Study proves health risks

A NEW study of Maori and Pacific patients in Dunedin has confirmed their highrisk statistics for obesity, and for suffering multiple health problems.

The University of Otago research, published in the Journal of Primary Health Care, surveyed Maori and Pacific Island patients at an unnamed Dunedin general practice.

Threequarters of Maori patients aged over 35 had at least one chronic morbidity (disease), rising to 82.5% of Pacific Islanders.

Half of Maori and almost twothirds of Pacific Islanders had multiple health issues, and many were taking multiple medications.

Both age and socioeconomic deprivation were exacerbating factors, researchers found.

The researchers noted their findings were in line with other health statistics, but suggested a wider study encompassing all ethnicities was required to confirm their findings.

The eight most prevalent single health issues afflicting Maori and Pacific Island patients were obesity, anxiety or depression, hypertension, asthma, gout, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis.

Where multiple health issues were diagnosed, obesity was a common factor in all conditions: almost half of patients were classified as obese.

‘‘The high prevalence of multimorbidity in Maori and Pacific patients requires the New Zealand health system to deliver culturally competent primary health care and to reorientate health care delivery around multimorbidity,’’ the study concluded.