Publications by authors named "G A Howie"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to determine if direct transport to a cardiac arrest center after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) improved survival rates in New Zealand.
  • It analyzed data from 2,297 OHCA patients over five years, using propensity score matching, but found no significant difference in 30-day survival rates between those transported to cardiac arrest centers (56%) and non-cardiac centers (45%).
  • Factors like having a shockable rhythm and receiving bystander CPR increased survival odds, while older age and being of Māori or Pacific Peoples ethnicity were linked to lower survival. Further research is needed for more definitive results.
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Patients with severe traumatic brain injuries require urgent medical attention at a hospital. We evaluated whether transporting adult patients with a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to a Neuroscience Centre is associated with reduced mortality. We reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2023 on severe TBI in adults (>18 years) using Medline, CINAHL, Google Scholar and Cochrane databases.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study investigated how transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and exercise affect blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability in humans, measured by salivary S100B protein levels.
  • A total of 13 healthy participants underwent three conditions (active tDCS, sham tDCS, and control), with saliva samples collected before and after tDCS and after an exhausting cycling task.
  • Results showed no significant changes in salivary S100B levels between the different conditions, but a potential increase after exercise suggests that exercise may influence BBB permeability.
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The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the ethnic and socio-demographic differences in the utilisation of the national 24/7 Healthline service in relation to skin condition calls and their outcomes. Healthline is one of the 39 free telehealth services that Whakarongorau Aotearoa | New Zealand Telehealth Services provides to New Zealanders. This is a retrospective observational study analysing Healthline data over a 4-year period: January 2019 through to December 2022.

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Objective: To describe the First Responder Shock Trial (FIRST), which aims to determine whether equipping frequently responding, smartphone-activated (GoodSAM) first responders with an ultraportable AED can increase 30-day survival rates in OHCA.

Methods: The FIRST trial is an investigator-initiated, bi-national (Victoria, Australia and New Zealand), registry-nested cluster-randomised controlled trial where the unit of randomisation is the smartphone-activated (GoodSAM) first responder. High-frequency GoodSAM responders are randomised 1:1 to receive an ultraportable, single-use AED or standard alert procedures using the GoodSAM app.

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