Māori have a much higher incidence of community-acquired pneumonia and pneumococcal pneumonia than non-Māori: findings from two New Zealand hospitals.

To determine the incidence rates of community-acquired pneumonia and pneumococcal pneumonia requiring hospitalisation among Mori and non-Mori, an observational study was conducted in Christchurch and Hamilton. Self-reported data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Routine clinical, radiological, and microbiological techniques were used apart from the BinaxNow pneumococcal antigen test for diagnosis of this infection. Census data was used to determine the denominator for statistical analyses. The pneumonia rate overall was 3.03 times higher among Mori than non-Mori (p<0.001). Differences were significant for each 10-year age group from age 45-74 years (p<0.05). The rate of pneumococcal pneumonia was 3.23 fold higher for Mori than non-Mori (p<0.001), but it did not reach statistical significance in the age-related comparisons.