Cardiovascular disease in women – a snapshot of national statistics

Hospitalisation rates rising for younger women

In 2015–16, there were 208,000 hospitalisations for females with CVD as the principal diagnosis – equivalent to 3.7% of all hospitalisations for females.

Of these:

• 22% had a principal diagnosis of coronary heart disease
• 14% had a principal diagnosis of heart failure
• 8.2% had a principal diagnosis of cardiomyopathy. 0 20 40 60 802001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 Year 45–54 35–44 25–34 <25 0 1,000 2,000 3,0002001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 Year 85+ 75–84 65–74 55–64 Stroke events per 100,000 Stroke events per 100,000 4,000

Cardiovascular disease in Australian women – a snapshot o f national statistics

Between 2006–07 and 2015–16, the total CVD hospitalisation rate for females fell by 5.3%, from 1,490 to 1,420 per 100,000.

But rates rose among younger women – by 11% for women aged 25–34, and by 4.7% for women aged 35–44 (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Cardiovascular disease hospitalisations among women, by age group, 2006–07 to 2015–2016

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

Between 2006–07 and 2015–16, the rates of female hospitalisations:

• for coronary heart disease fell for those aged 25 and over
• for stroke fell for women aged 65 and over, and remained steady for women aged 25–64
• for heart failure and cardiomyopathy rates rose by 41% for women aged 45–54 and by 18% for women aged 55–64.