Cardiovascular disease and its associated risk factors in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2004-05

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2008)
Cardiovascular disease and its associated risk factors in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2004-05. (AIHW Catalogue no. CVD41)
Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
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This report presents national information for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its associated risk factors, as well as on deaths due to CVD. Results are based mostly on analysis of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ most recent National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey and National Health Survey conducted in 2004-05.
Topics covered include:

• background demographic and overall health status
• cardiovascular disease
• risk factors and conditions associated with cardiovascular disease

The findings of the report demonstrate cardiovascular disease is a major health problem among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2004-05, one in eight Indigenous Australians had cardiovascular disease as a long-term condition with the disease found to be more common in woman and older people. Between 2002 and 2005, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death, accounting for 27% of all Indigenous deaths. Death rates in Indigenous Australians were 3 times as high as in non-Indigenous Australians with nearly all cardiovascular risk factors found to be more common among Indigenous Australians than in non-Indigenous Australians.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

• Further information:
  • Higher risk of heart disease for Indigenous peoples
    View media release: AIHW (5 June 2008)
• To obtain the report:
  • Available online: ISSN 1441-2004; AIHW cat. no. IHW 21; ABS cat. no. 4704.0; FREE.
    View information: AIHW
• Contact details:
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 26 Thynne Street, Fern Hill Park, Bruce ACT, GPO Box 570, Canberra ACT 2601, ph: (02) 6244 1000, fax: (02) 6244 1299, email: info@aihw.gov.au