STUDY OVERVIEW

The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (also known as Women's Health Australia) is a longitudinal survey of over 57,000 women in three cohorts who were aged 18-23, 45-50 and 70-75 when surveys began in 1996. In 2012/13 more than 17,000 young women aged 18-23 were recruited to form a new cohort. ALSWH assesses women’s physical and mental health, as well as psychosocial aspects of health (such as socio-demographic and lifestyle factors) and their use of health services. Since its inception ALSWH has provided invaluable data about the health of women across the lifespan, and informed federal and state government policies across a wide range of issues. The study is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.

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NEWS AND EVENTS ALSWH COVID-19 Survey Reports The first four reports from our fortnightly COVID-19 surveys are now online. The surveys provide a snapshot of women's health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide insight into their experiences. Each report covers women's symptoms and testing and includes set questions, a series of themed topics, and an opportunity for free-text comments. They have been deployed via email to women in the three ALSWH cohorts born 1989-95, 1973-78, and 1946-51, since late April 2020. View the COVID 19 Report series Media Release: Researching women's doctor's visits could boost health budgets 8 September 2020 Researchers from the University of Queensland Health Economics Program are investigating why some women visit the doctor more than others with similar conditions. Read the full release Media Release: Recognising the hazardous effects of ‘pre-loading’ with alcohol 14 August 2020 Researchers at the University of Newcastle found that pre-loading may pose an additional risk of harm to young women, particularly those who frequently binge drink, and may benefit from being considered as an additional risk behaviour when defining healthy alcohol intake. Read the full release Vegies are best for baby's first solids 3 July 2020 Researchers at the University of Queensland found that children aged 2-12 years who were given fruit or vegetables instead of cereal as their first semi-solid food in infancy ate fruit and vegetables more frequently in childhood, and ate a wider variety of vegetables. Read the article Media Release: Hot flushes and night sweats linked to 70% increase in cardiovascular risk 2 July 2020 School of Public Health PhD student Dr Dongshan Zhu has found women of any age who experience hot flushes and night sweats, also known as vasomotor symptoms or VMS, are more likely to experience heart attacks, angina, and stroke. Read the full release More news

This website is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. The views expressed on this website do not necessarily represent the position of the Australian Government.