Research based on linked NSW hospital data has found that multimorbidity – the presence of two or more chronic diseases – is two and a half times higher in Aboriginal people than non-Aboriginal people admitted to hospital. These findings may explain the gap in mortality between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
Senior Principal Research Fellow Professor Tony Broe and Research Fellow Dr Kylie Radford, both from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), have written an editorial about these findings in The Medical Journal of Australia.
“The age pattern of multimorbidity indicated by these linked hospital and mortality data underscores the importance of social determinants and the primary prevention of chronic diseases across the lifespan, particularly in early to mid-life,” writes Professor Broe and Dr Radford.
Their editorial highlights the important need for a life course perspective to improve Aboriginal health and close the lifespan gap.
To read the full editorial in the MJA click here.
Find out more
- Read the editorial in the MJA
- Related news from Dr Kylie Radford’s team: NeuRA to undertake critical dementia research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
