurring outside of school revealed an overall injury rate of 5.7 injuries per 10000 hours of exposure to physical activity and a medically treated injury rate of 1.7 per 10000 hours. CONCLUSION: Injury rates per hours of exposure to physical activity were low in this cohort of primary school-aged children, with <2 injuries requiring medical treatment occurring for every 10000 hours of activity participation outside of school.

Athletic Injuries↗
PubMed2004

Urban/rural variation in children's bicycle-related injuries.

The objective of this study was to examine bicycle-related injury rates for children living in urban and rural areas. Data on all Canadian children hospitalised because of bicycling-related injuries (1994-1998) were obtained from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Injured children were classified as residing in urban, mixed urban, mixed rural or rural areas. Incidence rates for bicycle-related head injuries and other bicycle-related injuries were calculated. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of head injury, controlling for age, sex, socio-economic status (SES), collision with a motor vehicle, and the presence of provincial helmet legislation. In total, 9367 children were hospitalised for a bicycling-related injury over the 4-year-study period. Of these, 21% occurred in rural areas, 18% in mixed rural, 17% in mixed urban, while the remaining 44% occurred in urban areas. The average annual incidence rate for bicycle-related head injuries in children was 18.49 per 100000 for children living in rural areas compared with 10.93 per 100000 for those living in urban areas, 15.49 for children in mixed urban areas and 17.38 for children living in mixed rural areas. This variation may be explained by differences in bicycling exposure, helmet use, hospital admission criteria, or road environments across geographic areas.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2003

Mechanism of injury affects 6-month functional outcome in children hospitalized because of severe injuries.

BACKGROUND: The burden of childhood injury is often described using vital statistics for mortality and hospital admissions as a measure of morbidity. Hospital admissions, however, reflect the process of care and do not directly measure children's functional disability. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of mechanism of injury on the functional outcome 6 months after injury in children in an inpatient trauma unit of a pediatric referral hospital. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 357 children aged 2 to 15 with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 12 was studied to determine the relationship between mechanism of injury (based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision e-code) and functional outcome 6 months after hospital discharge. Wee Functional Independence Measure (WeeFIM) was used to assess functional outcome. Any child with a WeeFIM score less than the maximum (of 126) attainable was classed as requiring assistance, and the relative risk of requiring assistance at 6 months was calculated for each injury mechanism. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the importance of mechanism of injury, after adjusting for age, gender, ISS, and a primary diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) injury. RESULTS: Mechanism of injury had a significant effect on the functional outcome at 6 months: 72% of pedestrians, 64% of cyclists struck by cars, and 59% of injured motor vehicle occupants required assistance during daily activities. By contrast, only 27% of those injured playing sports and 22% of cyclists injured without motor vehicle involvement required assistance. The relative risk of children requiring assistance was similar with or without adjustment for age, gender, ISS, and CNS injury. CONCLUSION: Mechanism of injury is significantly associated with requiring assistance 6 months postdischarge, even after controlling for age, injury severity, and the presence of a CNS injury. These data are important both when discussing the prognosis for an individual patient and also when considering the population impact of childhood injuries.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2002

Impact of mandatory helmet legislation on bicycle-related head injuries in children: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood bicycle-related head injuries can be prevented through the use of helmets. Although helmet legislation has proved to be a successful strategy for the adoption of helmets, its effect on the rates of head injury is uncertain. In Canada, 4 provinces have such legislation. The objective of this study was to measure the impact of helmet legislation on bicycle-related head injuries in Canadian children. METHODS: Routinely collected data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information identified all Canadian children (5-19 years) who were hospitalized for bicycling-related injuries from 1994-1998. Children were categorized as head or other injury on the basis of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes. Rates of head injuries and other injuries were compared over time in provinces that adopted legislation and those that did not. RESULTS: Of the 9650 children who were hospitalized because of a bicycle-related injury, 3426 sustained injuries to the head and face and the remaining 6224 had other injuries. The bicycle-related head injury rate declined significantly (45% reduction) in provinces where legislation had been adopted compared with provinces and territories that did not adopt legislation (27% reduction). CONCLUSION: This country-wide study compared rates of head injury in regions with and without mandatory helmet legislation. Comparing head injuries with other non-head-injured children controlled for potential differences in children's cycling habits. The strong protective association between helmet legislation and head injuries supports the adoption of helmet legislation as an effective tool in the prevention of childhood bicycle-related head injuries.

Accidents, Traffic↗