Being enrolled with a primary healthcare provider is associated with a lower level of amenable mortality, according to an analysis of all recorded deaths in New Zealand between 2008 and 2017. Of 308,628 available mortality records, 38.2% were premature deaths (aged under 75 years), and among them 47.8% were amenable deaths. Almost half of amenable deaths were due to cardiovascular disease. Those at higher risk of amenable mortality were male, aged 15-24 years, Māori or Pasifika, and living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas. Overall, 4.3% of deaths occurred in those who were not actively enrolled with a primary healthcare provider in any of the years studied. The adjusted odds ratio for amenable mortality among those not enrolled in a primary healthcare organisation was 1.39 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30-1.47). Efforts to improve enrolment levels across age and ethnic groups could have significant benefits on health equity, the study authors concluded.
