Published Research

Improving adherence using combination therapy (IMPACT): Design and protocol of a randomised controlled trial in primary care.

To assess whether a medication strategy using a fixed dose combination pill ('polypill') could improve prescribing and adherence to recommended medications, lower blood pressure and improve lipids compared with current care over 12months.

Do enhancements to the urban built environment improve physical activity levels among socially disadvantaged populations?

There is growing recognition that the urban built environment influences physical activity at the population level, although the effects on disadvantaged groups are less well understood. Using the examples of open / green space and street connectivity, this paper explores whether enhancements to the built environment have potential for addressing physical activity-related health inequalities among Maori, Pacific and low income communities in New Zealand.

Economic incentives to promote healthier food purchases: exploring acceptability and key factors for success

Despite increasing interest, little is known about the beliefs and views of the public in relation to the use of economic incentives as a means to promote healthy eating. This study explores views of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse shoppers regarding acceptability of economic incentives to promote healthier food purchases, and factors likely to affect the success of such schemes.

Economic incentives to promote healthier food purchases: exploring acceptability and key factors for success

Driving kids to smoke? Children's reported exposure to smoke in cars and early smoking initiation

The health risks associated with second hand smoke (SHS) are well-known. However, little is known about exposure to SHS in cars and risk of smoking uptake. This paper investigates the association between pre-adolescents reported exposure to smoking in cars and prevalence of early stage smoking activity.

Does improved access and greater choice of nicotine replacement therapy affect smoking cessation success? Findings from a randomized controlled trial.

Aims: To determine the effect of offering smokers who want to quit easy access to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), a period of familiarization and choice of product on smoking abstinence at 6 months.
Design: Single-blind, randomized controlled trial

Cytisine's Potential to Be Used as a Traditional Healing Method to Help Indigenous People Stop Smoking: A Qualitative Study With Maori

Māori experience a disproportionate amount of smoking-related harm (46% of adult Māori smoke). Effective cessation treatments that are both accessible and attractive to Māori are urgently needed. Cytisine (a plant extract found in Golden Rain [Cytisus laburnum L.] and the New Zealand Kowhai [Sophora tetraptera L.] has a similar molecular makeup to nicotine, has been used successfully as a cessation product in central and eastern Europe and central Asia for many years, and is low priced. Recent reviews have found that cytisine is twice as effective as a placebo for smoking cessation. This study aimed to explore cytisine's potential as a ‘rongoā Māori’ (traditional Māori remedy) and its attractiveness to Māori smokers compared with other cessation products.

Study protocol for a randomised trial of nicotine-free cigarettes as an adjunct to usual NRT-based cessation practice, in people who wish to stop smokin

Current smoking cessation treatments focus on addressing the pharmacological dependence of smokers on nicotine. However, new strategies are needed that address both nicotine dependence and the psychological dependence on cigarettes as the source of nicotine. Evidence from a number of small smoking cessation studies suggests that the use of cigarettes with reduced nicotine content, in combination with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), may help reduce withdrawal symptoms and increase quit rates. This paper describes the protocol for a large randomised-controlled trial to test the effect of using nicotine-free cigarettes together with NRT on long-term quit rates.

A Theory-Based Video Messaging Mobile Phone Intervention for Smoking Cessation: Randomized Controlled Trial

Advances in technology allowed the development of a novel smoking cessation program delivered by video messages sent to mobile phones. This social cognitive theory-based intervention (called “STUB IT”) used observational learning via short video diary messages from role models going through the quitting process to teach behavioral change techniques.

Natural history of attention deficits and their influence on functional recovery from acute stages to 6 months after stroke.

Attention deficits are common after stroke, yet their natural course is undefined. This paper examines the course of recovery of attention up to 6 months after stroke. Also examined was the relationship of attention deficits to hemisphere of lesion and to wider outcomes (e.g. quality of life) 6 months after stroke.