This study looked at deprivation gradients in relation to all-cause mortality (life-expectancy) for ethnic Asian, Pacific, and European New Zealanders. Deprivation gradients were evident in all four ethnic groups. In comparison to Europeans, Mäori had a 25% steeper gradient, whereas Asian and Pacific peoples had shallower gradients than Europeans. In conclusion the authors found that socio-economic health gradients are evident in all major New Zealand ethnic groups. However, since these are relatively shallow for Asian and Pacific peoples “caution should be exercised in applying deprivation or other socio-economic measures as proxy indicators of need for health services”.
