Self-Reported Diabetes in Northland, New Zealand
- Shane R. Reti, MMEDSCI1,
- Felicity A. Goodyear-Smith, MGP2 and
- Ross I. McCormick, PHD2
- 1Medical Practice, Whangarei, New Zealand
- 2Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Address correspondence to Dr. Shane Reti, 15 Rust Ave., Whangarei, Auckland, New Zealand. E-mail: diabetescare{at}selectpost.com
There is little published community prevalence diabetes data in Northland, an area at the northernmost part of New Zealand containing 3.8% (140,088) of the total population (1). Māori, the indigenous people, are known to be at increased risk of diabetes (2), and Northland has a Māori population (29%) (1) higher than the national average (14.7%) (3). Hospitalization rates for diabetes are high in Northland, with a standardized relative ratio against the national rate of 1.77 (95% CI 1.55–1.92) (4). The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of self-reported diabetes in Northland and to calculate a two-factor (obesity and first-degree family history of diabetes) …
