Mortality due to rheumatic heart disease in the Kimberley 2001–2010

• Published in: Australian and New Zealand journal of public health Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 139 - 141
• Main Authors: Hofer, Alexandra, Woodland, Sarah, Carole, Reeve
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Elsevier B.V 01.04.2014; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aboriginal Australians; Aboriginal health; Adolescent; Adult; Age; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cause of Death; Child; Child, Preschool; Childrens health; Congestive heart failure; Death; Death & dying; Disease; Female; Heart; Heart diseases; Humans; Male; Medical Audit; Medical Records; Middle Aged; Morbidity; Mortality; Mortality rates; Native peoples; Oceanic Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Rheumatic fever; Rheumatic heart disease; Rheumatic Heart Disease - ethnology; Rheumatic Heart Disease - mortality; Rheumatic Heart Disease - psychology; Risk Factors; Western Australia - epidemiology; Young Adult; Western Australia; New Zealand; Australia; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia; Australia, Western Australia, Kimberley; PSE, New Zealand; PSE, Australia; mortality; Aboriginal health; rheumatic heart disease
• ISSN: 1326-0200; 1753-6405
• DOI: 10.1111/1753-6405.12112

To determine the mortality burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the Kimberley. A retrospective medical record audit was conducted for patients identified by the Western Australian (WA) RHD Program as deceased between 2001 and 2010. Patients with documented evidence strongly suggesting or confirming RHD were included in the study. Crude and age‐standardised death rates were calculated. A total of 34 patients were identified as having RHD, 15 of whom died of RHD‐attributable causes and 93% of whom were Aboriginal. The most common causes of death were arrhythmias and heart failure. The mean age at death of Aboriginal people was 41 years. The age‐standardised death rate in Aboriginal people attributable to RHD in the Kimberley was 12.5 per 100,000 people per year, which is 1.6 times the rate of Indigenous Australians nationally. RHD contributed to 342 potential life years lost over the 10‐year period. RHD contributes to significant premature mortality and higher rates of death in Aboriginal people in the Kimberley, which is consistent with other areas of northern Australia. While the recent establishment of the WA RHD Program will endeavour to improve mortality and morbidity due to RHD in the Kimberley, further research and investment is needed to address this disease of socioeconomic disadvantage.