Māori and Pasifika individuals are more likely to have an emergency presentation prior to lung cancer diagnosis than individuals of European ethnicity, according to a study utilising the New Zealand Cancer Registry. A total of 27,689 lung cancer registrations (2007-2019) were included and linked to national hospitalisation and primary healthcare data. Ethnic disparities in emergency presentations persisted after adjusting for multiple covariates, including comorbidity and deprivation, with odds ratios for presentation of 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-1.30) in Māori and 1.50 (95% CI 1.31-1.71) in Pasifika. Emergency presentation was associated with substantially poorer survival outcomes across ethnic groups, as highlighted by an adjusted odds ratio for 1-year mortality in Māori of 2.40 (95% CI 2.10-2.74). These study findings reinforce the need for improvements in the early detection of lung cancer, particularly for Māori and Pasifika individuals, concluded the authors.
