Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Our medical research library holds 5 studies published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (1996–2016). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 4 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it.

About the journal

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Published: 1996 to the present, United States
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1326-0200 (print), 1753-6405 (electronic)
• Continues: Australian Journal of Public Health
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• Incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Aboriginal people in Western Australia. P. Franklin, A. Reid, N. Olsen, et al. 2016;40(4):383-7. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objectives: To describe the incidence of malignant mesothelioma (MM) in Aboriginal people in Western Australia (WA) and determine the main routes of exposure to asbestos in this population.

  Methods: All MM cases in Western Australia, as well as the primary source of asbestos exposure, are recorded in the WA Mesothelioma Register. Aboriginal cases up to the end of 2013 were extracted from the register and compared with non-Aboriginal cases with respect to the primary means/source of exposure. Age-standardised incidence rates for each decade from 1980 were calculated for both Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. Age-standardised mortality rates were calculated for the period 1994-2008 and compared with international rates.

  Results: There were 39 cases (77% male) of MM among WA Aboriginal people. Twenty-six (67%) were a direct result of the mining of crocidolite at Wittenoom and the subsequent contamination of the surrounding lands. Of the non-Aboriginal MM cases (n = 2070, 86.3% male), fewer than 25% can be attributed to Wittenoom. Aboriginals had consistently higher 10-year incidence rates than non-Aboriginals and, when compared to world populations, the highest mortality rate internationally.

  Conclusion: When incidence rates in Aboriginal people are compared with non-Aboriginal people, the Wittenoom mining operation has had a disproportionate effect on MM incidence in the local Aboriginal population.

  © 2016 Public Health Association of Australia.

• Patterns in the incidence, mortality and survival of malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, New South Wales, 1972-2009. M.J. Soeberg, N. Creighton, D.C. Currow, et al. 2016;40(3):255-62. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Introduction: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPeM) are often grouped together in descriptive epidemiological analyses, resulting in limited understanding of epidemiological patterns for these tumour types.

  Methods: We studied patterns in the incidence, mortality and survival of people diagnosed with MPM (n=4,076) and MPeM (n=293) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, 1972-2009. We also calculated 5-year relative survival for people diagnosed 1972-2006 followed up to 2007. We assessed patterns for each tumour type and histological subtype and, where possible, by combination of these categories.

  Results: Annual MPM cases steadily increased over time (n=208 in 2009). There was an increasing trend in the MPM age-standardised incidence rate from 1972 up to 1994. This rate increase has levelled off in the past 10 years. Since 1999, 11 cases of MPeM were diagnosed each year, on average. Five-year relative survival remained stable for MPM and MPeM. However, 5-year relative survival in 2002-2006 was substantially higher for people with MPM epithelioid histological subtype (11.7% [95%CI 6.8-18.2%]) compared to all other non-epithelioid histological subtypes (6.9% [95%CI 5.0-9.1%]), a 70% difference. Survival was also greater for women with MPM (13.4% [95%CI 8.5-19.4%]) compared to men (7.0% [95%CI 5.1-9.2%]).

  Interpretation: MPM incidence rates have stabilised since the mid-1990s, suggesting that maximum incidence levels have been reached. When more up-to-date data are available, survival estimates should be reanalysed to include people likely to benefit from the wide introduction of combination chemotherapy in 2007, including pemetrexed.

  © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.

2000s

• Asbestos-related disease from recycled hessian superphosphate bags in rural Western Australia. A.W. Musk, N.J. Olsen, A. Reid, et al. 2006;30(4):312-3. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objectives: To describe the dissemination of asbestos fibres within the Western Australian community.

  Methods: A case report.

  Results: A 60-year-old female was referred for investigation of calcified pleural plaques. On questioning, she recalled exposure to asbestos as a child on the family farm. She had shaken hessian bags prior to recycling to the fertiliser supplier. Her father survived to 90 years. Her mother died from malignant pleural mesothelioma. Four of five siblings had shaken the bags, two had radiographic evidence of pleural plaques while two others had not had recent chest x-rays.

  Conclusions: It appears that the use of recycled hessian bags for the fertiliser industry was endemic in the State during the period 1943-66. It is possible that many farmers and their families have had similar exposure to asbestos.

  Implications: The risk of developing an asbestos-related disease is not restricted to any specific social or employment groups within the Australian community.

• Mortality rates among nuclear industry workers at Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre. R.R. Habib, S.M. Abdallah, M. Law, et al. 2005;29(3):229-37. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Objectives: To assess whether workers at Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre (LHSTC) have different levels of mortality from the New South Wales (NSW) and Australian populations.

  Methods: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken at LHSTC. Data on 7,076 workers employed between 1957-98 were abstracted from personnel, dosimetry, and medical files. Deaths registrations in the cohort were identified to 1998 through electronic linkage of records with NSW and national registers of cancer incidence and mortality. Two inception cohorts were defined as including 4,717 and 3,543 workers in employment between 1972-98 and 1980-98, to examine cancer mortality and all-cause mortality respectively.

  Results: All-cause mortality was 31% lower than the national rates; all-cancer mortality was 19% below the NSW rate. Of 37 specific cancers and groups of cancers examined, statistically significant excesses relative to NSW rates were observed only for pleural cancer mortality (SMR = 21.11; 95% Cl 8.79-50.72).

  Conclusions: The observed increase in the risk of cancer of the pleura was probably due to unmeasured exposures, given the lack of an established association with radiation exposure and the strong link to asbestos exposure.

1990s

• Were asbestos-filtered Kent cigarettes sold in Australia?. S. Chapman, A. Heidemann, S. Woodward. 1996;20(2):218-9. Letter PubMed · Publisher

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