Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “NEW ZEALAND”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Medical practice in New Zealand 1769-1860.

New Zealand was discovered by Captain Cook in 1769. Over the next ninety years, increasing numbers of medical practitioners visited and began to settle in what became a British colony. The first medical visitors were usually naval surgeons or served on board whaling ships. The major influx of doctors occurred at the behest of the New Zealand Company between 1840 and 1848, although Christian missionaries, army doctors, and individual medical entrepreneurs also emigrated and provided services. This paper describes the pattern of medical settlement in the colony's earliest years and relates this to the health of the population and the development of medical and hospital services.

Colonialism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The patients' complaints system in New Zealand.

Since 1996 New Zealand has had a Code of Patients' Rights enforceable by complaints to an independent ombudsman. Patients are entitled to receive health care of an appropriate standard, to give informed consent, and to complain to a health commissioner about perceived malpractice. The commissioner investigates and reports on complaints, recommends practice changes by providers, is a gatekeeper to discipline by professional boards, and acts as a public advocate for patient safety. In this paper the current commissioner describes New Zealand's experience with the patients' complaints system and discusses the implications for the quality of health care.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1998

Cancer incidence, morbidity and geothermal air pollution in Rotorua, New Zealand.

BACKGROUND: The New Zealand city of Rotorua sits on a geothermal field. However, little is known about the possible health impacts of the geothermal emissions. This was an ecological study that examined cancer incidence and morbidity data for Rotorua. METHODS: Cancer registry and hospital discharge (morbidity) data were obtained for the decade 1981-1990. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated comparing Rotorua residents with those living in the rest of New Zealand. Diagnostic categories examined were based on known target organ systems of hydrogen sulphide toxicity. RESULTS: Of the cancer sites, there was an elevated rate for nasal cancers. However, this was based on only four cases. The SIR for cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung in Maori women was 1.48 (95% CI: 1.03-2.06). This was not explained by higher smoking rates. In the hospital discharge data, a number of diseases showed elevated SIR, notably diseases of the nervous system and the eye. To some extent, these effects were characteristic of effects induced by hydrogen sulphide and also mercury compounds. However, there were few data with which to assess whether significant mercury exposures had occurred, and other explanations were possible. CONCLUSIONS: There are inadequate exposure data for Rotorua to permit conclusions on likely causal associations. However, some of the elevated disease rates were at least consistent with what one might expect to find if sufficient exposures to hydrogen sulphide and/or mercury were occurring.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1994

Observations on ethnic differences in SIDS mortality in New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION: Within New Zealand the SIDS mortality rate is higher in Maori than in non-Maori, predominantly European. AIMS: This paper addresses two questions (1) How should ethnicity be defined, by biological or cultural criteria? (2) Why is the SIDS rate higher in Maori, because of different risk factors or because of a higher prevalence of common risk factors? METHODS: A nationwide case-control study. RESULTS: The majority of mothers with some Maori blood (as reported on the infants birth registration form) report they are Maori (as recorded in the obstetric records or interview). Risk factors for SIDS are similar in the various ethnic groups in New Zealand. CONCLUSIONS: Using a biological definition underestimates the number of Maori infants compared to the cultural definition. Differences in SIDS mortality appear to be explained by differences in prevalence of known risk factors, the most important of which, prone sleeping position, maternal smoking, lack of breast feeding and bed sharing, are culturally determined rather than biologically.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed2006

Application of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to identify potential outbreaks of campylobacteriosis in New Zealand.

Since 2002, New Zealand's incidence of campylobacteriosis has exceeded 300 cases per 100,000 people per annum. To evaluate genetic variation in human isolates, 183 Campylobacter isolates were collected from a single clinical laboratory in Christchurch: 77 during an 8-week period in spring, and the rest 3 months later over a second 8-week period in autumn. Isolates were identified to the species level and subtyped using Penner serotyping (Campylobacter jejuni only) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using both SmaI and KpnI. Approximately two-thirds of the isolates could be grouped into clusters of between 2 and 26 isolates with indistinguishable SmaI and KpnI patterns. Less than 10% of the isolates were of the same type between the two sampling periods. The epidemiological relevance of the PFGE clusters was supported by temporal clustering, some spatial clustering, and some statistically significant demographic similarities among cases in a cluster. Conversely, patient cases yielding isolates which did not cluster with isolates from other cases were more likely to report recent overseas travel and less likely to live within larger urban centers. To identify whether these clusters actually represent common-source outbreaks, however, would require the detailed, rapid, and reiterative epidemiological investigation of cases within a PFGE cluster. The combined and timely application of subtyping and epidemiological investigation would appear to be a promising strategy for understanding campylobacteriosis in New Zealand.

Campylobacter↗
PubMed1993

General practice in New Zealand.

General practice in New Zealand has evolved into a 'user pays' system and although operating within a national health service, it has many interesting differences from general practice in the United Kingdom. Emphasis is placed on biculturalism in health care. Income is derived through a fee for service, which includes a proportion from patients dependent on their means tested reimbursement from the government for provision of general medical services. Consultations are fewer in number and longer in duration. New Zealand society has considerable awareness in the area of medical ethics and there is a medical insurance scheme which covers ill health as a result of accidents. Great advances have been made in provision for out of hours work. New Zealand has its own royal college of general practitioners, membership examination and scheme for vocational training. This paper, based on the authors' personal experience of 12 months' study leave in New Zealand in 1991-92, examines these important areas of difference and reflects on the health reforms that are currently taking place in New Zealand.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1997

Intensive (pasture) beef cattle operations: the perspective of New Zealand.

Beef production in New Zealand has characteristics typical of a temperate climate and pasture-based animal husbandry. The specific pathogens which may contaminate fresh beef and which are empirically considered to be of public health importance are similar to those in other countries with temperate climates, i.e. Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Toxoplasma gondii. With the exception of T. gondii, it is likely that almost all transmission of these hazards through consumption of beef results from unseen microbial cross-contamination from gastrointestinal sources during slaughter, dressing and further processing. Gaining comprehensive information on carcass contamination levels is an essential first step in establishing food safety objectives for a particular beef production system, and in designing risk-based hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plans. It is likely that the lower mean and maximum numbers of indicator micro-organisms on New Zealand carcasses (when compared with other countries) are in part due to the pre-slaughter cleanliness status of cattle reared under temperate, pasture conditions. Similarly, the failure to detect specific pathogens of gastrointestinal origin in a comprehensive baseline survey most probably reflects the limited pathway for faecal contamination during slaughter and dressing under processing conditions in New Zealand. The New Zealand example provides strong evidence for the need to design HACCP plans according to the specific national (or regional) situation. Reducing all pathways for faecal contamination of products to the maximum extent practicable will be the most important factor in achieving desired food safety objectives for fresh beef. Variable densities of microbial pathogens in gastrointestinal contents are also likely to have a significant effect on subsequent contamination levels of beef carcasses: however, effective controls for limiting the presence of most pathogens of concern in the live animal have yet to be identified.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed1990

Sequence of I-E genes from autoimmune New Zealand white mice.

Autoimmune New Zealand white (NZW) mice contribute to (New Zealand black x New Zealand white)F1 mice 1 or more major histocompatibility complex-linked genes that strongly correlate with susceptibility to murine lupus. The NZW class II major histocompatibility complex genes, I-E alpha and I-E beta, were cloned and sequenced and found to differ from normal B10.PL (H-2u) mice by 3 amino acids in the first domain of the I-E beta subunit. Of these differences, the arginine at position 72 of NZW mice could be an important disease determinant since it lies in a predicted antigen-binding cleft.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2006

Toward standardising nursing language in New Zealand.

Historically nursing in New Zealand has not used any standardised means to classify practice. In a rapidly developing health information technology (IT) sector this raises serious questions about documentation processes, information management and knowledge development nursing. Recently the Nursing Council of New Zealand has redefined nursing practice, included documentation skills and information management as core competencies within the Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner Scopes of Practice (2004) and included information technology as core curricula content within pre-registration nursing programmes. This opinion paper will argue that continued lack of description and analysis of nursing practice in this country will enhance nursing vulnerability. It will background the extent of this issue and outline a project that aims to explore the contextual issues, test a language embedded with a clinical information system and develop a procedural framework to guide the implementation of automated means to describe, compare, examine and analyse nursing practices and processes within New Zealand. The framework will take into account the uniqueness of New Zealand nursing located within international positions and will be a first step toward using a standardised professional language embedded in clinical information systems.

New Zealand↗
PubMed2000

Genetic regulation of anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies and splenomegaly in autoimmune hemolytic anemia-prone new zealand black mice.

New Zealand Black (NZB) mice spontaneously produce anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies (AEA) in association with splenomegaly, thus serving as a model for autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Although these autoimmune traits are inherited as a dominant fashion, expression in F(1) hybrids of NZB and most non-New Zealand strains is suppressed due to the contribution of wild-type modifying genes present in the latter strains. Using chromosomal microsatellite markers in the (C57BL/6 x NZB)F(1) x NZB backcross progeny, we mapped C57BL/6 modifying loci for AEA production and splenomegaly. Generation of AEA was found to be down-regulated by a combined effect of two major independently segregating dominant alleles-one linked to D7MIT30 on chromosome 7 and the other linked to D10MIT42 on chromosome 10. Splenomegaly was modified mainly by a single C57BL/6 allele linked to D4MIT58 on chromosome 4. Thus, the autoimmune hemolytic anemia in the NZB strain is under multigenic control and a combined action of not only susceptibility but also modifying alleles with suppressive activities affects the outcome of disease features in the progeny. There are potentially important candidate genes which may be linked to the regulation of AEA and splenomegaly.

Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune↗
PubMed1997

Approaches to preventing alcohol-related problems: the experience of New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand and Australia have experienced similarities in their drinking cultures and patterns since colonization. This paper briefly reviews those experiences and looks at the approaches both countries have taken in dealing with alcohol-related problems. Over 10 years ago Australia developed a national strategy embracing a harm reduction approach and more recently New Zealand embarked upon a similar process. As well as examining the development of these, other initiatives are examined. These include approaches to licensing of alcohol sales, taxation, alcohol promotion, control of drinking on licensed premises, drinking and driving intervention, community action, initiatives by Maori and Aboriginal people and efforts to educate the individual drinker.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Waiting times and prioritization for coronary artery bypass surgery in New Zealand.

OBJECTIVES: To review the New Zealand coronary artery bypass priority score instituted in May 1996, and specifically to determine whether it prioritizes patients at high risk of cardiac events while waiting. The New Zealand score is compared with the Ontario urgency rating score, and waiting times for surgery are compared with the maximum times recommended by the Ontario consensus panel. DESIGN: Retrospective review of patients accepted for isolated coronary artery bypass surgery between 1 January 1993 and 31 January 1996. SETTING: Green Lane Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Waiting time, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and cardiac readmission. RESULTS: The median waiting times were five days for hospital cases (n = 721) and 146 days for out of hospital cases (n = 701). Of the latter group, 28% waited more than a year, 33% had their surgery expedited because of worsening symptoms, and 19% failed to meet the cut off point set by the New Zealand score for acceptance onto the list. Twenty two patients died, 18 on the outpatient waiting list (waiting list mortality 2.6%, risk 0.28% per month of waiting), and 132 were readmitted, 12% with myocardial infarction and 76% with unstable angina. Risk factors for a composite end point of death or myocardial infarction and/or cardiac readmission were: previous coronary artery bypass surgery (p = 0. 001), class III or IV angina (p = 0.002), and hypertension (p = 0. 005). The New Zealand score did not identify those at risk. Excluding hospital cases, 32% had surgery within the time recommended by the Ontario consensus panel. CONCLUSIONS: Waiting times for coronary artery bypass surgery in New Zealand are considerably longer than those in Ontario, Canada. By using a numerical cut off point, implementation of the New Zealand priority scoring system has restricted access to coronary surgery on the basis of funding constraints rather than clinical appropriateness. The score does not add greatly to the clinicians' prioritization in predicting those patients who will suffer events while waiting.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Ethnicity variables in the incidence rates of leukemias in New Zealand populations: implications for stem-cell transplantation.

New Zealand has a population of 4 million people comprising four main ethnic groups: Caucasian (72.9%), New Zealand Maori (14.7%), New Zealand Pacific Islands people (5.6%), and Asians (6.3%). We examined 10 years of data (1993-2002) from the New Zealand Cancer Registry to determine if there are ethnic differences in leukemia incidence in New Zealand, and we relate this to availability of stem-cell transplantation. We found that New Zealand Asians have a generally lower incidence of all leukemias investigated. New Zealand Maori have an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia (RR 1.5 in the age group 25-49 and RR 1.31 in the age group 50-74), relative to New Zealand Caucasians. New Zealand Pacific Islanders have an increased risk of chronic myeloid leukemia (RR 2.13 in the age group 25-49 and RR 1.52 in the age group 50-74). Stem-cell transplantation is a standard curative treatment for ages 25-49, and current opinion is extending the acceptable age up to age 60, in certain cases. We conclude that, among New Zealand Maori and New Zealand Pacific Islanders, there is an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia in age groups suitable for stem-cell transplantation. However, both of these ethnic groups have previously been shown to have a reduced chance of finding a 6/6-matched unrelated donor on international registries. This leads to disproportionate provision of transplantation health care among the ethnic groups in New Zealand.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Science, advocacy and health policy: lessons from the New Zealand tobacco wars.

The New Zealand Smoke-Free Environments Act was passed in August 1990 and is a central component of a comprehensive tobacco control policy. The passage of the Act was preceded by a long campaign. The essential components of this campaign were: international scientific evidence and the estimates of tobacco-caused mortality in New Zealand; activists groups supported by established health charities and the health professions; a sympathetic Health Department bureaucracy; a committed and powerful Minister of Health; and a relatively weak industry. The legislation passed despite adverse timing, the absence of bipartisan political support, and the pressure of industry-supported sports lobby groups. The campaign provides a model for other health issues in New Zealand and lessons for the tobacco wars elsewhere.

Health Policy↗