Māori stroke sufferers have poorer health outcomes, receive less treatment

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-01-11 08:45

New Zealand

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While most key interventions and treatments for stroke patients are accessed equally by people from different ethnic backgrounds, several post-stroke interventions are not. Non-Europeans in New Zealand are still more likely to die in the year following a stroke than European patients.

After analysing the treatments and health outcomes of 2,379 stroke patients across 28 hospitals in 2018, researchers were pleased to report that Pacific patients were receiving more follow-up counselling about key symptoms and risks to look out for after a stroke. The same couldn’t be said for Māori patients, who also received less targeted preventative treatments than other groups. Researchers are hopeful that the establishment of the Māori Health Authority might help to address these inequities.