Rurality, Deprivation and Ethnicity in New Zealand: Population Distributions and Intersecting Impacts on Mortality (PDF)
Davie G, Whitehead J, Crengle S, Atkinson J, Crampton P, de Graaf B, Blattner K, Nixon, G
Aust J Rural Health. 2026. e70146. DOI: 10.1111/ajr.70146
Rural Urban Differences in Receipt of Radiation Oncology Services for Breast, Prostate and Lung Cancer by Ethnicity in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF)
Withington S, Davie G, Crengle S, James M, Booker B, de Graaf B, Miller R, Lawrenson R, Nixon G. J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2026 Feb;70(1):101-112. doi: 10.1111/1754-9485.70049. Epub 2025 Nov 26. PMID: 41294073
Avoiding double counting: the effect of bundling hospital events in administrative datasets for the interpretation of rural-urban differences in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF)
Miller R, Davie G, Crengle S, Whitehead J, De Graaf B, Nixon G. J Clin Epidemiol. 2024;172:111400
Accuracy of domicile codes in New Zealand's hospital discharge data and implications for urban-rural analyses (PDF) Davie G, Whitehead J, Miller R, Atkinson J, Crengle S, de Graaf B, Lawrenson R. Smith M. Nixon G. New Zealand Population Review. 2024;50
Miller R, Davie G, Crengle S, Liepins T, Clay L, Whitehead J, et al. Development of an interactive web-app to examine rural-urban variation in COVID-19 vaccination rates and to inform case-study site selection (PDF) New Zealand Population Review. 2023;50:325–51
Rural-urban variation in the utilisation of publicly funded health care services : an age stratified population-level observational study. 2024 (PDF)
Comparing age-stratified public health service utilisation in Aotearoa New Zealand across the rural- urban spectrum
Comparison of the sociodemographic composition of rural and urban Aotearoa New Zealand: Insights from applying the Geographic Classification for Health to Census 2018 (PDF)
Whitehead J, Atkinson J, Davie G, Eggleton K, Crengle S, Miller R, Blattner K, Nixon G.
New Zealand Population Review. 2023;49:27–69
Rural-urban variation in COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Aotearoa New Zealand: Examining the national rollout. 2023 (PDF)
To understand the rural-urban differences in the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccinations during the peak period of the national vaccination rollout in New Zealand
Comparison of urban and rural mortality rates across the lifespan in Aotearoa/New Zealand: a population-level study. 2023 (PDF)
A study comparing mortality data in rural and urban populations using the GCH
Unmasking hidden disparities: a comparative observational study examining the impact of different rurality classifications for health research in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2023 (PDF)
Reviewing three different rurality classifications: UREP (Urban-rural experimental profile ) and UA (Urban accessability) and the GCH
A novel geographic classification for health purposes. New Zealand Medical Journal. 2022 (PDF)
This publication describes the GCH including its development and validation
Whitehead, J., Davie, G., de Graaf, B., Crengle, S., Fearnley, D., Smith, M., Lawrenson, R., & Nixon, G. Defining rural in Aotearoa New Zealand: A novel geographic classification for health purposes. New Zealand Medical Journal. 2022, Aug 5; 135(1559) ISSN 1175-8716 www.nzma.org.nz/journal ©PMA
Mortality outcomes and inequities experienced by rural Maori in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Lancet Regional Health- Western Pacific (PDF)
This paper uses contemporary mortality data to examine Māori and non-Māori mortality rates in rural and urban areas
Crengle, S., Davie, G., Whitehead, J., de Graaf, B., Lawrenson, R., & Nixon, G. (2022). Mortality outcomes and inequities experienced by rural Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 28.00570. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100570
Policy Brief: The Geographic Classification for Health: A fit-for-purpose rurality classification (PDF)
Overview of the GCH research and recommendations for utilization in health research and policy
Australian Journal of Rural Health (PDF)
The publication presents the rationale for developing the GCH and protocol used in its development
Nixon G, Whitehead J, Davie G, Fearnley D, Crengle S, de Graaf B, Smith M, Wakerman, J & Lawrenson R. Developing the geographic classification for health, a rural-urban classification for New Zealand health research and policy: A research protocol. Australian Journal Rural Health. 2021;00:1-8
Technical Report (PDF)
This technical report describes in detail the GCH and the methodology underpinning it
Whitehead, J., Davie,G., de Graaf, B., Crengle, S., Smith, M., Fearnley, D., Farrell, N., & Nixon, G. (2021). The Geographic Classification for Health , Methodology and classification report, May 2021
Articles of interest
‘Poorly defined’: unknown unknowns in New Zealand Rural Health (PDF)
This paper describes the problems with the traditional methods of defining ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ in NZ health policy and literature
Fearnley, D., Lawrenson, R. Nixon, G. (2016). “‘Poorly defined’: unknown unknowns in New Zealand Rural Health.” New Zealand Medical Journal. 2016;129(1439)