Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2005

Open Access 01-12-2005 | Research article

Skin infection, housing and social circumstances in children living in remote Indigenous communities: testing conceptual and methodological approaches

Authors: Ross S Bailie, Matthew R Stevens, Elizabeth McDonald, Stephen Halpin, David Brewster, Gary Robinson, Steven Guthridge

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2005

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Poor housing conditions in remote Indigenous communities in Australia are a major underlying factor in poor child health, including high rates of skin infections. The aim of this study is to test approaches to data collection, analysis and feedback for a follow-up study of the impact of housing conditions on child health.

Methods

Participation was negotiated in three communities with community councils and individual participants. Data were collected by survey of dwelling condition, interviews, and audit health centre records of children aged under seven years. Community feedback comprised immediate report of items requiring urgent repair followed by a summary descriptive report. Multivariate models were developed to calculate adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRR) for skin infections and their association with aspects of household infrastructure.

Results

There was a high level of participation in all communities. Health centre records were inadequate for audit in one community. The records of 138 children were available for development of multivariate analytic models. Rates of skin infection in dwellings that lacked functioning facilities for removing faeces or which had concrete floors may be up to twice as high as for other dwellings, and the latter association appears to be exacerbated by crowding. Younger children living in older dwellings may also be at approximately two-fold higher risk. A number of socioeconomic and socio-demographic variables also appear to be directly associated with high rates of skin infections.

Conclusion

The methods used in the pilot study were generally feasible, and the analytic approach provides meaningful results. The study provides some evidence that new and modern housing is contributing to a reduction in skin infections in Aboriginal children in remote communities, particularly when this housing leads to a reduction in crowding and the effective removal of human waste.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Carapetis JR, Connors C, Yarmirr D, Krause V, Currie BJ: Success of a scabies control program in an Australian aboriginal community. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1997, 16 (5): 494-499. 10.1097/00006454-199705000-00008.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Van Buynder PG, Gaggin JA, Martin D, Pugsley D, Mathews JD: Streptococcal infection and renal disease markers in Australian aboriginal children. Med J Aust. 1992, 156 (8): 537-540.PubMed
3.
Nimmo GR, Tinniswood RD, Nuttall N, Baker GM, McDonald B: Group A streptococcal infection in an aboriginal community. Med J Aust. 1992, 157 (8): 521-522.PubMed
4.
Streeton CL, Hanna JN, Messer RD, Merianos A: An epidemic of acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis among aboriginal children. J Paediatr Child Health. 1995, 31 (3): 245-248.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Kelly C, Taplin D, Allen AM: Streptococcal ecthyma. Treatment with benzathine pencillin G. Arch Dermatol. 1971, 103 (3): 306-310. 10.1001/archderm.103.3.306.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Gogna NK, Nossar V, Walker AC: Epidemic of acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis in aboriginal communities. Med J Aust. 1983, 1 (2): 64-66.PubMed
7.
Carapetis JR, Johnston F, Nadjamerrek J, Kairupan J: Skin sores in Aboriginal children. J Paediatr Child Health. 1995, 31 (6): 563-CrossRefPubMed
8.
Carapetis JR, Wolff DR, Currie BJ: Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in the top end of Australia's Northern Territory. Med J Aust. 1996, 164 (3): 146-149.PubMed
9.
Carapetis JR, Currie BJ: Preventing rheumatic heart disease in Australia. Med J Aust. 1998, 168 (9): 428-429.PubMed
10.
Richmond P, Harris L: Rheumatic fever in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. J Trop Pediatr. 1998, 44 (3): 148-152. 10.1093/tropej/44.3.148.CrossRefPubMed
11.
McDonald M, Currie BJ, Carapetis JR: Acute rheumatic fever: a chink in the chain that links the heart to the throat?. Lancet. 2004, 4: 240-245.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Currie B, Huffam S, O'Brien D, Walton S: Ivermectin for scabies. Lancet. 1997, 350 (9090): 1551-10.1016/S0140-6736(05)63983-9.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Munoz E, Powers JR, Nienhuys TG, Mathews JD: Social and environmental factors in 10 aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory: relationship to hospital admissions of children. Med J Aust. 1992, 156 (8): 529-533.PubMed
14.
Harris M, Nako D, Hopkins T, Powell DM, Kenny C, Carroll C, et al: Skin infections in Tanna, Vanuatu in 1989. P N G Med J. 1992, 35 (2): 137-143.PubMed
15.
Gibbs S: Skin disease and socioeconomic conditions in rural Africa: Tanzania. Int J Dermatol. 1996, 35 (9): 633-639.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Gracey M, Williams P, Houston S: Environmental health conditions in remote and rural aboriginal communities in western Australia. Aust N Z J Public Health. 1997, 21 (5): 511-518.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Porter MJ: An epidemiological approach to skin disease in the tropics. Trop Doct. 1977, 7 (2): 59-66.PubMed
18.
Bailey R, Downes B, Downes R, Mabey D: Trachoma and water use; a case control study in a Gambian village. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1991, 85 (6): 824-828. 10.1016/0035-9203(91)90470-J.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Taplin D, Lansdell L, Allen AM, Rodriguez R, Cortes A: Prevalence of streptococcal pyoderma in relation to climate and hygiene. Lancet. 1973, 1 (7802): 501-503. 10.1016/S0140-6736(73)90324-3.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Nelson KE, Bisno AL, Waytz P, Brunt J, Moses VK, Haque R: The epidemiology and natural history of streptococcal pyoderma: an endemic disease of the rural southern United States. Am J Epidemiol. 1976, 103 (3): 270-283.PubMed
21.
Barker J, Stevens D, Bloomfield SF: Spread and prevention of some common viral infections in community facilities and domestic homes. J Appl Microbiol. 2001, 91 (1): 7-21. 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2001.01364.x.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Ferrieri P, Dajani AS, Wannamaker LW, Chapman SS: Natural history of impetigo. I. Site sequence of acquisition and familial patterns of spread of cutaneous streptococci. J Clin Invest. 1972, 51 (11): 2851-2862.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
Mahe A, Prual A, Konate M, Bobin P: Skin diseases of children in Mali: a public health problem. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1995, 89 (5): 467-470. 10.1016/0035-9203(95)90068-3.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Pholeros P, Rainow S, Torzillo P: Housing for health: Towards a healthy living environment for Aboriginal Australia. NSW: Healthabitat. 1993
25.
Commonwealth, State and Territory Housing Minister’s Working Group on Indigenous Housing: National Framework for the design, construction and maintenance of Indigenous housing. Overview. Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services. 1999, Canberra, Commonwealth of Australia
26.
Bailie RS, Runcie MJ: Household infrastructure in aboriginal communities and the implications for health improvement. Med J Aust. 2001, 175 (7): 363-366.PubMed
27.
Bailie R, Siciliano F, Dane G, Bevan L, Paradies Y, Carson B: Atlas of Health-Related Infrastructure. Darwin, Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health. 2002, 1-74.
28.
Stevens M, Bailie R: Environmental Health Survey Year 2 Evaluation: Supplementary Report. Darwin, Menzies School of Health Research, Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health and the Indigenous Housing Authority of the Northern Territory. 2002
29.
Bailie RS, Maine N: Environmental health survey year 2 evaluation. Darwin, Australia, Menzies School of Health Research, Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health and the Indigenous Housing Authority of the Northern Territory.
30.
Williams RL: A Note on Robust Variance Estimation for Cluster-Correlated Data. Biometrics. 2000, 56 (2): 645-646. 10.1111/j.0006-341X.2000.00645.x.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Thomson H, Petticrew M, Morrison D: Health effects of housing improvement: systematic review of intervention studies. BMJ. 2001, 323 (7306): 187-190. 10.1136/bmj.323.7306.187.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
32.
Pholeros P, Torzillo PJ, Rainow S: Housing for health: Principles and projects, South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland 1985–92. Settlement. Edited by: Read P. 2000, Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 199-208.
33.
Harris MF, Kamien M: Change in aboriginal childhood morbidity and mortality in Bourke 1971–84. J Paediatr Child Health. 1990, 26 (2): 80-84.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Kamien M: Housing and health in an aboriginal community in Bourke, New South Wales. Aust Journal of Social Issues. 1976, 11 (3): 187-200.
35.
Bronte-Tinkew J, DeJong G: Children's nutrition in Jamaica: Do household structure and household economic resources matter?. Soc Sci Med. 2004, 58 (3): 499-514. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.09.017.CrossRefPubMed
36.
37.
Shaw M: Housing and Public Health. Annual Review of Public Health. 2004, 25 (8): 1-22.
38.
Saegert SC, Klitzman S, Freudenberg N, Cooperman-Mroczek J, Nassar S: Healthy housing: a structured review of published evaluations of US interventions to improve health by modifying housing in the United States, 1990–2001. Am J Public Health. 2003, 93 (9): 1471-1477.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
39.
Larrea C, Kawachi I: Does economic inequality affect child malnutrition?. The case of Ecuador. 2005, Social Science & Medicine, 60 (1): 165-178.
40.
Morphy F: Indigenous household structures and ABS definitions of the family: What happens when systems collide, and does it matter? CAEPR, editor. 26/2004. 2003, Canberra, ANU. CAEPR Working Paper Series, 1-19.
41.
Musharbash Y: Indigenous families and the welfare system: the Yuendumu community case study, Stage Two. Canberra. 2001, 1-34.
42.
Paice J, Dugbuaza T, Taylor J, editors: Issues in estimating families. 1996, Australian Population Association
43.
Taylor J: Measuring short-term population mobility among indigenous Australians: Options and implications. Australian Geographer. 1998, 29 (1): 125-136.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Golds M, King R, Meiklejohn B, Campion S, Wise M: Healthy aboriginal communities. Aust N Z J Public Health. 1997, 21 (4 Spec No): 386-390.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Skin infection, housing and social circumstances in children living in remote Indigenous communities: testing conceptual and methodological approaches
Authors
Ross S Bailie
Matthew R Stevens
Elizabeth McDonald
Stephen Halpin
David Brewster
Gary Robinson
Steven Guthridge
Publication date
01-12-2005
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2005
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-5-128

Other articles of this Issue 1/2005

BMC Public Health 1/2005 Go to the issue

Research article

Admission to hospital following head injury in England: Incidence and socio-economic associations

Research article

Parental educational level and cardiovascular disease risk factors in schoolchildren in large urban areas of Turkey: Directions for public health policy

Research article

Compulsory and recommended vaccination in Italy: evaluation of coverage and non-compliance between 1998-2002 in Northern Italy

Research article

Use of a food frequency questionnaire in American Indian and Caucasian pregnant women: a validation study

Research article

Mid-term Body Mass Index increase among obese and non-obese individuals in middle life and deprivation status: A cohort study

Research article

Methodological aspects of a GIS-based environmental health inspection program used in the Athens 2004 Olympic and Para Olympic Games