Adult Bronchiectasis in the Northern Territory of Australia: The Aboriginal and Non-aboriginal comparative study

<b>Background and Aim:</b> Bronchiectasis is a heterogenous disease. The Aboriginal population appear to have a high burden but there is an unmet need to understand the nature of bronchiectasis in the population in comparison to the non-aboriginal counterparts. The aim of the study was to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of adult Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients with clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis living in the Top End Northern Territory of Australia. <b>Method:</b> A retrospective study conducted in the Top End Northern Territory of Australia. Clinical records were reviewed to extract information on demographics, co-existence of other respiratory and medical co-morbid conditions, and respiratory disease specific investigations and treatment. <b>Results and Conclusions:</b> There were 388 patients diagnosed to have bronchiectasis, of them 258 (66.5%) were Aboriginal Australians. Aboriginal patients were on an average 11 years younger, have higher rates of self-reported alcohol consumption(p&lt;0.001) and smoking, higher co-occurrence with COPD(p&lt;0.001), chronic kidney disease (p&lt;0.001), diabetes(p&lt;0.001), ischemic heart disease(p=0.013), rheumatic heart disease(p=0.006) in comparison to non-Aboriginal patients, in whom GORD (p=0.004) and H/O Non-tubercular Mycobacteria (p=0.013) were more common. FEV1 and FVC values are significantly lower among Aboriginal cohort. The sputum results showed Haemophilus(p&lt;0.001), Moraxella(p=0.001) and Streptococcus(p&lt;0.001) were common organisms in Aboriginal while Aspergillus(p&lt;0.001) and Pseudomonas(p=0.01) were less common in comparison to non-Aboriginals.