How big data could help combat heart failure in New Zealand
Experts look to a database of some 400,000 elderly to find trajectories in ageing
By Jamie Morton
Mining a wealth of untapped health data could reveal new insights into how we age - and help tackle one of the biggest killers of older New Zealanders.
A new study, led by medical specialist and Otago University researcher Dr Hamish Jamieson, will trawl through a sprawling national health database to look for clues to combating heart failure.
Heart failure was the most common cause of hospital admission in older New Zealanders.
Half of those who suffered it died within five years.
“Multiple studies have shown that outcomes for patients with heart failure are difficult to predict - particularly older people who frequently have multiple co-morbidities.”