Unstaged cancer in a population-based registry: prevalence, predictors and patient prognosis.

Purpose: Information on cancer stage at diagnosis is critical for population studies investigating cancer care and outcomes. Few studies have examined the factors which impact (1) staging or (2) outcomes for patients who are registered as having unknown stage. This study investigated (1) the prevalence of unknown stage at diagnosis on the New Zealand Cancer Registry (NZCR); (2) explored factors which predict unknown stage; (3) described receipt of surgery and (4) survival outcomes for patients with unknown stage.

Serial Evaluation of Vascular Response After Implantation of a New Sirolimus-Eluting Stent With Bioabsorbable Polymer (MISTENT): an optical coherence tomography and histopathological study.

Background: Novel vascular scaffolds aim at equipoise between safety and efficacy. Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows in-vivo serial assessment of stent-vessel interactions with high resolution and frequent sampling and may complement histology assessment. We investigated the vascular response to a novel absorbable coating sirolimus-eluting stent (AC-SES) by means of serial OCT and histology evaluation in a porcine model.

Maori cultural adaptation of a brief mental health intervention in primary care.

Introduction: There are no brief psychological mental health interventions designed specifically for Maori in a primary care setting.

Aim: To adapt an existing cognitive behavioural therapy-based, guided self-management intervention for near-threshold mental health syndromes in primary care, for Maori, and to examine its acceptability and effectiveness.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews with primary care clinicians and Maori patients were conducted to inform adaptations to the intervention.

Enhanced drug delivery capabilities from stents coated with absorbable polymer and crystalline drug.

Current drug eluting stent (DES) technology is not optimized with regard to the pharmacokinetics of drug delivery. A novel, absorbable-coating sirolimus-eluting stent (AC-SES) was evaluated for its capacity to deliver drug more evenly within the intimal area rather than concentrating drug around the stent struts and for its ability to match coating erosion with drug release. The coating consisted of absorbable poly-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) and crystalline sirolimus deposited by a dry-powder electrostatic process.

Long-segment thoracoabdominal aortic occlusions in childhood.

Developmental coarctation, hypoplasia, and occlusion of the abdominal aorta is a rare disease encompassing many differing etiologies and diverse methods of treatment. Long-segment thoracoabdominal aortic occlusion, an extreme manifestation of this disorder, has not previously been reported in children. Two pediatric patients with this entity, a 5- and 13-year-old with uncontrolled hypertension, underwent extensive arterial reconstructions for this entity and provided the impetus for this report.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm disease in New Zealand: epidemiology and burden between 2002 and 2006.

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture has a high mortality. Four randomised controlled trials indicate significant mortality benefit from population screening for AAA. There is a lack of information on the epidemiology and burden of AAA disease in New Zealand, necessary to support policy in this area.

Setting a good example? Changes in smoking prevalence among key occupational groups in New Zealand: evidence from the 1981 and 2006 censuses.

Introduction: Role modeling by smokers may influence smoking among children and young adults. Most work on smoking by occupation has focused on health workers. A unique opportunity to explore smoking by occupation is presented in New Zealand (NZ) due to inclusion of a smoking status question in most national censuses since 1976.

Self-diagnosis of influenza during a pandemic: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Self-diagnosis of influenza is an important component of pandemic control and management as it may support self-management practices and reduce visits to healthcare facilities, thus helping contain viral spread. However, little is known about the accuracy of self-diagnosis of influenza, particularly during pandemics.

Methods: We used cross-sectional survey data to correlate self-diagnosis of influenza with serological evidence of 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) infection (haemagglutination inhibition titres of ≥1:40) and to determine what symptoms were more likely to be present in accurate self-diagnosis.

Contribution of body mass index to postoperative outcome in minority patients.

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the association of body mass index (BMI) category with short-term outcomes in minority surgical patients-a relationship that previously has not been well characterized.

Methods: Data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program were used to calculate the BMI of minority patients undergoing surgery from 2005 to 2008. Patients were stratified into 5 BMI classes.

Communication difficulties with limited English proficiency patients: clinician perceptions of clinical risk and patterns of use of interpreters.

Aims: To explore clinicians' perceptions of the communication difficulties experienced with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients and the clinical risks these difficulties pose in hospitals, as well as patterns of interpreter use among these clinicians.

Methods: Senior health professionals in the two District Health Boards (DHBs) in the Wellington Area (about 900) of New Zealand were sent an electronic survey. Twenty clinicians were interviewed about their experience in 22 consultations with LEP patients, and an equal number with English proficient patients.

Acceptability of a guided self-help mental health intervention in general practice.

Background: People with subthreshold mental health syndromes are common in general practice and represent an important morbidity and disability burden. Management options are currently limited. We examined the acceptability of a novel ultra-brief guided self-help intervention designed specifically for use in this setting.

Place of death related to demographic factors for hospice patients in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background: Because socioeconomic and cultural factors contribute to where one dies, it is important to document place of death determinants in diverse societies.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe where persons in an Aotearoa New Zealand hospice die, and to identify factors that are associated with place of death.

Design: A retrospective chart review was conducted.

Factors associated with and consequences of unplanned post-operative intubation in elderly vascular and general surgery patients.

Objective: Unplanned post-operative intubation (UPI) may be associated with significant morbidity and/or mortality after surgery. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the incidence and predictors of UPI in elderly patients who underwent general and vascular surgical procedures.

Methods: Data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Participant Use Data File was used to calculate the incidence of UPI in all elderly vascular and general surgery patients undergoing operations from 2005 to 2008.

The association of body mass index to postoperative outcomes in elderly vascular surgery patients: a reverse J-curve phenomenon.

Background: The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether there is a relation between body mass index (BMI) classes and early postoperative outcomes in elderly patients undergoing vascular surgery. We hypothesized that being overweight or obese increases the risks of surgery.

Methods: Data from the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Participant Use Data File was used to identify the BMI (kg/m(2)) and 30-day outcomes of 25,337 patients aged ≥ 65 years undergoing vascular surgery from 2005 to 2007.

Ethnic and socioeconomic trends in testicular cancer incidence in New Zealand.

Ethnic differences in testicular cancer incidence within countries are often sizeable, with white populations consistently having the highest ethnic-specific rates. Many studies have found that high socioeconomic status is a risk factor for testicular cancer. The objectives of this article are to test whether trends in testicular cancer incidence have varied by ethnicity and socioeconomic position in New Zealand between 1981 and 2004.

How instructions modify perception: an fMRI study investigating brain areas involved in attributing human agency.

Behavioural studies suggest that the processing of movement stimuli is influenced by beliefs about the agency behind these actions. The current study examined how activity in social and action related brain areas differs when participants were instructed that identical movement stimuli were either human or computer generated. Participants viewed a series of point-light animation figures derived from motion-capture recordings of a moving actor, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor patterns of neural activity.

Geographical differences in the proportion of human group A rotavirus strains within New Zealand during one epidemic season.

The prospect of future rotavirus vaccine programs means it is important to understand rotavirus strain diversity within New Zealand, especially if this was to influence vaccine effectiveness. The G-genotype of 359 group A rotavirus strains isolated from 416 stool samples collected from June 2005 to May 2006 (inclusive) from children less than 5 years of age in multiple centers throughout New Zealand was determined. G1 was the dominant circulating strain (55.

The quick and the dead: when reaction beats intention.

Everyday behaviour involves a trade-off between planned actions and reaction to environmental events. Evidence from neurophysiology, neurology and functional brain imaging suggests different neural bases for the control of different movement types. Here we develop a behavioural paradigm to test movement dynamics for intentional versus reaction movements and provide evidence for a 'reactive advantage' in movement execution, whereby the same action is executed faster in reaction to an opponent.