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Research

Involvement in healthcare decisions is associated with better health outcomes for patients. For children and adolescents with intellectual disability, parents and healthcare professionals need to balance listening to a child's wishes with the responsibility of keeping them safe. 

Research

This study aimed to validate qPCR assays for specific microbiota, for use on dental plaque samples stored on Whatman FTA cards to compare relative oral health risk in Rett syndrome.

Research

There is limited but consistent evidence that suggests prenatal factors, including maternal stress, may contribute to susceptibility for otitis media. We aimed to determine the effect of multiple life stress events during pregnancy on risk of acute and recurrent otitis media in offspring at three and five years of age. 

Research

To evaluate use and utility of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Hub Australia website. 

Research

People living with rare diseases had a high risk of negative health outcomes due to COVID-19. Pandemic preparedness will ensure best practice procedures and optimal outcomes during future pandemic events. This paper sought to understand the needs of children with rare diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform preparation for future pandemic and disaster events. First, impacts and outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with rare disease were identified in the literature.

Research

CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD) is a severe X-linked developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Existing developmental outcome measures have floor effects and cannot capture incremental changes in symptoms. We modified the caregiver portion of a CDD clinical severity assessment (CCSA) and assessed content and response-process validity. 

Research

The diagnostic odyssey for people living with rare diseases (PLWRD) is often prolonged for myriad reasons including an initial failure to consider rare disease and challenges to systemically and systematically identifying and tracking undiagnosed diseases across the diagnostic journey.

Research

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a lifelong physical disability, resulting from maldevelopment or damage to the developing brain. All children with CP have a disorder of movement and posture, but this is often accompanied by disorders of intellect, sensation, behaviour and epilepsy. Long-standing CP registers and surveillance systems estimate the prevalence of CP as approximately 2 per 1000 live births; however variations are seen over time and in different regions of the world.

Research

CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD), a severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, is being diagnosed earlier with improved access to genetic testing, but this may also have unanticipated impacts on parents’ experience receiving the diagnosis. This study explores the lived experience of parents receiving a diagnosis of CDD for their child using mixed methods.

Research

The natural history of MECP2 duplication syndrome (MDS), a rare X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder with an estimated birth prevalence of 1/150,000 live births, is poorly understood due to a lack of clinical data collected for research. Such information is critical to the understanding of disease progression, therapeutic endpoints and outcome measures for clinical trials, as well as the development of therapies and orphan products.