The comparability of resource utilisation for Europeans and non-Europeans following stroke in New Zealand.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to explore resource use both in hospital and the community twelve months after hospital discharge for patients of different ethnicity admitted to hospital with acute stroke.


METHODS
Resource utilisation data were collected for consecutive patients admitted to each of three general hospitals in the Wellington region over a nine month period. Patients were interviewed, where possible, at three, six and twelve months after hospital discharge. Ethnicity was determined by self report.


RESULTS
Non-Europeans had longer hospital stays than Europeans (median 36 days vs 18 days, p = 0.01). Contact with rehabilitation professionals in the community was low for all groups with no significant differences between Europeans and non-Europeans. For the entire cohort, spending on institutional care was around ten times higher than spending on community rehabilitation in the first twelve months following stroke.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences in hospital stay after stroke may reflect problems of access to inpatient rehabilitation services for younger people and not relate directly to the ethnicity of the patient. With the projected increasing proportion of Maori and Pacific people in the population, combined with the aging of that population, health policy-makers need to consider the implications of differences in resource utilisation for different ethnic groups in New Zealand. How to manage all the available resources for people with stroke to maximise outcome remains an important issue for health funders.
McNaughton
Harry
H
Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit, Wellington School of Medicine. hkmcn@paradise.net.nz
Weatherall
Mark
M
McPherson
Kathryn
K
Taylor
William
W
Harwood
Matire
M
D015331:Cohort Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006295:Health Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000191:economics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000191:economics* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*