Publications by authors named "L E Underwood"

Article Synopsis
  • This study explores patterns of functional impairment in New Zealand, focusing on how it differs based on factors like non-communicable diseases (NCDs), age, sex, ethnicity, and living conditions.
  • Using a national database from 2018, researchers found that about 29% of the population had at least one NCD, with significant increases in activity limitations linked to the number of NCDs a person had.
  • Individuals with conditions like dementia and stroke experienced the highest activity limitations, especially among Māori and Pacific peoples, highlighting the need for better NCD prevention and disability support.
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Catecholamines (CAs) bind and activate adrenergic receptors (ARs), thus exuding a key role in cardiac adaptations to global physiological queues. Prolonged exposure to high levels of CAs promotes deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system, leading to organ dysfunction and heart failure (HF). In addition to the prominent role of ARs in inotropic and chronotropic responses, recent studies have delved into elucidating mechanisms contributing to CA toxicity and cell death.

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Background/aims: Self-reported questionnaires on health status after randomized trials can be time-consuming, costly, and potentially unreliable. Administrative data sets may provide cost-effective, less biased information, but it is uncertain how administrative and self-reported data compare to identify chronic conditions in a New Zealand cohort. This study aimed to determine whether record linkage could replace self-reported questionnaires to identify chronic conditions that were the outcomes of interest for trial follow-up.

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Aim: Little is known about the extent to which families in Aotearoa New Zealand are affected by long-term health conditions (HCs). This study aimed to explore the rates of nine selected HCs among New Zealand family members within the same household.

Method: Linked population and administrative health data were obtained for families living in the same household according to the 2013 New Zealand Census (N=1,043,172).

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