The Busselton children's survey, 1983. Body size from five to 16 years of age.

In 1983, 1623 primary and secondary schoolchildren took part in a health survey which was organized by the Busselton Population Studies Group. Age, sex, weight, height and country of birth were recorded for each child. Where possible, the country of birth of parents and the occupation of the father were extracted from previous Busselton surveys of adults. Compared with Perth schoolchildren, the difference in the attained weight and height of Busselton children at any age was small. This was so even though the two communities differ in location (rural compared with metropolitan), in ethnic origin (mainly British compared with diverse origins) and, probably, in social-rank distribution. Data from the two communities showed that a similar small secular increase in height had occurred since 1970/1971. This increase averaged at 1.2 cm for children at each year of age in Busselton and 1.5 cm to 1.6 cm for children in Perth.

Q waves and ventricular extrasystoles in resting electrocardiograms. A 16 year follow up in Busselton study.

Isolated abnormalitites in the resting electrocardiograms of 1546 Busselton people with no history of angina or past myocardial infarction were examined in relation to 16 year mortality. Multivariate discriminate analysis in men showed significant independent relationship for Q waves with coronary heart disease and for ventricular extrasystoles with cardiovascular disease. In women multivariate analysis showed significant relations for ventricular extrasystoles with total mortality and coronary heart disease. There were higher trends in mortality for both men and women with frequent ventricular extrasystoles compared with those with infrequent ventricular extrasystoles.

Multiple regression analysis of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality in Busselton, Western Australia--13-year study.

The mortality of 1564 Busselton subjects has been studied from 1966-79 to determine whether risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) showed any change in emphasis compared with the Framingham Population Study of 20 yr previously. The Busselton analysis used subjects free of probable and suspect coronary heart disease at onset. In men aged 40-59, systolic blood pressure (SBP), forced expiratory volume (FEV), and serum cholesterol levels were significant independent determining variables for CVD mortality and cholesterol for CHD mortality, with SBP being related to CVD in men aged 60-74 yr. In women, there were few indicators of future vascular risk with no significant determining variable for CVD and CHD in 40-59 yr olds, but blood glucose and FEV were significant risk factors for CVD in women aged 60-74 yr. Cholesterol was unrelated to mortality in women but showed negative relationship with cancer in 60-74 yr old men. In total mortality, smoking in men and women, and obesity in women were significant risk factors; 1 hr serum insulin had a negative relationship in men aged 40-59 yr, and a stronger positive relationship in men aged 60-74 yr, but this may have been due to the close negative association of the variable with body size (i.e. height). More studies are required to ascertain whether glucose and insulin have an aetiological role in vascular disease.

Alcohol and mortality in the Busselton study.

Non-smoking Busselton men and women who classed themselves in 1966 as non-drinkers had significantly higher 13-year mortality from all causes and from cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with non-smoking drinkers. Such findings are the first to be reported in women. Smoking had no observed effect on the mortality of Busselton's non-drinkers, but in drinkers, smoking was associated with significantly higher mortalities from all causes CVD, CHD, and cancer compared with those of smoking non-drinkers. For all subjects, the recent prospective studies from Busselton and other selected populations have indicated that the lowest rates of total mortality have been found in those whose daily alcohol consumption ranged between 1-30 mls/day.

Electrocardiograms and 13 year cardiovascular mortality in Busselton study.

In 2119 unselected Busselton subjects 40 to 79 years of age, the 13 year mortality from cardiovascular disease was significantly higher in those whose initial electrocardiogram showed Q and QS patterns, left axis deviation, ST depression, T wave depression, flat or biphasic T waves, atrial fibrillation or flutter, and ventricular extrasystoles. In angina-free subjects whose electrocardiographic codes occurred in isolation from any other electrocardiographic abnormality, ventricular extrasystoles were associated with significantly higher mortality from cardiovascular disease compared with controls.

Obesity and insulin secretion in fasting high school students.

The relationship between plasma glucose, serum insulin, serum C-peptide and obesity was studied in 320 fasting high school students (13-18 years old), as part of a Busselton population study. For males and females respectively plasma glucose was 4.5 +/- 0.4 and 4.4 +/- 0.5 mmol/l (mean +/- SD), serum insulin 0.51 +/- 0.35 and 0.69 +/- 0.39 log10 (nmol/l X 100), and serum C-peptide 0.48 +/- 0.15 and 0.55 +/- 0.14 nmol/l. These sex differences were not statistically significant. Plasma glucose correlated with C-peptide (r = 0.21, p < 0.001) and insulin (r = 0.32, p < 0.001), indicating greater secretion where fasting glucose was higher. Obesity, measured as skin fold thickness, was also associated with serum C-peptide (r = 0.32, p < 0.001) and insulin (r = 0.37, p < 0.001).

Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking in Busselton, 1966-1978.

In Busselton, mass health examination (MHE) questionnaires about alcohol consumption indicate that more people are drinking wine and fewer people are drinking beer. The evidence suggests an increase in the number of women consuming alcohol. The proportion of drinkers was higher among patients attending doctors with interests in wineries and/or vineyards compared with those patients attending doctors without such interests. More patients of doctors who smoked were smokers compared with those patient of doctors who were non-smokers. Smoking in Busselton appears to be declining at the rate of 0.5% to 1% of the population per annum; this decline is more marked in people who had attended one or more MHEs than in newcomers to MHEs. These trends have encouraged a more active approach to the prevention of smoking in school children.

The 1977 Busselton children's survey.

A health survey of 551 high school students in the coastal town of Busselton, Western Australia, was undertaken in November, 1977. Physical measurements showed that approximately 17% of the boys and 24% of the girls were overweight (115% or more of their standard weight for height and age). Blood pressures ranged from 108/64 mmHg at 13 years to 129/70 mmHg at 17 years for boys, and 109/63 mmHg to 116/66 mmHg for girls of the same age group. Fasting plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride values were also obtained. Twenty-seven per cent of the girls and 17% of the boys were regular smokers, a habit often acquired by the age of 12 years. Most of the children watched television from two to four hours daily during the week, and for longer periods at weekends. Although most had satisfactory levels of physical fitness, there was a trend towards poor performance in overweight children, and there was a significant decrease in participation in regular sports by the older teenagers.

Drug usage in a western Australian rural community.

Drug usage in two agricultural shires, Kondinin and Kulin, was surveyed by questionnaire. Both prescription and over the counter (OTC) drugs were recorded together with age, sex, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and body weight, and 1284 people, or 55.8% of the eligible population over six years of age, participated. Approximately 35%, 53% and 12% of people said they were taking no drugs, one to two drugs and three or more drugs respectively, a result very similar to that found in an earlier urban study (Traralgon). The interaction of all five factors on drug consumption was studied jointly by multivariate analysis; FEV1, SBP and weight were normalised using standard tables. Prescription drug usage was directly related to obesity, respiratory impairment and sex (P less than 0.01) but not to age or SBP. People taking either OTC drugs or none at all differed only in sex, with females taking more than males (P less than 0.01). There were no differences in the factors studied between prescription only and prescription plus OTC drug users.