Overview

Heart, stroke and vascular diseases include a range of conditions that affect the heart or blood vessels. These conditions are commonly grouped under the broader term of cardiovascular disease, or CVD. The most common and serious types of CVD include coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. CVD remains a major health problem in Australia, despite declining mortality and hospitalisation rates. An estimated 4.2 million people were living with CVD in 2014–15, and it generally has a greater impact on males, the elderly, Indigenous Australians and people living in remote and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.

More reports and statistics relating to heart, stroke & vascular diseases can be found under Chronic disease, Chronic kidney disease and Diabetes.

Latest findings

Almost 1 in 3 deaths were due to CVD in 2015 (29% deaths as the underlying cause of death) Indigenous Australians had CVD hospitalisation and death rates at twice the rate of non-Indigenous Australians There were over 1.1 million hospitalisations for CVD in 2015-16 (11% of all hospitalisations)

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Highlights

1 in 5Australian adults (22%)—about 4.2 million people—had CVD in 2014–15, based on self-reported data
Indigenous Australianshave CVD hospitalisation and death rates that are twice as high as non-Indigenous Australians
Remote and very remoteareas have CVD hospitalisation and death rates that are 30% higher rate than Major cities
29%of Australian deaths in 2014 had CVD as the underlying cause of death—45,000 deaths
1.1 millionhospitalisations were associated with CVD (principal and/or additional diagnosis) in 2014–15—11% of all hospitalisations in Australia
The lowest socioeconomicgroup has CVD hospitalisation and death rates that are 43% higher than the highest socioeconomic group