title: The Gudaga Study: establishing an Aboriginal birth cohort in an urban community.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper describes the establishment of the Gudaga Study, an Aboriginal birth cohort in south-west Sydney, and our approach to follow-up of participants. The Study describes the health, development, and services use of Aboriginal infants and their mothers. The research team works closely with the local Aboriginal community to implement the research.
  
  
  METHODS
  All mothers in the maternity ward of an urban hospital were surveyed to identify mothers with an Aboriginal infant. These and some additional mothers identified through other networks were recruited to the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of mothers were surveyed was 2,108. Mothers of Aboriginal infants were younger (25.3 years compared to 28.4 years, p<0.001), less likely to be married (16.1% cf. 58.4%, p<0.001) and to have completed school (63.2% cf. 77.8%, p=0.002) than mothers of non-Aboriginal infants. Of 155 identified mothers of Aboriginal infants, 136 were recruited and 23 through other networks. At 12 months, 85.5% of infants were followed up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study, to our knowledge, is the first cohort study of this kind on the eastern seaboard of Australia. The study has strong community support and follow-up, contrary to views that Aboriginal people are reluctant to participate in research. These data have national and regional significance.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW. E.Comino@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Comino
authors.forename: Pippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Lisa Jackson
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Pulver
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knight
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008423:Maternal Age; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D016730:Program Development; D012042:Registries / Q000592:standards*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult