Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Cardiovascular disease
Note:
Hospital separations were classified using ICD-9-CM up to 1997/98 and ICD-10-AM from 1998/99 onwards.
Rates were age-adjusted using the Australian population as at 30 June 2001.
Source:
NSW Inpatient Statistics Collection and ABS population data (HOIST). Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Health.
Indigenous status is believed to be substantially under-reported in New South Wales hospital morbidity data. Despite this, age-adjusted hospital separation rates for cardiovascular diseases (coronary heart disease and stroke) among New South Wales Indigenous people were consistently higher than the rates for non-Indigenous people over the period 1993/94 to 2003/2004.
Between 1992/1993 and 2003/2004, the hospitalisation rate for cardiovascular disease in the Hunter New England Area has increased for Indigenous males but has remained steady for Indigenous females. Over the same period the hospitalization rate for non-Indigenous males and females has declined. This difference may be explained through changes in identification of Indigenous status.
While reporting of hospitalisations of Indigenous people continues to improve in New South Wales, reporting is insufficient to confidently comment on patterns of hospitalizations. However, in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory combined, circulatory diseases were responsible for 29% of excess deaths among Indigenous males and 23% of excess deaths among Indigenous females (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999).
Trends in hospitalisations for cardiovascular disease do not directly reflect the incidence of disease. They are based on episodes rather than people (1 person can be hospitalised multiple times) and include elective admissions for diagnostic or surgical procedures. They are influenced by the death rate before reaching hospital, and by hospital admission practices.
For more information:
Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. ABS catalogue no. 4704.0. Canberra: ABS, 1999.
Thomson N, Winter J, Pumphrey M. Review of the state of knowledge of cardiovascular disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Clearinghouse, 1999. This report may be found on the Australian Indigeneous HealthInfoNet at www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au.
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Rider:
The information presented in this report result from analyses of a variety of social and health focused datasets. These datasets originate from a variety of sources including Hunter New England Health, the NSW Department of Health, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The timing of the release of these data to third parties is controlled by the owner of these data. It is therefore possible for these organisations to publish data that they have not yet made available to Hunter New England Population Health for analysis and release. Users should therefore check the publications of these organisations as it is possible that they may have published even more up to date information on Hunter New England than those available in this report. As this report is an ongoing project, the indicators presented will be updated as soon as possible after the release of all datasets to Hunter New England Population Health.
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Hunter New England Population Health. Health in Hunter New England. Hunter New England Area Health Service, 2005. Available at:
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/HHNE/atsi/atsi_cardds.htm. Accessed (insert date of access).
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