Abstract
Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is inequitably experienced in populations globally, with people living in socioeconomically deprived areas having a greater risk of hospitalisation. There are a multitude of social and environmental factors that may increase risk of CAP, thus predicting communities at increased risk is difficult.
The aims of this study were to describe the distribution of CAP in Christchurch, and the association between CAP and socioeconomic deprivation. A retrospective clinical records review was conducted; all 927 patients hospitalised with CAP at Christchurch hospital between 01.07.17 and 30.06.18 were included. Geocoding residential addresses allowed for hotspot analysis using the Getis-Ord Gi* method, and comparison of the relative rates of CAP in different socioeconomic deprivation deciles, using the Index of Multiple Deprivation scores for patients' residential areas. Hotspots of CAP were located across the southern part of the city, from Wigram in the south-west to Woolston in the south-east, along with a smaller north-east cluster. CAP was not equally distributed across the deprivation quantiles, ?2 (9, N = 924) = 51.48, p < 0.001. As compared to the least deprived quintile, quintiles four and five had rate ratios of 1.53 95% CI [1.27, 1.84] and 1.58 [1.27, 1.96] respectively.
This study has identified locations in Christchurch for geographically targeted preventative intervention to reduce the incidence of CAP, and contributed New Zealand based evidence to the ongoing discourse on socioeconomic influences on health.