Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment (PI20 and PI21)

Indicators related to CVD risk assessment in the national Key Performance Indicators (nKPI) collection are:

  • the proportion of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the previous 24 months
  • the proportion of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had an absolute CVD risk recorded as high, moderate or low in the previous 24 months.

Why CVD risk assessment is important

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of disease and death in Australia. CVD includes a range of conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. The most common and serious types of CVD include coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure.

CVD is preventable in many cases, as a number of its risk factors are modifiable, such as overweight and obesity, tobacco smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, insufficient physical activity, poor nutrition and diabetes.

Absolute CVD risk assessment combines risk factors to calculate the probability that an individual will develop a cardiovascular event or other vascular disease within a specified time frame (usually 5 years) (RACGP 2018).

Indigenous Australians generally have CVD hospitalisation and death rates that are far higher than non-Indigenous Australians (AIHW 2020).

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment (PI20)

This indicator is the proportion of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the previous 24 months.

It is collected for males and females in age groups:

  • 35–44
  • 45–54
  • 55–64
  • 65–74.

At June 2020, 50% of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the previous 24 months.

CVD risk assessment, by reporting period

This Tableau visualisation shows the percentage of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the last 2 years by reporting period (June 2017, December 2017, June 2018, December 2018, June 2019, December 2019, June 2020).

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Data.

This was highest in:

  • Western Australia and the Northern Territory (both 56%)
  • Remote areas (61%)
  • Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) (52%).

It was lowest in:

  • Victoria/Tasmania (combined, 40%)
  • Inner regional areas (44%)
  • organisations other than Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (non-ACCHOs) (40%).

CVD risk assessment, by either state/territory, remoteness or organisation type, reporting period

Two Tableau visualisations are presented here. The first shows the percentage of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the last 2 years for either:

  • state/territory (NSW/ACT, Vic, Qld, WA, SA, Tas, NT, Australia)
  • remoteness area (Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, Very remote, Australia)
  • organisation type (ACCHO, non-ACCHO, Total).

Reporting periods of either June 2017, December 2017, June 2018, December 2018, June 2019, December 2019, or June 2020 can be selected.

The second visualisation shows the selected information from the first visualisation by sex (male, female) and age group (35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74).

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Data.

Cardiovascular disease risk assessment result (PI21)

This indicator is the proportion of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had an absolute CVD risk recorded in the previous 24 months as:

  • high—greater than 15% chance of a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years
  • medium—10–15% chance of a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years
  • low—less than 10% chance of a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years.

It is collected for males and females in age groups:

  • 35–44
  • 45–54
  • 55–64
  • 65–74.

At June 2020, 60% of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had an absolute CVD risk recorded in the previous 24 months had a low absolute CVD risk, 6% moderate, and 34% high.

CVD risk assessment result, by reporting period

This data visualisation shows the percentage of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the last 2 years by CVD risk assessment result (low, medium, high) and reporting period (June 2017, December 2017, June 2018, December 2018, June 2019, December 2019, June 2020).

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Data.

Having a low absolute CVD risk was highest in:

  • Victoria/Tasmania (combined, 71%)
  • Inner regional areas (67%).

It was lowest in:

  • Western Australia (56%)
  • Very remote areas (54%).

CVD risk assessment result, by either state/territory or remoteness, reporting period

Two data visualisations are presented here. The first shows the percentage of Indigenous regular clients aged 35–74 with no known history of CVD who had information available to calculate their absolute CVD risk in the last 2 years by CVD risk assessment result (low, medium, high) for either:

  • state/territory (NSW/ACT, Vic, Qld, WA, SA, Tas, NT, Australia)
  • remoteness area (Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, Very remote, Australia).

Reporting periods of either June 2017, December 2017, June 2018, December 2018, June 2019, December 2019, or June 2020 can be selected.

The second visualisation shows the selected information from the first visualisation by sex (male, female) and age group (35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74).

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Data.

References

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2020. Cardiovascular disease. Cat. no. CVD83. Canberra: AIHW.

RACGP (The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners) 2018. Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice. 9th edition, updated. East Melbourne, Vic: RACGP.