Transient ischaemic attack
Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a condition related to stroke. It is a temporary blockage of the blood supply to the brain, often lasting only a few minutes, and producing stroke-like symptoms that disappear within a short time.
Unlike stroke, there is no permanent damage to the brain, with no remaining symptoms, and no evidence of damage on brain imaging. TIA is, however, an important predictor of stroke—after a TIA, the risk of stroke is much higher (Stroke Foundation 2021).
- In 2018–19 there were 18,300 presentations to public hospital emergency departments with a principal diagnosis of TIA—two-thirds (12,400 or 68%) were subsequently admitted to hospital.
- There were 16,400 admissions to hospital with a principal diagnosis of TIA—a rate of 65 per 100,000 population. Male rates were higher than female rates (age-standardised rates of 59 and 49 per 100,000 population).
- Around 6.4% (1,040) of TIA admissions had an additional diagnosis of atrial fibrillation.
One quarter (4,050 or 25%) of TIA admissions were on a same-day basis. The average length of stay in hospital for all TIA admissions was 2.9 days.
Hospitalisations
There were around 67,700 hospitalisations where stroke was recorded as the principal diagnosis in 2018–19.
This represents 0.6% of all hospitalisations, and 11% of all cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalisations in Australia.
Of these, 39,600 (58%) required acute care, and 28,100 (42%) were for rehabilitation and other types of care.
Age and sex
In 2018–19, where stroke was recorded as the principal diagnosis, hospitalisation rates:
- were 1.5 times higher for males than females (age-standardised rates of 269 and 183 hospitalisations per 100,000 population)
- increased with age, with rates for males and females highest in those aged 85 and over (2,900 and 2,600 per 100,000 population)―around 1.5 times as high as males aged 75–84 (1,900 per 100,000) and 1.9 times as high as females aged 75–84 (1,300 per 100,000) (Figure 5)
- close to half (49%) of all stroke hospitalisations occurred among persons aged 75 and over.