Naomi Brewer

Citation

Thesis Title
Epidemiological Studies of Cervical Cancer in New Zealand

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Ms Brewer studied demographic differences in stage at diagnosis and cervical cancer survival in New Zealand between 1994 and 2005. She showed that there were major ethnic inequalities, even after adjustment for socio-economic position, and assessed whether these were due to factors such as screening history, stage at diagnosis, comorbid conditions, and travel time and distance to the nearest General Practitioner and cancer centre. Over half of the women who developed cervical cancer had never been screened. Regular screening lowered the risk of a late stage at diagnosis. However, the higher risk of late stage diagnosis in Maori women was not explained by differences in screening history or travel time, whereas in Pacific women it was almost entirely due to these factors. For cervical cancer mortality, more than one-half of the excess relative risk in Maori and Pacific women was explained by differences in stage at diagnosis and comorbid conditions

Supervisors
Professor Barry Borman
Dr Lorenzo Richiardi