Oral Health Inequities: Using Every Opportunity for Opportunistic Oral Healthcare.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine if caries-free rates and the number of teeth affected by caries in children from inpatient, day stay, and specialist outpatient clinic groups differed significantly from the population and by ethnicity.

Methods: We extracted admissions for general medical admissions (inpatient) and day stay surgery for grommets (day stay) for 2019 from Starship Children's Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand, and children on the Auckland bronchiectasis register (specialist outpatient clinic). Oral health data was extracted from the Auckland Regional Dental Service database until the end of 2021.

Variation in clinical presentation, complications and outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples among hospitalised adults with COVID-19 in 2022, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background: Pacific region-specific data on the clinical course of COVID-19 are limited. We aimed to describe clinical features and outcomes from Aotearoa New Zealand patients, focusing on Māori and Pacific peoples.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among adults (≥16 years) hospitalised due to COVID-19 at 11 hospitals from January to May 2022.

Dietary patterns of patients with acute coronary syndrome in the multi-ethnic New Zealand study of acute coronary syndromes (MENZACS).

Background And Aims: In Aotearoa-New Zealand (NZ) approximately 8000 people are admitted with a first-time acute coronary syndrome (ACS) annually. In this cross-sectional analysis, we describe the dietary patterns of patients who present with their first ACS and examine their associations with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods And Results: The Multi-Ethnic NZ study of Acute Coronary Syndromes (MENZACS) is a multi-centre, longitudinal cohort study of patients with first-time ACS.

Assessing the gaps in cardiovascular disease risk assessment and management in primary care for Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand- a systematic review.

Background: Māori and Pacific peoples carry the highest burden of cardiovascular disease in New Zealand (NZ). This systematic review aimed to determine access to evidence-based cardiovascular disease risk assessment (CVDRA) and management in primary care for Māori and Pacific peoples compared with other ethnicities in NZ, as well as factors contributing to reduced access.

Methods: In this systematic review with a narrative synthesis, keywords related to Māori and Pacific peoples, cardiovascular disease, and primary care were used to search MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, NZresearch.

Variation in emergency medical service use for acute coronary syndromes by ethnicity: an Aotearoa New Zealand observational study.

Aim: This study investigated whether emergency medical services (EMS) use varies by ethnicity among patients hospitalised with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: All adults (aged ≥18 years) hospitalised with ACS (2019-2021) were identified. EMS use was determined by linkage between national hospitalisation and EMS data.

Barriers and enablers of access to diabetes eye care in Auckland, New Zealand: a qualitative study.

Objective: To explore the barriers and enablers to accessing diabetes eye care services among adults in Auckland.

Design: This was a qualitative study that used semistructured interviews. We performed a thematic analysis and described the main barriers and enablers to accessing services using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Navigating the long journey of heart failure-experiences of Māori and Pacific peoples.

Aims: Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand experience significant inequities in heart failure rates, treatment and outcomes compared to NZ Europeans. We aimed to understand the experiences of Māori and Pacific people living with heart failure as they navigated care across primary and secondary settings.

Methods: This research involved a secondary analysis of data collected in a wider qualitative study investigating evidence-practice gaps of cardiovascular care experienced by Māori and Pacific people.

Evaluation of risk prediction scores for adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in a highly-vaccinated population, Aotearoa New Zealand 2022.

Objectives: COVID-19 severity prediction scores need further validation due to evolving COVID-19 illness. We evaluated existing COVID-19 risk prediction scores in Aotearoa New Zealand, including for Māori and Pacific peoples who have been inequitably affected by COVID-19.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study in adults hospitalized with COVID-19 from January to May 2022, including all Māori and Pacific patients, and every second non-Māori, non-Pacific (NMNP) patient to achieve equal analytic power by ethnic grouping.

COVID-19-related hospitalizations among Aotearoa, New Zealand children during the Omicron era of SARS-CoV-2.

Objectives: This multicenter cohort study describes Aotearoa New Zealand children hospitalized during the country's first wave of sustained SARS-CoV-2 transmission, Omicron variant.

Methods: Children younger than 16 years, hospitalized for >6 hours with COVID-19 across New Zealand from January to May 2022 were included. Admissions for all Māori and Pacific and every second non-Maori non-Pacific children were selected to support equal explanatory power for ethnic grouping.

Physicians' perspectives on clinical indicators: systematic review and thematic synthesis.

Clinical indicators are increasingly used to improve the quality of care, particularly with the emergence of 'big data', but physicians' views regarding their utility in practice is unclear. We reviewed the published literature investigating physicians' perspectives, focusing on the following objectives in relation to quality improvement: (1) the role of clinical indicators, (2) what is needed to strengthen them, (3) their key attributes, and (4) the best tool(s) for assessing their quality. A systematic literature search (up to November 2022) was carried out using: Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Web of Science.

Treatment drop-in in a contemporary cohort used to derive cardiovascular risk prediction equations.

Background: No routinely recommended cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction equations have adjusted for CVD preventive medications initiated during follow-up (treatment drop-in) in their derivation cohorts. This will lead to underestimation of risk when equations are applied in clinical practice if treatment drop-in is common. We aimed to quantify the treatment drop-in in a large contemporary national cohort to determine whether equations are likely to require adjustment.

Māori and Pacific families' experiences and perspectives of cardiovascular care; A qualitative study.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the reasons behind evidence-practice gaps and inequities in cardiovascular care for Māori and Pacific people, as evidenced by the experiences and perspectives of patients and their families.

Methods: The research was guided by Māori and Pacific worldviews, incorporating Kaupapa Māori Theory and Pacific conceptual frameworks and research methodologies. Template analysis was used to analyse interview data from 61 Māori and Pacific people who had experienced a cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment, acute coronary syndrome, and/or heart failure.

Who are Pacific peoples in terms of ethnicity and country of birth? A cross sectional study of 2,238,039 adults in Aotearoa New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure.

Background: The aggregation of Indigenous peoples from Pacific Island nations as 'Pacific peoples' in literature may mask diversity in the health needs of these different groups. The aim of this study was to examine the heterogeneity of Pacific groups according to ethnicity and country of birth.

Methods: Anonymised individual-level linkage of administrative data identified all NZ residents aged 30-74 years on 31 March 2013 with known ethnicity and country of birth.

Upholding te mana o te wā: Māori patients and their families' experiences of accessing care following an out-of-hospital cardiac event.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Māori patients and their families accessing care for an acute out-of-hospital cardiac event and to identify any barriers or enablers of timely access to care.

Design: Eleven interviews with patients and their families were conducted either face-to-face or using online conferencing. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis using Kaupapa Māori methodology.

2023 position statement on improving management for patients with heart failure in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Heart failure affects 1-3% of the population and remains a major public health problem, with high rates of hospitalisation and mortality. Health inequities in the incidence of heart failure have widened over the last 13 years in Aotearoa New Zealand. Urgent action is required to address the inequitable burden of heart failure among Māori and Pasifika.

The Prevalence and Management of Atrial Fibrillation in New Zealand Māori Detected through an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Program.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) screening was incorporated into an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening (AAA) program for New Zealand (NZ) Māori.

Methods: AF screening was performed as an adjunct to AAA screening of Māori men aged 60-74 years and women aged 65-74 years registered with primary health care practices in Auckland, NZ. Pre-existing AF was determined through coded diagnoses or medications in the participant's primary care record.

Call to action-the urgent need for a heart health plan in New Zealand.

Cardiovascular diseases are responsible for almost 10,000 deaths annually in Aotearoa New Zealand. Almost a quarter of these are avoidable, increasing to half of all cardiovascular deaths for Māori and Pacific people. Health system reforms are an opportunity to set clear ambitious goals for improved heart health.

Investigation and treatment after non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome for patients presenting to rural or urban hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand: ANZACS-QI 75.

Aims: Compare the care patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS) received in Aotearoa New Zealand depending on the rural-urban category of the hospital they are first admitted to.

Methods: Patients with NSTEACS investigated with invasive coronary angiogram between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2019 were included. There were three hospital categories (routine access to percutaneous coronary intervention [urban interventional], other urban [urban non-interventional] and rural) and three ethnicity categories (Māori, Pacific and non-Māori/non-Pacific).

Ethnic differences of the care pathway following an out-of-hospital cardiac event: A systematic review.

Aim: This systematic review aimed to determine to what extent and why the care pathways for acute cardiac events in the community might differ for minoritised ethnic populations compared to non-minoritised populations. It also sought to identify the barriers and enablers that could influence variations in access to care for minoritised populations.

Methods: A multi-database search was conducted for articles published between 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2023.

Development and validation of cardiovascular risk prediction equations in 76 000 people with known cardiovascular disease.

Aims: Multiple health administrative databases can be individually linked in Aotearoa New Zealand, using encrypted identifiers. These databases were used to develop cardiovascular risk prediction equations for patients with known cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods And Results: Administrative health databases were linked to identify all people aged 18-84 years with known CVD, living in Auckland and Northland, Aotearoa New Zealand, on 1 January 2014.

Widening ethnic inequities in heart failure incidence in New Zealand.

Objective: Ethnic inequities in heart failure (HF) have been documented in several countries. This study describes New Zealand (NZ) trends in incident HF hospitalisation by ethnicity between 2006 and 2018.

Methods: Incident HF hospitalisations in ≥20-year-old subjects were identified through International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision-coded national hospitalisation records.

Reasons for Ethnic Disparities in the Prehospital Care Pathway Following an Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Event: Protocol of a Systematic Review.

Background: Substantial inequities in cardiovascular disease occur between and within countries, driving much of the current burden of global health inequities. Despite well-established treatment protocols and clinical interventions, the extent to which the prehospital care pathway for people who have experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac event (OHCE) varies by ethnicity and race is inconsistently documented. Timely access to care in this context is important for good outcomes.