Geographic and ethnic inequities in stroke outcomes

This project is hosted by University of Otago.

Prinicpal Investigator: Associate Professor Anna Ranta

Stroke is the third most common cause of death and the most significant cause of adult disability in New Zealand. We know of several key interventions that reduce disability after stroke. While much effort has gone into implementing these treatments through New Zealand hospitals it is unclear whether all hospitals achieve the same patient outcomes given existent variation in service set-up. Also, while we know that stroke occurs at a younger age in some ethnic groups (notably Māori and Pacific people) we do not know whether, once the stroke has occurred, they also face poorer access to optimal services. This project aims to investigate potential geographic and ethnic variation in service provision and stroke outcomes to inform the national stroke programme in its efforts to optimise stroke care delivery to all New Zealanders regardless of domicile or ethnic background.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Ranta A, Thompson S, Harwood M, Cadilhac D, Barber P, Davis A, Gommans J, Fink J, McNaughton H, Denison H, Corbin M, Feigin V, Abernethy V, Levack W, Douwes J, Girvan J, Wilson A. Reducing Ethnic and Geographic Inequities to Optimise New Zealand Stroke Care (REGIONS Care): Protocol for a Nationwide Observational Study. JMIR Res Protoc, 2021;10(1):e25374.