The principal scientific journal for the profession in New Zealand

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

Assessment of unmet secondary elective healthcare need
—itself in need of acute care in Aotearoa New Zealand

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

Specialist medical toxicologist consultations provided by the New Zealand National Poisons Centre, 2018–2020

Adam C Pomerleau, Paul Gee, D Michael G Beasley, Eeva-Katri Kumpula

Poisons centres are promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to operate as integral parts of the healthcare system, helping members of the public and healthcare professionals and providing multiple benefits.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

COVID-19 among University of Otago students living in North Dunedin households in the first half of 2022: was the prevalence underestimated?

Polly Tenci, Lianne Parkin, Samantha Grace, Bryony Harrison, Judd Irving, Luke Jarvie, Eric Johnson, Tze Koon Ler, Georgia Malcolm, Kristy Watson

We undertook a study among the residents of North Dunedin student flats, to (i) estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 between the start of Flat Orientation Week (Flo-Week) and the end of Semester 1, (ii) investigate the potential under-reporting of positive COVID-19 test results to the University, (iii) investigate the potential under-recording of positive RAT results in My Covid Record, and (iv) explore the COVID-19 related experiences of students during the above period.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

A comprehensive methodology report for maternity and perinatal mortality research in the New Zealand integrated data infrastructure

Esti C de Graaff, Lynn Sadler, Lesley McCowan, Robin Cronin, Ngaire Anderson

Epidemiological maternity research in New Zealand is usually performed on national Government-held data. The highest quality perinatal data in the country is collected and held by the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC), which is an independent committee under the Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

Celestial risk factors in groin hernia repair and random statistical association: a nationwide register-based study

Camilla Christophersen, Siv Fonnes, Jason J Baker, Kristoffer Andresen, Jacob Rosenberg

Celestial phenomena like lunar phases and zodiac signs have been part of human culture since ancient times. Many still believe that both zodiac signs and lunar phases influence daily life and to some extent even health.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

Effective and respectful interaction with Māori: How the regulators of health professionals are responding to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Act 2019

Susan Shaw, Keith Tudor

It has been widely recognised that structural changes are required to address clear inequities in health and wellbeing outcomes within Aotearoa New Zealand and, in the context of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, specifically for Māori.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

An investigation into the digitalisation of New Zealand general practice services during COVID-19 | OPEN ACCESS

Nargis Mashal, Sussie C Morrish

On Saturday 21 March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and restrictions announced by the New Zealand Government, the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) requested all GP medical centres in the country immediately adopt virtual triage for all patient contacts and aim to provide 70% of consultations by virtual means, commencing Monday 23 March 2020.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

HIV in women in Aotearoa New Zealand: 25 years of surveillance data

Ashleigh de Gouw, Susan McAllister, Jane Bruning, Judith Mukakayange, Jerram Bateman, Patricia Priest

Aotearoa New Zealand is a low HIV prevalence country, with the epidemic largely concentrated in GBM. Women in low-prevalence countries are often perceived as being at low risk for HIV infection by both themselves and medical professionals, which results in less testing, late diagnosis and barriers to treatment and support services.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

A national audit of performance standards for blood cultures in Aotearoa New Zealand: opportunities for improvement

Juliet Elvy, Michael Addidle, Hanna-Sofia Andersson, Vivian Black, Dragana Drinković, Julia Howard, Michael O’Connor, Susan Taylor, Arthur J Morris

Blood cultures (BC) are among the most important samples processed in the clinical microbiology laboratory. They remain the gold standard investigation for bloodstream infections, and an essential diagnostic tool for severe infections such as infective endocarditis, bone and joint infections and meningitis.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

Time for another review: following implementation of a new service model for Auckland Sexual Health service there has been an increase in referrals, case complexity and clinical workload but regional inequities in access remain

Sunita Azariah

The Auckland Sexual Health Service (ASHS) is New Zealand’s largest sexual health service, and prior to the establishment of Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand it was contracted to provide primary- and secondary-level specialist sexual health care to three regional district health boards (DHBs): Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitematā. Auckland has a large, culturally diverse population of around 1.7 million people, which is younger on average than the rest of New Zealand.

ARTICLE

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

The impact of pain on function after spinal cord injury

Jae Hong Ryu, Hannah Joyce, Christin Coomarasamy, Jessica Ozumba, Victoriya Semikina, Suresh Subramanian

In New Zealand, the most recent figures for the mean annual incidence of traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI) over a 10-year period has been found to be 22 per million people. This has decreased from the previously estimated rate of 49 per million from 1998; however, it is difficult to gauge where this new estimate lies in the global context, given the wide variability of figures.

EDITORIAL

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

Public health interventions: the elephant in the room of the health system crisis

Caroline Shaw, Christine Cleghorn

This increased demand for healthcare is being managed by a workforce experiencing illness itself, causing high levels of shortages. Long-standing health workforce shortages have been amplified by COVID-19, and burnout, exhaustion and distress amongst clinical staff are endemic and acute.

EDITORIAL

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

Assessment of unmet secondary elective healthcare need—itself in need of acute care in Aotearoa New Zealand

Phil Bagshaw, John D Potter, Andrew Hornblow, Ben Hudson, Les Toop, M Gary Nicholls, Chris Frampton, Sue Bagshaw, Robin Gauld, Frank Frizelle

A central database that makes use of internationally standardised measures of unmet health need is vital for the development and implementation of health policy, despite the discomfort that arises when such a database inevitably exposes health system weaknesses and resource constraints.

EDITORIAL

Vol 135 No 1567: 16 December 2022

Whakairo: carving a values-led approach to understand and respond to the mental health and substance use of the New Zealand population

Helen Lockett, Cameron Lacey, Angela Jury, Talya Postelnik, Amanda Luckman, Richie Poulton

We (the authors) are proposing an innovative approach to defining what good epidemiological data is in the Aotearoa New Zealand context; how to collect it, and most importantly how it can be used to design and offer supports and services that respond to peoples’ needs.

EDITORIAL

Vol 135 No 1566: 2 December 2022

Doctor owned investigation and treatment facilities: a conflict of interest or a pragmatic way forward?

Peter Robertson

The New Zealand health system is implementing a significant reform agenda amidst continued pressure related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A feature of the response, as the system continues to work through the reform agenda, has been the use of capacity and capability across both public and private components of the sector.

EDITORIAL

Vol 135 No 1565: 11 November 2022

The long road to good care

Jason K Gurney

This travel issue impacts our Indigenous Māori population to a much greater extent than it impacts our non-Māori population. Around 25% of Māori live in rural areas, compared to 20% of NZ Europeans, 7% Pasifika and 5% Asian—and nearly a third (32%) of those who live in the most remote areas of Aotearoa are Māori.

EDITORIAL

Vol 135 No 1564: 28 October 2022

Suicide amongst doctors

Roger Mulder, Frank Frizelle

Burnout has been documented to affect 45% in a consultant survey in one New Zealand hospital prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is likely to have increased with the present frustrating work environment.

EDITORIAL

Vol 135 No 1563: 7 October 2022

Early-onset colorectal cancer: Never too young

Oliver Waddell, Jacqui Keenan, Frank Frizelle

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand, second only behind prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in woman. It is the second highest cause of cancer death behind lung cancer, with approximately the same death rate as prostate and breast cancer combined.

VIEWPOINT

Vol 136 No 1568: 20 January 2023

Sleep-in to stay well: addressing school start times for the health and wellbeing of teens in Aotearoa

Charmaine Barber, Sarah Hetrick, Liza Edmonds, Rachael W Taylor, Mohamed Alansari, Leigh Signal, Jillian Haszard, Jacinta Oldehaver, Barbara Galland and members of the School Start Time Study Advisory Group

We need to talk about sleep and adolescent health in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Sleep is essential for survival as well as being vital for children’s health, wellbeing and development. It is well known that insufficient and poor-quality sleep is endemic in adolescents, to the detriment of their health and wellbeing, yet we have failed to prioritise the issue.

VIEWPOINT

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

A case of purpura fulminans attributed to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

Yassar Alamri, Ignatius Chua, Nicholas M Douglas

Purpura fulminans is a life-threatening condition in which there is extensive cutaneous haemorrhagic necrosis in the setting of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).

VIEWPOINT

Vol 135 No 1567: 16 December 2022

The past, present and future of liver cancer control for Māori

Sydney Clough, Tara Cleverley, Clarence Kerrison, Matire Harwood, Jonathan Koea, Jason K Gurney

Liver cancer is one of the top 10 most common cancers among New Zealand’s Indigenous Māori population, and one of the top 5 most common causes of Māori cancer death.

VIEWPOINT

Vol 135 No 1566: 2 December 2022

Beyond muddy waters: Three Waters reforms required to future-proof water service delivery and protect public health in Aotearoa New Zealand

Tim Chambers, Professor Nick Wilson, Professor Simon Hales, Marnie Prickett, Edward Ellison, Professor Michael G Baker

In 2016, drinking water contaminated with animal faeces made much of an entire town sick (~8,000 people), with 58 hospitalisations and four deaths, costing an estimated NZ$21million. The outbreak was an outcome of systemic flaws in Aotearoa New Zealand’s regulatory system for drinking water, which were highlighted in the ensuing Government Inquiry.

VIEWPOINT

Vol 135 No 1565: 11 November 2022

Understanding disparities in post-operative mortality for Indigenous patients

Jason K Gurney, Melissa McLeod, Courtney Thomas, Doug Campbell, Elizabeth Dennett, Sarah Jackson, Dick Ongley, Juliet Rumball-Smith, James Stanley, Diana Sarfati, Jonathan Koea

In 2014, a Lancet commission was launched to investigate the state of global surgery. Stating that “surgery is an indivisible, indispensable part of health care”, the Commission re-confirmed the importance of safe, affordable and equitable surgical care for all, and highlighted the rights of under-served populations not currently being met.

VIEWPOINT

Vol 135 No 1564: 28 October 2022

Radiology and Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand in 2022. Why we should all care

Anthony James Doyle

Demand for radiology in the public system continues to increase and, in recent years, has exceeded both population growth and the ability of the existing services to cope with that demand.

VIEWPOINT

Vol 135 No 1563: 7 October 2022

Identification of clinically relevant cohorts of people with heart failure from electronic health data in Aotearoa: potential, pitfalls and a plan | OPEN ACCESS

Heart failure (HF) is a complex clinical syndrome caused by underlying abnormalities of cardiac structure and/or function that reduces the ability of the heart to fill with blood and/or eject adequate blood volume to meet the needs of the body.

The principal scientific journal for the profession in New Zealand

Vol 136 No 1569: 3 February 2023

Assessment of unmet secondary elective healthcare need—itself in need of acute care in Aotearoa New Zealand

Effective and respectful interaction with Māori: How the regulators of health professionals are responding to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Act 2019

COVID-19 among University of Otago students living in North Dunedin households in the first half of 2022: was the prevalence underestimated?

Manifestation of anterior necrotising scleritis and reactive infectious mucocutaneous eruption after COVID-19: a case report

Specialist medical toxicologist consultations provided by the New Zealand National Poisons Centre, 2018–2020

COVID-19 among University of Otago students living in North Dunedin households in the first half of 2022: was the prevalence underestimated?

A comprehensive methodology report for maternity and perinatal mortality research in the New Zealand integrated data infrastructure

Celestial risk factors in groin hernia repair and random statistical association: a nationwide register-based study

Effective and respectful interaction with Māori: How the regulators of health professionals are responding to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Act 2019

An investigation into the digitalisation of New Zealand general practice services during COVID-19 | OPEN ACCESS

HIV in women in Aotearoa New Zealand: 25 years of surveillance data

A national audit of performance standards for blood cultures in Aotearoa New Zealand: opportunities for improvement

Time for another review: following implementation of a new service model for Auckland Sexual Health service there has been an increase in referrals, case complexity and clinical workload but regional inequities in access remain

The impact of pain on function after spinal cord injury

Public health interventions: the elephant in the room of the health system crisis

Assessment of unmet secondary elective healthcare need—itself in need of acute care in Aotearoa New Zealand

Whakairo: carving a values-led approach to understand and respond to the mental health and substance use of the New Zealand population

Doctor owned investigation and treatment facilities: a conflict of interest or a pragmatic way forward?

The long road to good care

Suicide amongst doctors

Early-onset colorectal cancer: Never too young

Sleep-in to stay well: addressing school start times for the health and wellbeing of teens in Aotearoa

A case of purpura fulminans attributed to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

The past, present and future of liver cancer control for Māori

Beyond muddy waters: Three Waters reforms required to future-proof water service delivery and protect public health in Aotearoa New Zealand

Understanding disparities in post-operative mortality for Indigenous patients

Radiology and Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand in 2022. Why we should all care

Identification of clinically relevant cohorts of people with heart failure from electronic health data in Aotearoa: potential, pitfalls and a plan | OPEN ACCESS

Reply to Iupati et al: paediatric palliative care

Iodine-only supplements for breastfeeding women: a call to action in New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand must learn how to vaccinate children most at risk of vaccine preventable diseases first

Medical students and informed consent—response to “Consent for Teaching”

Novel use of technology

Azithromycin versus doxycycline: management of female urogenital and rectal Chlamydia trachomatis infections

Cardiac Computed Tomography to exclude left atrial appendage thrombus in atrial arrhythmias prior to electrical cardioversion during the COVID-19 pandemic

This pākehā life: an unsettled memoir

Perfection: The life and times of Sir William Manchester

From Southland to Surgery: A Journey around Values

My Life in Public Health

Mind That Child; A Medical Memoir

The Art of Recovery: six personal journeys

Fat Off; the Right Way A clever and sustainable eating guide for weight loss and healthy living

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