Pacific patients' reasons for attending the emergency department of Counties Manukau for non-urgent conditions.

Aim: To determine Pacific patients' reasons for Emergency Department (ED) use for non-urgent conditions by Pacific people at Counties Manukau Health.

Methods: Patients who self-presented to Counties Manukau ED with a non-urgent condition in June 2019 were surveyed. Responses to open-ended questions were analysed using a general inductive approach, in discussion with key stakeholders.

Intracameral phenylephrine and ketorolac during cataract surgery to maintain intraoperative mydriasis and reduce postoperative ocular pain: Integrated results from 2 pivotal phase 3 studies.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of phenylephrine 1.0%-ketorolac 0.3% (Omidria) for maintenance of mydriasis during, and reduction of ocular pain after, cataract surgery.

Inefficiencies in osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain management.

Objective: To identify inefficiencies in drug and medical service utilization related to pain management in patients with osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain.

Study Design: This retrospective cohort study applied revised measures of pain management inefficiencies to Humana Medicare members with osteoarthritis and/or chronic low back pain.

Methods: Subjects had either 2 or more claims for osteoarthritis on different days or 2 or more claims for low back pain 90 or more days apart, from January 1, 2008, to June 30, 2010, with the first occurrence assigned the index date.

The prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse in commercial and Medicare managed care populations.

Purpose: To measure the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse and prescription opioid use in a multistate managed care organization.

Methods: This retrospective claims data analysis reviewed the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse and the parallel prevalence of prescription opioid use in half-year intervals for commercial and Medicare members enrolled with Humana Inc., from January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010.

Cost drivers of prescription opioid abuse in commercial and Medicare populations.

Objective: Growth in the number of patients with pain conditions, and the subsequent rise in prescription opioid use for treatment, has been accompanied by an increase in diagnosed opioid abuse. Understanding what drives the incremental healthcare costs of members diagnosed with prescription opioid abuse may assist in developing better screening techniques for abuse.

Design: This retrospective analysis examined costs, resource use, and comorbidities 365 days pre- and postdiagnosis in prescription opioid users diagnosed with abuse (cases) vs.

Systematic literature review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of prescription opioids, including abuse-deterrent formulations, in non-cancer pain management.

Objective: This study was conducted to compare safety and efficacy outcomes between opioids formulated with technologies designed to deter or resist tampering (i.e., abuse-deterrent formulations [ADFs]) and non-ADFs for commonly prescribed opioids for treatment of non-cancer pain in adults.

Differences in healthcare utilization and associated costs between patients prescribed vs. nonprescribed opioids during an inpatient or emergency department visit.

Objectives: Compare healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs between patients prescribed opioids (RxOP) and those who were not (NoRxOP) during an emergency department (ED) or inpatient visit.

Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis was performed (January 2006 to September 2010). Continuously eligible RxOP patients in ED/inpatient settings (January 2007 to September 2009) were included if age was ≥ 12 years by initial prescription date (or random date between first ED/inpatient admission and September 30, 2009 [NoRxOP patients]).

Prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse and its economic burden in the veterans health administration.

Objective: Evaluate prevalence and risk-adjusted healthcare costs of diagnosed opioid abuse in the national Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Costs were compared between patients with and without diagnosed opioid abuse.

Design: Medical and pharmacy claims analysis of VHA data (10/01/2006 to 09/30/2010) were retrospectively analyzed.

Pain conditions ranked by healthcare costs for members of a national health plan.

Healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and associated costs specific to pain are a growing concern, as increasing dollar amounts are spent on pain-related conditions. Understanding which pain conditions drive the highest utilization and cost burden to the healthcare system would enable providers and payers to better target conditions to manage pain adequately and efficiently. The current study focused on 36 noncancer chronic and 14 noncancer acute pain conditions and measured the HCRU and costs per member over 365 days.

Dietary intakes of Pacific, Māori, Asian and European adolescents: the Auckland High School Heart Survey.

Objective: To compare dietary intakes of European, Māori, Pacific Island and Asian adolescents living in Auckland.

Methods: A self-administered food frequency questionnaire was used to assess daily nutrient intakes of 2,549 14- to 21-year-old high-school students in Auckland (1,422 male and 1,127 female) in a cross-sectional survey carried out between 1997 and 1998.

Results: Compared with Europeans, Māori and Pacific Islanders consumed more energy per day.

Relationships of skin depths and temperatures when varying pulse repetition frequencies from 2.0-microm laser light incident on pig skin.

Human perception of 2.0-microm infrared laser irradiation has become significant in such disparate fields as law enforcement, neuroscience, and pain research. Several recent studies have found damage thresholds for single-pulse and continuous wave irradiations at this wavelength.

Helicobacter pylori infection and iron deficiency in teenage females in New Zealand.

Background: Iron deficiency is an important problem in New Zealand children and young adults. Iron deficiency and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection are each more common in Māori and Pacific Island ethnic groups.

Body mass index and percent body fat in a New Zealand multi-ethnic adolescent population.

Abstract Objective. Previous studies show that body mass index (BMI) does not fully explain differences in percent body fat (%BF) between ethnic groups and few studies have investigated this in adolescents. We sought to compare %BF for a given BMI between adolescents from four ethnic groups and to explain ethnic differences in this relationship.

Cultured human keratinocytes for optical transmission measurement.

The challenges of measuring optical properties of human tissues include the thickness of the sample, homogenization, or crystallization from freezing of the tissue. This investigation demonstrates a method to avoid these problems by growing optically thin samples of human keratinocytes as a substitute for ex vivo epidermis samples. Several methods of growth were investigated.

'From Kava to Lager'--alcohol consumption and drinking patterns for older adults of Pacific ethnic groups, and Europeans in the Diabetes Heart and Health Study (DHAHS) 2002-2003, Auckland New Zealand.

Aim: This paper describes and compares alcohol consumption and drinking patterns for Pacific ethnic groups (Samoan, Tongan, Niue, Cook Islands) and European New Zealanders by gender participating in the 2002-03 Diabetes Heart and Health Study (DHAHS).

Methods: The DHAHS was a cross-sectional population based study of people age 35-74 years carried out in Auckland between 2002-03. A total of 1011 Pacific people comprising of 484 Samoan, 252 Tongan, 109 Niuean, 116 Cook Islanders and 47 'Other Pacific' (mainly Fijian) and 1745 European participants took part in the survey Participants answered a self-administered questionnaire to assess whether they consumed alcohol, their drinking patterns and consumption levels and reasons for stopping drinking.

Twelve-month prevalence, severity, and treatment contact of mental disorders in New Zealand born and migrant Pacific participants in Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey.

Objective: To investigate differences in 12-month prevalences of mental disorders and 12-month treatment contact among New Zealand born and migrants in separate ethnic groups in Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey (NZMHS).

Data: The NZMHS is a nationally representative face-to-face household survey, carried out in 2003-2004 with a response rate of 73.3%.

Associations between after-school physical activity, television use, and parental strategies in a sample of New Zealand adolescents.

Background: Youth display suboptimal levels of[1] physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Few studies have examined the existence of the "displacement hypothesis" or the effect of parental strategies on activity behaviors during the after-school period.

Methods: A total of 3471 students (12-18 years old) completed a self-report survey that assessed after-school physical activity and television (TV) use and perceived parental strategies (ie, encouragement to be active, TV-viewing rules).

Prediction of fatness by standing 8-electrode bioimpedance: a multiethnic adolescent population.

The objective of this study was to validate an 8-electrode bioimpedance analysis (BIA(8)) device (BC-418; Tanita, Tokyo, Japan) for use in populations of European, Maori, Pacific Island, and Asian adolescents. Healthy adolescents (215 M, 216 F; 129 Pacific Island, 120 Asian, 91 Maori, and 91 European; age range 12-19 years) were recruited by purposive sampling of high schools in Auckland, New Zealand. Weight, height, sitting height, leg length, waist circumference, and whole-body impedance were measured.

Feasibility, design and conduct of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to reduce overweight and obesity in children: The electronic games to aid motivation to exercise (eGAME) study.

Background: Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in developed countries. Sedentary screen-based activities such as video gaming are thought to displace active behaviors and are independently associated with obesity. Active video games, where players physically interact with images onscreen, may have utility as a novel intervention to increase physical activity and improve body composition in children.

Effect of smoking cessation advice on cardiovascular disease.

Performance measures and guidelines encourage physicians to advise smokers to quit. The effect of these efforts on the morbidity, mortality, and cost of cardiovascular disease is not known. This article analyzes the effects of offering smoking cessation advice in the US population.

The environment and physical activity: The influence of psychosocial, perceived and built environmental factors.

Unlabelled: : This study sought to integrate perceived and built environmental and individual factors into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model to better understand adolescents' physical activity.

Methods: Participants (n = 110) aged 12 to 17 years (M = 14.6 +/- 1.

Systematic review on quality control for drug management programs: is quality reported in the literature?

Background: Maintaining quality of care while managing limited healthcare resources is an ongoing challenge in healthcare. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the impact of drug management programs is reported in the literature and to identify potentially existing quality standards.

Methods: This analysis relates to the published research on the impact of drug management on economic, clinical, or humanistic outcomes in managed care, indemnity insurance, VA, or Medicaid in the USA published between 1996 and 2007.

Systematic analysis of outcomes evaluations applied to drug management programs.

Objective: To evaluate prior analyses that quantify how drug management programs impact health plans and patients with respect to those analyses' effectiveness in measuring program quality.

Methods: We examined 77 US studies from 1996 to 2007 that evaluated the respective drug management programs of managed care, indemnity insurance, Veterans Health Administration, and Medicaid health plans. Our review included those studies that assessed the ways in which specific drug management tools and the drug management program overall impacted economic, clinical, and/or humanistic outcomes.

Dietary intakes of European, Māori, Pacific and Asian adults living in Auckland: the Diabetes, Heart and Health Study.

Objective: To compare dietary intakes of European, Māori, Pacific, and Asian men and women living in Auckland.

Methods: Daily nutrient intakes were calculated from a self-administered food frequency questionnaire from participants in a cross-sectional health screening study carried out between 2002 and 2003. Participants were 4,007 Māori, Pacific, Asian and European people (1,915 men, 2,092 women) aged 35 to 74 years.