Allen G. Ross

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/67460.].

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In rural Australia, recent trends reveal an exponential increase in the rates of physical inactivity, central obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cancer in the population. The limited rural health workforce, which is struggling to meet this growing burden, is boosted by digital technologies such as My Health Record, Cardihab, Healthdirect, and MindSpot, all of which offer opportunities for improved diagnostics, monitoring, and management of chronic diseases. However, implementing proven digital health technologies in rural communities has been challenging on numerous fronts. This perspective aims to (1) highlight the rural health gap and propose a way forward in implementing evidence-based digital health technologies in the rural, regional, and remote communities of Australia and (2) guide future rural health policy.

Diabetic kidney disease is a significant microvascular complication associated with chronic diabetes, contributing substantially to the overall health burden of the disease. This perspective focusses on evaluating the most recent advancements in screening techniques, prevention, and treatment strategies along with new advances in the field. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases to identify and synthesize recent evidence. In Australia, chronic kidney disease (CKD) was responsible for approximately two million hospital admissions, accounting for 18% of all hospitalizations in 2021–22. In remote areas, 17,100 CKD-related hospitalizations were reported during this period, with residents being three times more likely to be hospitalized for CKD compared to those living in major cities. Among First Nations people, the burden was 7.8 times higher than that of non-Indigenous populations. Advocacy for policy changes to address healthcare disparities in rural and remote Australia is crucial.

Neuroinformatics involves replicating and detecting intricate brain activities through computational models, where deep learning plays a foundational role. Our systematic review explores quantum deep learning (QDL), an emerging deep learning sub-field, to assess whether quantum-based approaches outperform classical approaches in brain data learning tasks. This review is a pioneering effort to compare these deep learning domains. In addition, we survey neuroinformatics and its various subdomains to understand the current state of the field and where QDL stands relative to recent advancements. Our statistical analysis of tumor classification studies (n = 16) reveals that QDL models achieved a mean accuracy of 0.9701 (95% CI 0.9533–0.9868), slightly outperforming classical models with a mean accuracy of 0.9650 (95% CI 0.9475–0.9825). We observed similar trends across Alzheimer’s diagnosis, stroke lesion detection, cognitive state monitoring, and brain age prediction, with QDL demonstrating better performance in metrics such as F1-score, dice coefficient, and RMSE. Our findings, paired with prior documented quantum advantages, highlight QDL’s promise in healthcare applications as quantum technology evolves. Our discussion outlines existing research gaps with the intent of encouraging further investigation in this developing field.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.2 aims to reduce neonatal mortality to as low as 12 per 1000 live births and under-five mortality to as low as 25 per 1000 live births by 2030 [1]. Despite these targets, an estimated five million children aged <5 years lost their lives worldwide in 2021, with over […]

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is associated with a complex interplay of genetic, neurobiological, and environmental factors. In this case report, we discuss the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the development of NPD in adulthood. Here, we report a clinical case of NPD to illustrate how ACEs, particularly physical and emotional neglect, combined with early life parental overvaluation, can impair emotional regulation and self-worth, contributing to the development of narcissistic traits. We analyse, in light of existing literature, how ACEs are associated with a wide spectrum of personality disorders, how parental overvaluation is linked to grandiose narcissism, and how childhood neglect and abuse are associated with vulnerable narcissism. ACEs are the primary risk factor for the development of NPD in adulthood. Dysfunctional household environments and parenting practices compound the association between ACEs and pathological narcissism. It is important to address childhood trauma for the prevention and treatment of NPD. Further research is necessary to clarify how individual factors influence the relationship between ACEs and pathological narcissism.

To investigate the sociodemographic, anthropometric, biochemical, lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) among First Nations Australians. A systematic review of prospective cohorts and cross-sectional studies was conducted. Electronic data sources (MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, and PsycINFO) were searched for peer-reviewed articles until August 2023. We reviewed observational and interventional studies on T2D that reported sociodemographic, anthropometric, lifestyle, and biochemical risk factors for Australian First Nations people. Narrative synthesis was applied without meta-analysis. We highlighted the major risk factors for T2D by reporting the most significant findings from individual studies in the results. The review followed PRISMA guidelines. The review included 20 eligible studies: 12 cross-sectional studies and 8 prospective cohort studies. The findings from these studies showed that First Nations people who resided in very remote areas (Modified Monash Category 7; MM7) (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.03, 2.52), living adjacent to food store stocking “Western” food items (OR = 2.92; 95% CI: 1.51, 5.63), rented their home (OR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.30, 3.30) and part-time employment (OR = 2.47; 95% CI: 1.54, 3.95) were associated with a statistically higher risk of developing T2D. First Nations people who had obesity class 1 (BMI > 30 kg/m2), central obesity (WC > 88 cm in women; >102 cm in men), and higher waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (≥ 1.0 in men and 0.85 in women) were more likely to have T2D. First Nations people with elevated triglycerides (≥ 1.7 mmol/L) (OR = 4.9; 95% CI: 2.7, 8.8), one standard deviation (SD) increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) value (AHR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.45) and lower levels of vitamin D (< 53 nmol/L) (AOR = 2.15; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.18) were significantly associated with a higher risk of T2D. However, no significant association was found with either daily smoking or daily alcohol. To address the First Nations Health Gap attributed to T2D in Australia, interventions should prioritise remote areas, socioeconomic disadvantage, central obesity, elevated triglycerides, and vitamin D deficiency. This was the first comprehensive systematic review examining sociodemographic, anthropometric, biochemical, lifestyle, and cardiometabolic risk factors associated with T2D among First Nations Australians.