Exploring the burden of fatal drowning and data characteristics in three high income countries: Australia, Canada and New Zealand

Abstract Background Drowning is a significant public health issue, with females accounting for one third of global drowning deaths. The rate of female drowning has not decreased within high-income countries and presentations to hospital have increased. This scoping review aimed to explore adult female unintentional drowning, including risk factors, clinical treatment and outcomes of females hospitalised for drowning. Methods A systematic search of the literature following the PRISMA-ScR framework was undertaken. The databases OVID MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, OVID Emcare, Web of Science, Informit and Scopus were accessed. Study locations of focus were Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Studies from January 2003 to April 2019 were included. The quality of evidence of included studies was assessed using GRADE guidelines. Results The final search results included 14 studies from Australia (n = 4), Canada (n = 1), New Zealand (n = 1), United States (n = 6), United Kingdom (n = 1), and one study reporting data from both Australia and United States. Nine studies reported risk factors for female drowning including age, with the proportion of female drowning incidence increasing with age. Although females are now engaging in risk-taking behaviours associated with drowning that are similar to males, such as consuming alcohol and swimming in unsafe locations, their exposure to risky situations and ways they assess risk, differ. Females are more likely to drown from accidental entry into water, such as in a vehicle during a flood or fall into water. This review found no evidence on the clinical treatment provided to females in hospital after a drowning incident, and only a small number of studies reported the clinical outcomes of females, with inconsistent results (some studies reported better and some no difference in clinical outcomes among females). Conclusion Adult females are a group vulnerable to drowning, that have lacked attention. There was no single study found which focused solely on female drowning. There is a need for further research to explore female risk factors, the clinical treatment and outcomes of females hospitalised for drowning. This will not only save the lives of females, but also contribute to an overall reduction in drowning.

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A view from abroad: a New Zealand perspective on the English NHS health reforms

Dismantling the NHS? ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447330226.003.0017 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Robin Gauld

Keyword(s):

Health Policy ◽

New Zealand ◽

Health System ◽

Access To Care ◽

Healthcare System ◽

National Health ◽

Universal Access ◽

National Health System ◽

High Income ◽

Coalition Government

The English NHS is of significance among health policy observers around the globe for various reasons. The NHS is particularly noteworthy for the fact that, for many, it represents the high-income world’s best attempt to have built and maintained a ‘national’ health system with a focus on universal access to care that is free at point of service. The NHS has been in transition for several years. Many commentators have highlighted the role and influence of US market ideals in this transition, with various UK governments clearly pushing this agenda. However, is often useful to look to countries more closely comparable to England, such as New Zealand, for comparison with a view to improvement. This chapter takes such an approach in looking at the NHS from abroad. It draws upon the case of NZ which, in many ways, is very similar to England when it comes to health policy and the healthcare system. In doing so, it aims to provide a critique of the NHS reforms and demonstrate that there are alternatives to the policies and structures being pursued for the English NHS by the Coalition government.

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Delivery of Core Components in New Zealand Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs, Compared to other High-income Countries

Heart Lung and Circulation ◽

10.1016/j.hlc.2019.06.531 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. S361

Author(s):

B. Roxburgh ◽

M. Supervia ◽

K. Turk-Adawai ◽

F. Lopez Jimenez ◽

S. Grace

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Cardiac Rehabilitation ◽

High Income ◽

Rehabilitation Programs ◽

Core Components

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Cook Islands

IMF Staff Country Reports ◽

10.5089/9781513555775.002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (269) ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Free Association ◽

Financial Sector ◽

High Income ◽

Regulatory Framework ◽

Policy Options ◽

Medium Term ◽

Cook Islands ◽

Debt Sustainability ◽

Income Status

A mission was requested by the New Zealand authorities to the Cook Islands to focus on policy options for transitioning to high-income status, financial sector stability and regulatory framework, and debt sustainability.1 It evaluated these issues in the context of the medium-term outlook and against the context of a recently developed fiscal framework. The Cook Islands is a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand, but it is not an IMF member (Box 1).

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Global patterns and trends in colorectal cancer incidence in young adults

Gut ◽

10.1136/gutjnl-2019-319511 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 68 (12) ◽

pp. 2179-2185 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Rebecca L Siegel ◽

Lindsey A Torre ◽

Isabelle Soerjomataram ◽

Richard B Hayes ◽

Freddie Bray ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Older Adults ◽

Young Adults ◽

New Zealand ◽

Cancer Incidence ◽

Early Onset ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

High Income ◽

Term Data

ObjectiveEarly-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing in the USA despite rapid declines in older ages. Similar patterns are reported in Australia and Canada, but a comprehensive global analysis of contemporary data is lacking.DesignWe extracted long-term data from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents and supplemental sources to report on worldwide CRC incidence rates and trends by age (20–49 years and ≥50 years) through diagnosis year 2012 or beyond (Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, USA).ResultsDuring 2008–2012, age-standardised CRC incidence rates in adults <50 ranged from 3.5 per 100 000 (95% CI 3.2 to 3.9) in India (Chennai) to 12.9 (95% CI 12.6 to 13.3) in Korea. During the most recent decade of available data, incidence in adults <50 was stable in 14 of 36 countries; declined in Austria, Italy and Lithuania; and increased in 19 countries, nine of which had stable or declining trends in older adults (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Slovenia, Sweden, UK and USA). In Cyprus, Netherlands and Norway, inclines in incidence in young adults were twice as rapid as those in older adults (eg, Norway average annual per cent change (AAPC), 1.9 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.5) vs 0.5 (95% CI 0.3 to 0.7)). Among most high-income countries with long-term data, the uptick in early-onset disease began in the mid-1990s. The steepest increases in young adults were in Korea (AAPC, 4.2 (95% CI 3.4 to 5.0)) and New Zealand (AAPC, 4.0 (95% CI 2.1 to 6.0)).ConclusionCRC incidence increased exclusively in young adults in nine high-income countries spanning three continents, potentially signalling changes in early-life exposures that influence large bowel carcinogenesis.

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Migration of International Medical Graduates: Implications for the Brain-Drain

Open Medicine Journal ◽

10.2174/1874220301401010017 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 17-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

O.C. Nwagwu Emeka

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New Zealand ◽

Intellectual Capital ◽

Brain Drain ◽

Low Income ◽

Health Workers ◽

The United States ◽

High Income ◽

Low Income Countries ◽

The Brain

Studies indicate that about 23 percent to 28 percent of the physicians working and residing in the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand were born and trained in the low-income countries, areas suffering from critical shortages of physicians and other health workers. In the US alone, the preponderance of the foreign physicians hails from South Africa, Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Nigeria. From Africa alone where the burden of disease, poverty, deprivation and death are greatest, around 23,000 qualified physicians emigrate annually. From the perspectives of the low-income countries, significant amounts of resources are, by necessity, committed into turning their nationals into vital intellectual capital for their own desperately needed health needs and crumbling healthcare systems. Thus, the migration of these physicians to other nations to help strengthen their already stable health care systems is not only ethically deplorable but poses moral hazards for both the physicians and the high-income countries. That is, high-income countries such as the United States, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand are draining the scarce recourses of the low-income countries through the loss of intellectual capital, a phenomenon that socio-economic and developmental experts have dubbed “the brain drain”.

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Asthma inflammatory phenotypes on four continents: most asthma cases are non-eosinophilic

10.1101/2020.08.23.20177162 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lucy Pembrey ◽

Collin Brooks ◽

Harriet Mpairwe ◽

Camila A Figueiredo ◽

Aida Y. Oviedo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

New Zealand ◽

Sputum Sample ◽

High Income ◽

Eosinophilic Asthma ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Inflammatory Phenotypes ◽

Low And Middle Income

AbstractRationaleIn high-income countries less than half of asthma cases involve eosinophilic airways inflammation. Few studies have measured inflammatory asthma phenotypes in low- and-middle-income countries.ObjectivesTo assess asthma inflammatory phenotypes in Brazil, Ecuador, Uganda, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.MethodsWe recruited 998 asthmatics and 356 non-asthmatics: 204/40 in Brazil, 176/67 in Ecuador, 235/132 in New Zealand, 207/50 in Uganda, and 176/67 in the United Kingdom. All centres studied children and adolescents (age-range 8-20 years), except the UK centre involved 26-27 year olds. Information was collected using questionnaires, clinical characterisation, blood, and induced sputum.Measurements and main results87% provided a sputum sample, ranging from 74% (Brazil) to 93% (United Kingdom); of these, 71% were countable. The proportion of asthmatics classified as eosinophilic asthma (EA) was 39% (95% confidence interval 35%-43%) overall: 35% in Brazil, 32% in Ecuador, 50% in New Zealand, 33% in Uganda, and 33% in the United Kingdom. The non-eosinophilic asthmatics (NEA) had similar severity/control to the eosinophilic asthmatics (EA). Of the 61% (95%CI 57%-65%) of cases with NEA, 50% showed no signs of inflammation (paucigranulocytic), with 11% having neutrophilic inflammation.ConclusionsThis is the first time that sputum induction has been used to compare asthma inflammatory phenotypes in high-income countries and low-and-middle-income countries. Most cases were non-eosinophilic. This has major implications for asthma prevention and management in both of these contexts, and supports the need to recognise asthma as a heterogeneous condition, and to develop new prevention strategies and new therapies which target NEA.

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Does the Living Wage ensure an adequate standard of living for families?

Policy Quarterly ◽

10.26686/pq.v13i3.4668 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Susan St John ◽

Yun So

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Wealth Inequality ◽

Material Deprivation ◽

High Income ◽

Standard Of Living ◽

Living Wage ◽

Aotearoa New Zealand

New Zealand was once held up as a model of egalitarianism to other countries. Today New Zealand is far from being that leader, with high income and wealth inequality and an unacceptable level of family poverty and homelessness. Children are particularly affected, suffering the highest levels of material deprivation in New Zealand (Perry, 2016). Living Wage Movement Aotearoa New Zealand (LWMA) has argued that raising wages is the best way to address this problem.

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The Adaptation of Pain Assessment Tools from High-Income to Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Psychometric Properties of a Set of Chronic Pain Questionnaires in Mongolian and New Zealand Patient Samples

Pain Medicine ◽

10.1093/pm/pnaa267 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Natalie L Tuck ◽

Bayalagmaa Khuvtsagaan ◽

Usman Rashid ◽

Tipu Aamir ◽

Roger Goucke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

New Zealand ◽

Pain Catastrophizing ◽

Brief Pain Inventory ◽

High Income ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Low And Middle Income

Abstract Objective Chronic pain is a leading cause of disability in low- and middle-income countries; however, pain assessment tools have generally been developed and validated in high-income countries. This study examines the psychometric properties of a set of translated pain (and distress) questionnaires in Mongolia and documents the characteristics of people seeking treatment for chronic pain in Mongolia, compared with those in New Zealand, which is representative of high-income countries. Design Cross-sectional, observational. Setting Hospital-based pain treatment centers in New Zealand and Mongolia. Subjects People seeking treatment for chronic pain in Mongolia (N = 142) and New Zealand (N = 159). Methods The Brief Pain Inventory, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale–21, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire were translated into Mongolian and administered to patients attending a hospital-based pain service. Questionnaires that were completed by patients in New Zealand were used for comparisons. Internal reliability, convergent validity, and factor structure were assessed in both groups. Results Patients in Mongolia were older and reported lower pain intensity, interference, and distress and higher pain self-efficacy than those in New Zealand. The translated questionnaires had good internal consistencies, and the relationships between pain variables were similar across both groups. The factor structure for the Pain Catastrophizing Scale was consistent across both groups, but this was not the case for the Brief Pain Inventory or the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale–21. Conclusions Findings indicate that some pain outcome measures may be appropriate for use in Mongolia and should be investigated in other low- and middle-income countries.

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