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Research
Does gastrostomy improve the lives of children with severe disability and their families?Approximately 13,000 children in Australia live with moderate to severe intellectual disability.
The Sibling Project focuses on children, adolescents and emerging adults who have a sibling with a disability, investigating their mental health, relationships and quality of life.
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Research
Towards evidence based care for Rett syndrome: a research model to inform management of rare disordersHelen Jenny Leonard Downs MBChB MPH BApplSci (physio) MSc PhD Principal Research Fellow Program Head, Development and Disability +61 419 956 946 08
Research
Psychometric evaluation of clinician- and caregiver-reported clinical severity assessments for individuals with CDKL5 deficiency disorderThe CDKL5 Clinical Severity Assessment is a comprehensive, content-validated measurement tool capturing the diverse challenges of cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 deficiency disorder, a genetically caused developmental epileptic encephalopathy. The CCSA is divided into clinician-reported and caregiver-reported assessments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of these measures through confirmatory factor analysis and evaluate their validity and reliability.
Research
Italian Version of QI-Disability for QoL Evaluation in Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disability: Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation ProcessChildren and adolescents with Intellectual Disability experience a worse Quality-of-Life (QoL) relative to typically developing peers. Thus, QoL evaluation is important for identifying support needs and improving rehabilitation effectiveness. Nevertheless, currently in Italy there are not tools with this scope. This study aims to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Quality-of-Life Inventory-Disability into Italian.
Research
Patient-advocate-led global coalition adapting fit-for-purpose outcomes measures to assure meaningful inclusion of DEEs in clinical trialsExisting clinical tools that measure non-seizure outcomes lack the range and granularity needed to capture skills in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE)-affected individuals who also fall in the severe to profound range of intellectual disability. This effectively excludes those with severe impairments from clinical trials, impeding the ability of sponsors to evaluate disease-modifying therapies.
Research
Use of privacy-preserving record linkage to examine the dispensing of pharmaceutical benefits scheme medicines to pregnant women in Western AustraliaMedications are commonly used during pregnancy to manage pre-existing conditions and conditions that arise during pregnancy. However, not all medications are safe to use in pregnancy. This study utilized privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) to examine medications dispensed under the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to pregnant women in Western Australia (WA) overall and by medication safety category.