RHD-related surgery in NSW
In New South Wales in 2022, fewer than 5 people underwent rheumatic heart disease (RHD) surgical events. As such, there are too few cases to draw any meaningful statistical conclusions (Supplementary table 3.13).
Hospitalisations for rheumatic heart disease
People with RHD may be admitted to hospital for several reasons, including for diagnostic investigations, for treatment and care of symptoms or complications, or for surgery to repair or replace affected valves.
The data presented in this section are drawn from the AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database. This database includes data on all hospital admissions in Australia, in both public and private hospitals.
Further information on how hospitalisation data is collected can be found in Appendix B.
In the 2021–22 financial year, there was a total of 1,823 hospital separations in Qld, WA, SA and NT where a diagnosis of RHD was recorded. Among these 1,823 hospital separations:
- The majority were in females (66%)
- Over one-third occurred among patients aged 45 to 64
- 50% (906) were for First Nations people (Supplementary tables 3.17a and 3.17b).
The number of hospital separations among all Australians ranged between around 1,700 and 2,000 separations per year between 2012–13 and 2021–22, with the rate showing a slightly decreasing trend over the period. For First Nations people the number of separations increased a little over time (from 731 in 2012–13 to 906 in 2021–22) but the rate was relatively stable at around 200 separations per 100,000 people (Supplementary table 3.18).
Note that the data used for this analysis are de-identified, and so reflect the number of separate hospitalisation events occurring in each year, rather than the number of people admitted.
RHDAustralia (ARF/RHD writing group) (2020) ‘The 2020 Australian guideline for the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease’, 3.2 edn (2022), RHDAustralia, Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin.