Researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have published a new research that suggests people in disadvantaged communities are less likely to receive optimal care after a heart attack, pointing to wider health inequities in Australia.

The study, which was published on Thursday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, examined 43,000 adults in the Australian state of Victoria who were brought to hospital for a heart attack during a 30-year period.

Jedidiah Morton of the Baker Institute, the study’s lead researcher, told Xinhua that four out of five patients in wealthier regions would obtain two critical therapies when they presented with a heart attack, but people in poorer areas were 6% less likely to receive them.

“It’s a minor absolute difference, but in relative terms, thousands of individuals throughout the country may lose out on these therapies over a lengthy period of time.”

It was also shown that patients from underprivileged neighbourhoods were more likely to be readmitted or die after having a heart attack.

The socioeconomic region from which the participants in the research came was established using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Socio-Economic Indexes for Places, which rates areas across Australia based on a variety of outcomes.

According to Morton, this metric encompassed not just money but also educational levels, access to schooling, and work prospects, all of which might lead to poorer health access.

“People from poorer socioeconomic origins will be younger when they arrive, they will present with the disease earlier, or they will have more severe disease and presentation, all of these added factors.”

While it is well known that socioeconomic factors have a variety of effects on health outcomes, ranging from diet to job insecurity and healthcare access, Morton hoped that this study would bring this issue to light in a new light.

“Any kind of gap like this in our culture, especially in health care results, is an injustice.”
“This study revealed significant concerns about health equality and the need to do better for Australians who live in more disadvantaged locations.”