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Ministry of Health Library

Health Improvement and Innovation Digest

Issue 211 - 12 March 2020

Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest (formerly the HIIRC digest). The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic.

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Have you heard about Grey Matter?

We'd like to introduce you to another newsletter that the Ministry of Health Library prepares.  The Grey Matter newsletter provides monthly access to a selection of recent NGO, Think Tank, and International Government reports related to health. Information is arranged by topic, allowing readers to quickly find their areas of interest.  If you'd like to subscribe to Grey Matter, email library@health.govt.nz.

Article access

For articles that aren't open access, contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance in accessing the full text. If your organisation has a subscription, you may be able to use the icon under full text links in PubMed to access the full article.

Health Equity (International)

What impact do chronic disease self-management support interventions have on health inequity gaps related to socioeconomic status: a systematic review
The social gradient in chronic disease (CD) is well-documented, and the ability to effectively self-manage is crucial to reducing morbidity and mortality from CD. This systematic review, published in BMC Health Services Research, aimed to assess the moderating effect of socioeconomic status on self-management support (SMS) interventions in relation to participation, retention and post-intervention outcomes.


Quality Improvement (International)

Enhancing teamwork communication and patient safety responsiveness in a paediatric intensive care unit using the daily safety huddle tool
Open communication between leadership and frontline staff at the unit level is vital in promoting safe hospital culture. This hospital staff culture survey identified the failure to address safety issues as one of the areas where staff felt unable to express their concerns openly. This article, published in BMJ Open Quality explorers a improvement project. This project using the daily safety huddle tool has been developed to enhance teamwork communication and respond effectively to patient safety issues identified in a paediatric intensive care unit.


Cancer Services (New Zealand)

Cytopathological review of cervical pathology: Impact for women and follow‐up results
Cervical screening programs have had an important effect on the reduction of cervical cancer rates. Comprehensive programs require access to pathological review to improve the sensitivity of screening cytology and the specificity of diagnostic histology. The aim of this study, published in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, was to determine the number of cases where cervical cytology or histology was amended at cytopathological review; whether amendments were ‘upgrades’ or ‘downgrades’, and how amendments aligned with follow‐up results for these patients.

Prevalence and characteristics of post‐colonoscopy colorectal cancers in a New Zealand regional centre, a 10‐year analysis
Post‐colonoscopy colorectal cancers (PCCRC) are cancers which appear following a colonoscopy in which no cancer is diagnosed. The occurrence of PCCRC is thought to be multifactorial, reflecting both endoscopy quality as well as potential differences in tumour biology between detected colorectal cancers and PCCRC. This study, published in the Internal Medicine Journal, sought to identify the prevalence and characteristics of PCCRC in a New Zealand regional centre over a 10‐year period.


Cancer Services (International)

Treatment times in breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant vs adjuvant chemotherapy: Is efficiency a benefit of preoperative chemotherapy?
Delays in times to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy impair survival in breast cancer patients. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) confers equivalent survival to adjuvant chemotherapy (AC). This study, published in Cancer Medicine, explores which approach facilitates faster initiation and completion of treatment.


Shorter Stays In Emergency Departments (International)

Using emergency physicians' abilities to predict patient admission to decrease admission delay time
In many EDs, emergency physicians (EPs) do not have admitting privileges and must wait for consultants to further assess and admit patients. This delays bed requests and increases ED crowding. This study, published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, measured EPs' abilities to predict patient admission prior to consultation and estimated the potential ED stretcher time saved if EPs requested a bed with consultation.


Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)

Longitudinal assessment of the health-related quality of life among older people with diabetes: results of a nationwide study in New Zealand
This study, published in BMC Endocrine Disorders, examined experiences of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) among older adults with a diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) over time compared to those without a diagnoses DM.


Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (International)

Impact of patient‐centred diabetes self‐management education targeting people with type 2 diabetes: an integrative review
The aim of this review, published in Diabetic Medicine, was to synthesise primary research into the impact of person‐centred diabetes self‐management education, and support that targets people with type 2 diabetes, on behavioural, psychosocial and cardiometabolic outcomes and to identify effective mechanisms underlying positive outcomes of person‐centred diabetes self‐management education and support.


Primary Health Care (International)

The viral prescription pad - a mixed methods study to determine the need for and utility of an educational tool for antimicrobial stewardship in primary health care
In order to combat rising rates of antimicrobial resistant infections, it is vital that antimicrobial stewardship become embedded in primary health care (PHC). Despite the high use of antimicrobials in PHC settings, there is a lack of data regarding the integration of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) in non-hospital settings. This research, published in BMC Family Practice, aimed to determine which antimicrobial stewardship interventions are optimal to introduce into PHC clinics beginning to engage with an ASP, as well as how to optimize those interventions.


Better Help for smokers to Quit (International)

Pharmacological interventions for promoting smoking cessation during pregnancy
Tobacco smoking in pregnancy causes serious health problems for the developing fetus and mother. When used by non‐pregnant smokers, pharmacotherapies (nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion, and varenicline) are effective for increasing smoking cessation, however their efficacy and safety in pregnancy remains unknown. Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are becoming widely used, but their efficacy and safety when used for smoking cessation in pregnancy are also unknown. The objectives of this Cochrane Review were to determine the efficacy and safety of smoking cessation pharmacotherapies and ECs used during pregnancy for smoking cessation in later pregnancy and after childbirth, and to determine adherence to smoking cessation pharmacotherapies and ECs for smoking cessation during pregnancy.


Childhood Obesity (New Zealand)

Childhood dietary patterns and body composition at age 6 years: the Children of SCOPE study
Dietary patterns describe the quantity, variety, or combination of different foods and beverages in a diet and the frequency of habitual consumption. This study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, explored childhood dietary patterns and antenatal influences.


Childhood Obesity (International)

Impact of Exposure to Antibiotics During Pregnancy and Infancy on Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
This study, published in Obesity, aimed to investigate whether antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and infancy was associated with childhood overweight or obesity.


Oral Health (New Zealand)

Investigating the prevalence of non-fluoride toothpaste use in adults and children using nationally representative data from New Zealand: a cross-sectional study
Despite improvements in oral health outcomes in New Zealand over the last number of decades, there are still high levels of preventable tooth decay in adults and children. This study, published in the British Dental Journal, investigates the prevalence and spatial variation of non-fluoride toothpaste use in a nationally representative sample of adults and children in New Zealand.


Key Ministry of Health Publications

Longer, Healthier Lives: New Zealand’s Health 1990–2017
This publication provides an overview of the health of New Zealanders and explores how our health has changed over the past quarter of a century using Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) as an integrated measure of poor health and premature death.


District Health Board Initiative

Waitematā DHB moves to grow its Māori workforce
Waitematā DHB has created a role designed specifically to recruit more Māori into its workforce


The information available on or through this newsletter does not represent Ministry of Health policy. It is intended to provide general information to the health sector and the public, and is not intended to address specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity.

Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora
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New Zealand

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