A new report released today by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW) finds that while stroke care is
improving, stroke still poses a significant burden on patients and
their families, the health system, and on aged care services.
The report, How we manage stroke in Australia, shows
that the number of stroke care units in public hospitals increased
from 35 to 50 between 1999 and 2004, and that hospitals with these
units were more likely to have rapid triage and assessment of
patients with acute stroke.
Nevertheless, in 2003 stroke caused around 9,000 deaths, which
equates to almost 7% of all deaths in Australia.
Report author Susana Senes of the AIHW's Cardiovascular Disease
and Diabetes Unit said there were also 346,700 stroke survivors in
Australia in 2003-people who had experienced a stroke at some time
in their lives.
'Of these, around 282,600 had a disability, and in 146,400 of
them, the disability was caused by their stroke.
'Because stroke is mainly experienced by older Australians, it
is likely that the ageing of the Australian population will drive
an increase in the number of strokes in the future unless the
incidence rate falls by 2-3% or more a year,' she said.
The report shows that most stroke survivors live at home, and
that at least 90% of stroke survivors who needed assistance with
activities such as household chores, mobility and transport were
receiving it.
Many got some type of formal assistance but most stroke
survivors had informal carers providing most of the assistance.
More than half of those primary carers spent at least 40 hours
each week in their caring role. For about one in four, their caring
responsibilities reduced their income, and only a minority of
primary carers accessed respite care services.
In 2004, just 23% of relevant public hospitals in Australia
provided organised stroke services - quite low compared with around
80% for Sweden and Norway.
The report notes that there is no national information on many
aspects of stroke, such as treatment, rehabilitation or formal care
services received, which could assist in future planning.
15 February 2006
Further information: Ms Susana Senes, AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1171, mob. 0407 915 851
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the How we manage stroke in
Australia report.