Rachel O'Loughlin

PhD student, Research Assistant

Name: Rachel O’Loughlin
Email: oloughlin.r@unimelb.edu.au
Unit: Child Health Economics Unit, Melbourne Health Economics
School: Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

PhD Project Title

Understanding Value in Children’s Mental Healthcare

Areas of interest

Health economics, child health, mental health, value-based healthcare

Biography

Rachel O’Loughlin is a health services researcher, trained in health economics, and specialising in health outcome measurement. Rachel holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and International Business) from The University of Sydney, and graduate degrees in Psychology from The University of Melbourne, as well as having completed short courses in Health Economics and Quality Improvement. She has 10+ years’ experience working in children’s health research, and is currently undertaking a PhD through the Child Health Economics Unit, examining ‘Value in Children’s Mental Healthcare’. Concurrently, Rachel is working as a Safer Care Victoria Research Fellow, and is a subject tutor within the Master of Public Health at the University of Melbourne. Prior to commencing her PhD, she worked for 7 years as a Research Assistant in the Health Services Research Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Rachel’s research interests include the complexities of measuring children’s health-related quality of life, particularly in the context of mental health challenges; the health policy and practice implications of healthcare interventions; the costs and financing systems of healthcare; how we define and measure the value of changes in mental healthcare; and how we can use this information to improve the quality of children’s mental healthcare in Australia.

Publications

  1. O’Loughlin R, Jones R, Chen G, Mulhern B, Hiscock H, Devlin N, Dalziel K. Comparing the psychometric performance of generic paediatric health-related quality of life instruments in children and adolescents with ADHD, Anxiety and/or Depression. [In Press]. PharmacoEconomics. Accepted: 12 October 2023. (IF 4.579). Link to Special Supplement: https://link.springer.com/collections/jhbcgbgada
  2. Jones R, O’Loughlin R, Xiong X, Bahrampour M, Devlin N, Hiscock H, Chen G, Mulhern B, Dalziel K. Comparative psychometric performance of common generic paediatric health related quality of life instruments: Results from the Australian Paediatric Multi-Instrument Comparison Study. PharmacoEconomics 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40273-023-01330-2 (IF 4.579)
  3. Jones R, O’Loughlin R, Xiong X, Bahrampour M, McGregor K, Yip S, Devlin N, Hiscock H, Mulhern B, Dalziel K. Collecting paediatric health-related quality of life data: Assessing the feasibility and acceptability of the Australian Paediatric Multi-Instrument Comparison (P-MIC) Study. Children 2023;10:1604. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/children10101604 (IF: 2.4)
  4. O’Loughlin R, Hiscock H, Devlin N, Dalziel K. Distinct developmental trajectories of health-related quality of life for boys and girls throughout childhood and adolescence; a national level longitudinal study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 01 Aug 2023;21(1):82. doi: 10.1186/s12955-023-02171-5 (PMID 37528376) (IF 4.011) Short link: https://rdcu.be/dijFY
  5. David-Wilathgamuwa S, Hu N, Meyers T, O’Loughlin R, Lingam R. Socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties in children with chronic physical conditions: Analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Archives of Disease in Childhood 26 April 2023;108:569-575. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2022-325069 (PMID 37185080) (IF 4.918)
  6. Shi YC, Hiscock H, Oakley E, Freed G, O’Loughlin R. Non-indicated brain computed tomography scans for children: adaptation of an American measurement tool and contrast of current practice in an Australian Hospital. Pediatric Emergency Care 2022;38(2):e550-5. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000002515 (PMID: 34393214) (IF 1.170).
  7. O’Loughlin R, Hiscock H, Pan T, Devlin N, Dalziel K. The relationship between physical and mental health multimorbidity and children’s health-related quality of life. Quality of Life Research 2022;31(7):2119-2131. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03095-1 (PMID: 35094215) (IF 4.147) Short link: https://rdcu.be/cFZW7 (Citations: 4)
  8. Jones R, Mulhern B, McGregor K, Yip S, O'Loughlin R, Devlin N, Hiscock H, Dalziel K. Psychometric performance of HRQoL measures: an Australian pediatric multi-instrument comparison study protocol (P-MIC). Children 2021;8(8):714. doi: 10.3390/children8080714 (PMID: 34438605) (Citations: 2)
  9. Stephens K, O’Loughlin R, Green J, Anderson V, Rinehart N, Nicholson J, Hazell P, Silk T, Efron D, Sciberras E. The association between autism symptoms and child functioning in a sample with ADHD recruited from the community. Journal of Attention Disorders 2021;25(8):1129-34. doi: 10.1177/1087054719886352 (PMID: 31711354) (IF 3.668) (Citations: 4)
  10. Hiscock H, Connolly AS, Dunlop K, Perera P, O’Loughlin R, Brown SJ, Krieser DM, West A, Chapman P, Lawford R, Cheek JA.Understanding parent-reported factors that influence children and young people’s anxiety and depression presentations to Emergency Departments: A multi-site study. Emergency Medicine Australasia 2020;32(5):724-30. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.13486 (PMID: 32096307) (IF 1.50) (Citations: 1)
  11. Hiscock H, Connolly AS, Dunlop K, Perera P, O’Loughlin R, Brown S,Krieser DM, West A, Chapman P, Lawford R, Cheek J. Parent perspectives on children and young people’s mental health services in Victoria – what’s wrong and how to fix it: A multi-site qualitative study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2020;56(7):1114-20. doi: 10.1111/jpc.14835 (PMID: 32100422) (IF 1.688) (Citations: 1)
  12. O’Loughlin R, Hiscock H. Presentations to emergency departments by children and young people with food allergy are increasing. Medical Journal of Australia 2020;213(1):27-9. doi: 10.5694/mja2.50604 (PMID: 32372419) (IF 5.33) (Citations: 3)
  13. Christie-Johnston CA, O’Loughlin R, Hiscock H. “Getting to Clinic Study” – a mixed methods study of families who fail to attend hospital outpatient clinics. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2020;56(4):506-11 doi: 10.1111/jpc.14672 (PMID: 31714655) (IF 1.688) (Citations: 7)
  14. Summers P, O’Loughlin R, O’Donnell S, Borschmann R, Carlin J, Hiscock H. Repeated presentation of children and adolescents to the emergency department following self-harm: A retrospective audit of hospital data. Emergency Medicine Australasia 2020;32(2):320-6. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.13485 (PMID: 32100442) (IF: 1.50). Altmetric: #5 of outputs of a similar age from EMA. (Citations: 5)
  15. Hiscock H, O’Loughlin R, Pelly R, Laird C, Holman J, Dalziel K, Lei S, Boyle D, Freed G. Strengthening care for children: Pilot of an integrated GP-paediatrician model of primary care in Victoria. Australian Health Review 2020;44(4):569-75. doi: 10.1071/AH19177 (PMID: 32045563) (IF 1.228) (Citations: 10)
  16. Riess S, Lei S, Huang L, O’Loughlin R, Hiscock H. Non-indicated acid-suppression prescribing in a tertiary paediatric hospital: an audit and costing study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2019;55(7):762-71. doi: 10.1111/jpc.14287. (PMID: 30484922) (IF: 1.688) (Citations: 1)
  17. Hiscock H, Neely RJ, Lei S, Freed G. Paediatric mental and physical health presentations to emergency departments, Victoria, 2008-15. Medical Journal of Australia 2018;208(8):343-348. doi:10.5694/mja17.00434 (PMID: 29669495) (IF: 3.369) (Citations: 95)
  18. Hiscock H, Neely RJ, Warren H, Soon J, Georgiou A. Reducing unnecessary imaging and pathology tests: A systematic review. Pediatrics 2018;141(2):e20172862. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-2862. PROSPERO registration ID: CRD42016047960 (PMID: 29382686) (IF: 5.473) (Citations: 32).
  19. Neely RJ, Green JL, Sciberras E, Hazell P, Anderson V. Relationship between executive functioning and symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder in 6-8 year old children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2016 Oct;46(10):3270-80. doi: 10.1007/s10803-016-2874-6. (PMID: 27444498) (IF: 3.341) (Citations: 31).

Honours, Awards and Fellowships

  • RTP Scholarship (University of Melbourne and Commonwealth Government)
  • Safer Care Victoria Research Fellow Grant (2022-23 & 2023-24)