One in 3 diagnoses are in children
In Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory:
- there were 344 reports of new rheumatic heart disease (RHD) diagnoses for all Australians in 2022
- four-fifths (272 cases) of new RHD diagnoses were among First Nations people (Supplementary Table 3.9)
- new RHD was diagnosed mostly in children under 15 (32%) and women (68%) for all Australians and First Nations people (38% and 68%, respectively) (Figure 3.5; Supplementary tables 3.7a and 3.7b)
- Queensland had the most diagnoses (121 and 173, respectively) and the Northern Territory had the highest rate (138 and 45 per 100,000, respectively) among First Nations people and all Australians (Figure 3.6; Supplementary tables 3.8a and 3.8b)
- for all Australians, diagnosis rates increased between 2015 and 2018 from 3.6 to 5.7 diagnoses per 100,000 and then decreased to 3.4 in 2022 (Figure 3.7; Supplementary Table 3.10b)
- for First Nations people, the rate fluctuated between a low of 55 in 2015 and 2022 and a high of 88 in 2018. It is possible that the decrease since 2020 is related to reduced access to medical services due to COVID-19 restrictions, and is not necessarily reflective of a true reduction in new RHD (Figure 3.7; Supplementary table 3.10a).
Figure 3.5: Incidence of new RHD diagnoses by Indigenous status, age, and sex, 2022
Chart: AIHW. Source: AIHW analysis of National Rheumatic Heart Disease Data Collection.
Figure 3.6: Incidence of new RHD diagnoses among First Nations people, by state or territory, 2022
Chart: AIHW. Source: AIHW analysis of National Rheumatic Heart Disease Data Collection.
Figure 3.7: Incidence of new RHD diagnoses in Qld, WA, SA, and NT, by Indigenous status and year, 2015 to 2022
Chart: AIHW. Source: AIHW analysis of National Rheumatic Heart Disease Data Collection.