February 27, 2013
High readmission rates for Māori
Posted On February 27, 2013
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Auckland City Hospital, Auckland. Image source: www.cs-group.co.nz
A six-year study of 89,000 hospital patients has found Māori were 16 per cent more likely to be readmitted or to die than Pakeha.
Lead author Julia Rumball-Smith, a public health doctor, says the cause is likely to be poorer care provided to the Māori patients.
In an article published in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care, she says 9 percent of the sample had an unplanned readmission, or died, within a month of leaving hospital.
After adjusting for age and sex, the odds were higher for Māori.
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