Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26852381›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2016

All-age hospitalization rates in coal seam gas areas in Queensland, Australia, 1995-2011.

Angela K Werner, Kerrianne Watt, Cate M Cameron, Sue Vink, Andrew Page, Paul Jagals

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The public health impacts of mining in Australia.The Medical journal of Australia · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Mapping the Morbidity Risk Associated with Coal Mining in Queensland, Australia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  3. Blood markers among residents from a coal mining area.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021
    Article
  4. Relationship between Land Use/Land-Use Change and Human Health in Australia: A Scoping Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Angela K WernerSustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Sir James Foots Bldg (47a), Level 6, CWiMI, Corner Staffhouse and College Roads, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia. angela.k.werner@gmail.com.
Kerrianne WattCollege of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia. kerrianne.watt@jcu.edu.au.
Cate M CameronCONROD Injury Research Centre, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Meadowbrook, QLD, Australia. cate.cameron@griffith.edu.au.
Sue VinkSustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Sir James Foots Bldg (47a), Level 6, CWiMI, Corner Staffhouse and College Roads, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia. s.vink@smi.uq.edu.au.
Andrew PageCentre for Health Research, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia. a.page@westernsydney.edu.au.
Paul JagalsSchool of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia. p.jagals@uq.edu.au.
University of Queensland · AUGriffith University · AUJames Cook University · AUWestern Sydney University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUnconventional natural gas development (UNGD) is expanding globally, with Australia expanding development in the form of coal seam gas (CSG). Residents and other interest groups have voiced concerns about the potential environmental and health impacts related to CSG. This paper compares objective health outcomes from three study areas in Queensland, Australia to examine potential environmentally-related health impacts.

methodsThree study areas were selected in an ecologic study design: a CSG area, a coal mining area, and a rural/agricultural area. Admitted patient data, as well as population data and additional factors, were obtained for each calendar year from 1995 through 2011 to calculate all-age hospitalization rates and age-standardized rates in each of these areas. The three areas were compared using negative binomial regression analyses (unadjusted and adjusted models) to examine increases over time of hospitalization rates grouped by primary diagnosis (19 ICD chapters), with rate ratios serving to compare the within-area regression slopes between the areas.

resultsThe CSG area did not have significant increases in all-cause hospitalization rates over time for all-ages compared to the coal and rural study areas in adjusted models (RR: 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.00-1.04 as compared to the coal mining area; RR: 1.01, 95 % CI: 0.99-1.04 as compared to the rural area). While the CSG area did not show significant increases in specific hospitalization rates compared to both the coal mining and rural areas for any ICD chapters in the adjusted models, the CSG area showed increases in hospitalization rates compared only to the rural area for neoplasms (RR: 1.09, 95 % CI: 1.02-1.16) and blood/immune diseases (RR: 1.14, 95 % CI: 1.02-1.27).

conclusionsThis exploratory study of all-age hospitalization rates for three study areas in Queensland suggests that certain hospital admissions rates increased more quickly in the CSG study area than in other study areas, particularly the rural area, after adjusting for key sociodemographic factors. These findings are an important first step in identifying potential health impacts of CSG in the Australian context and serve to generate hypotheses for future studies.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAgricultureChildCoal IndustryHospitalizationHumansMaleMiddle AgedModels, TheoreticalNatural GasOil and Gas IndustryQueenslandRegression AnalysisSpatial AnalysisNatural Gas

Identifiers

PMID26852381
PMCPMC4744625
OpenAlexW2265431693

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.