Personal, social and environmental correlates of active transport to school among adolescents in Otago, New Zealand.

Objectives: With increasingly sedentary lifestyles, opportunities for physical activity such as active transport to school need to be promoted in adolescents. This study examines personal, social and environmental correlates of active transport to school among adolescents including sociodemographics, behavioural patterns, motivational factors, perceived barriers, peer support, family resources, school characteristics, urban/rural setting, distance to school and neighbourhood safety perceptions.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Long-term participation in peer-led fall prevention classes predicts lower fall incidence.

Objective: To investigate the association between length of participation in Steady As You Go (SAYGO) peer-led fall prevention exercise classes for older adults and 12-month fall incidence.

Design: Twelve-month prospective cohort study.

Setting: Community settings.

Electroconvulsive therapy use in Otago, New Zealand: a 10-year retrospective audit of patient-level treatment data.

Objectives: There are wide global variations in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) use patterns. This audit reviewed patient-level ECT use patterns over 10 years at a single New Zealand clinic, including factors associated with clinical response and patterns of repeated administration.

Methods: Retrospective audit of all 2003-2012 ECT and clinical file data.

Endovascular aortic repair: can we predict who will not get long-term benefit?

Aim: The aim of this study is to review our endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) experience in Dunedin Public Hospital as well as assessing the applicability of Mount Sinai score and the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification (ASA) in finding which patients will be most likely to benefit from EVAR.

Methods: A retrospective study of 54 patients who had EVAR from 2000 to December 2009 in Dunedin Public Hospital was conducted. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate regressions analyses were used in assessing the data with the occurrence of postoperative complications and mortality as the primary outcome variable.

Effect of micronutrient sprinkles on reducing anemia: a cluster-randomized effectiveness trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Sprinkles alongside infant and young child feeding (IYCF) education compared with IYCF education alone on anemia, deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, and zinc, and growth in Cambodian infants.

Design: Cluster-randomized effectiveness study.

Setting: Cambodian rural health district.

Getting kids active by participating in sport and doing it more often: focusing on what matters.

Background: Reduced time dedicated to physical education and free play in recent decades emphasizes the need to promote opportunities for sport participation in adolescents in order to increase physical activity levels. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of sociodemographic and biological characteristics, behavioural patterns, and school-related and sport-specific variables with time spent participating in sport.

Methods: A total of 1837 secondary school students (age: 14.

Role of routine early angiography post-fibrinolysis for ST elevation myocardial infarction--a meta-regression analysis using angiography rate in the non-routine arm.

Background: The current European and American Guidelines differ with regard to the recommended level for the use of routine early angiography after fibrinolysis for STEMI. Previous meta-analyses on randomized controlled trials have supported the routine early approach, but its advantage may be because of an excessively low angiography rate among patients in the non-routine strategy arm of the trials.

Methods: We update the meta-analysis and apply meta-regression to evaluate whether the difference in outcome between the 2 randomized arms could be explained by the angiography rates in the non-routine strategy arm.

Predicted versus absolute values in the application of exhaled nitric oxide measurements.

Background: Constitutional factors such as age, sex and height, and acquired factors such as atopy and smoking, influence exhaled nitric oxide (F(E)NO) levels. The utility of predicted values based on reference equations which account for these factors has not been evaluated.

Aim: To compare the performance characteristics of absolute versus % predicted values for F(E)NO as predictors of diagnosed asthma and steroid response.

Study design and patient characteristics and outcome in acute mania clinical trials.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to identify trial design and patient characteristics associated with symptom improvement in acute mania clinical trials.

Methods: Drug trials in acute mania that used the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) score as the primary endpoint were identified using a systematic search strategy. Details of the trial, patient population, and treatment assignment were recorded.

Does ST resolution achieved via different reperfusion strategies (fibrinolysis vs percutaneous coronary intervention) have different prognostic meaning in ST-elevation myocardial infarction? A systematic review.

Objective: We perform a systematic review to discern if ST resolution achieved via percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has a different meaning to that achieved via fibrinolysis.

Background: Resolution of ST-segment elevation in acute myocardial infarction has been widely used as a surrogate for treatment success. A recent randomized study suggested that after primary PCI, the prognostic significance of ST resolution may have been overemphasized.

Health research policy: a case study of policy change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research.

Background: There is considerable potential for health research to contribute to improved health services, programs, and outcomes; the policies of health research funding agencies are critical to achieving health gains from research. The need for research to better address health disparities in Indigenous people has been widely recognised. This paper: (i) describes the policy changes made by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) from 1997 to 2002 to improve funding of Aboriginal health research (ii) examines catalysts for the policy changes (iii) describes the extent to which policy changes were followed by new models of research and (iv) outlines issues for Indigenous health policy in the future.

A decade of NHMRC People Support expenditure in review: is support for Indigenous health research increasing?

Objective: To investigate National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) support over the decade to 2006 for researchers studying Indigenous health and researchers who self-identified as Indigenous.

Design And Setting: Review of data on all recipients of People Support awards and Capacity Building Grants in Population Health Research who were researching Indigenous health or who self-identified as Indigenous between 1996 and 2006.

Main Outcome Measures: Annual People Support and Capacity Building grants and expenditure, by broad research area, state or territory, administering institution, and Indigenous status (as self-identified by award recipients in their applications).