Rheumatic heart disease
The National Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) data collection includes information about diagnoses of RHD recorded in each jurisdiction (Table 5.1). It is important to note the following:
- The total number of RHD diagnoses recorded depends on each state and territory’s reporting practices, both historically and at present.
- The commencement year of each register varies, and RHD has become notifiable at different times in each jurisdiction.
- A person can have only one diagnosis of RHD, though they may be registered in more than one jurisdiction as they can receive care in different places. For the national data collection, each diagnosis was assigned to only one jurisdiction, based on location for primary health care at the time the data were submitted.
In New South Wales, RHD is notifiable only in those aged under 35 at the time of diagnosis, but it is notifiable for all ages for the other 4 jurisdictions. As New South Wales uses different inclusion criteria it is not comparable to the other 4 jurisdictions and so results for New South Wales are shown separately.