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Heart disease in Australia

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Cardiovascular disease, heart disease and heart attack

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in Australia, with 43,477 deaths attributed to CVD in Australia in 2017. Cardiovascular disease kills one Australian every 12 minutes. (1)

Cardiovascular disease is one of Australia's largest health problems. Despite improvements over the last few decades, it remains one of the biggest burdens on our economy. (2)

Cardiovascular disease

  • is heart, stroke and blood vessel diseases. (2)
  • kills one Australian every 12 minutes. (1)
  • Affects one in six Australians or 4.2 million. (5)
  • Most people 65 years or over are currently living with long-term CVD. (5)
  • CVD was the main cause for more than 575,800 hospitalisations in 2016/17. (3)
  • claimed the lives of 43,477 Australians (nearly 30% of all deaths) in 2017 - deaths that are largely preventable. (1)
  • lower socioeconomic groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those living in remote areas had the highest rate of hospitalisation and death resulting from CVD in Australia. (2)

Heart disease

  • In 2014/2015, close to three per cent of the population reported having a long-term CHD condition, accounting for 620,000 Australians. (5)
  • Is the single leading cause of death in Australia. (1)
  • Claimed the lives of 18,590 Australians (12% of all deaths) in 2017. (1)
  • 51 Australians died every day from heart disease in 2017, or heart disease was responsible for a death every 28 minutes. (1)
  • Whilst heart disease was the underlying cause of 18,590 deaths in 2017, as an underlying and contributing cause, heart disease was a factor in nearly one in four deaths in 2017 (22% or 34,827). (1)

Heart attack

  • It is estimated over 400,000 Australians have had a heart attack at some time in their lives. (5)
  • Each year, around 57,000 Australians suffer a heart attack.  This equates to one heart attack every 10 minutes. (3)
  • In 2017, an average of 21 Australians died from a heart attack each day, this is equivalent to one death from a heart attack every 67 minutes. (1)

More information

Risk factors

Close to three quarters (73 percent), of Australians aged 30 to 65 years reported having been told by their doctor they have at least one risk factor for heart disease. (4)

Below are some of the statistics on risk factors:

Clinical risk factors

  • In 2014/15, 6 million adult Australians (34%) aged 18 years and over had high blood pressure (systolic or diastolic blood pressure is equal to or greater than 140/90 mmHg or taking medication). (5)
  • In 2011/12, one-third of adult Australians aged 18 years and over had measured high cholesterol. This represents 5.6 million adult Australians. (6)

Lifestyle risk factors

  • Smoking is the single most important cause of ill health and death in Australia. In 2014/15, one in seven Australians aged 15 years and over smoked daily. (5)
  • In 2014/15, close to two in every three (63%) adult Australians aged 18 years and over were overweight or obese, with 28% obese and 36% overweight. (5)
  • In 2014/15, more two in every three (65%) of adult Australians aged over 15 do very little or no exercise at all. (5)

Find out more about risk factors for heart disease. 

More information

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018, Causes of Death 2017, ABS cat. no. 3303.0, September.
  2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011. Cardiovascular disease: Australian facts 2011. Cardiovascular disease series. Cat. no. CVD 53. Canberra: AIHW.
  3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, National Hospital Morbidity Database.
  4. National Heart Foundation, 2017. HeartWatch Survey, customised data, April 2018.
  5. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016, National Health Survey: First results, 2014-15, ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001, March. Data customised using TableBuilder.
  6. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012, National Health Survey: First results, 2011-12, ABS cat. no. 4364.0.55.001, October. Data customised using TableBuilder.

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