While the evidence for an association between air pollution from bushfire smoke and cardiovascular conditions (which include conditions such as heart attack and stroke) is not as comprehensive as for respiratory conditions, several studies have found associations (see Australian bushfires 2019–20: exploring the short-term health impacts). It should also be noted that other factors such as extreme heat (Loughnan et al. 2010), which often co-occurs with bushfire, may also lead to increases in ED presentations.
There was no consistent pattern identified between air quality and heart, stroke and vascular conditions in the analysis of ED presentation data for this data update, however the data suggest that further examination of this relationship, particularly with respect to the cumulative effects of prolonged exposure to bushfire smoke, would be of interest.
Nationally, the presentations for selected heart conditions (ICD-10-AM codes I10–I15, I20–I25, I26–I28 and I30–I52) during the 2019–20 bushfire season were generally lower than in the previous year. However, there was an increase of 7.0% in the presentation rate in the week beginning 19 January 2020–18 per 100,000 persons (about 4,600 presentations), compared with 17 per 100,000 in the previous bushfire season (about 4,300 presentations).
During this week, in all jurisdictions except Queensland, there were increases in the presentation rate for selected heart conditions. The smallest and largest increases were:
- a 5.9% increase for New South Wales residents—18 per 100,000 persons (about 1,400 presentations), compared with 17 per 100,000 in the previous bushfire season (about 1,300 presentations)
- a 45% increase for Australian Capital Territory residents—18 per 100,000 persons (75 presentations), compared with 12 per 100,000 in the previous bushfire season (51 presentations).
The results should be interpreted with caution as lower rates of presentation were also observed during the 2019–20 bushfire season (for example, during November and December in New South Wales). It is important to consider that other factors or natural variation in the data may contribute to changes in presentation rates from year to year. In addition, differences in policies or the way presentations are coded between jurisdictions may affect the data.
To explore national data and data for states and territories, see interactive data visualisations below (for data tables see Supplementary table S3).