Summary

Linked hospitalisation and mortality data from Western Australia were used to calculate the prevalence of coronary heart disease. Use of this linked data allows individuals to be followed over time, giving a more accurate estimate of prevalence, as individuals with multiple hospitalisations are only counted once and people who have died are excluded. This measure of prevalence has the advantage of being based on clinical diagnoses rather than self reported information, but it might miss less severe cases that do not result in hospitalisation.

While the data presented here for Western Australia only may not be nationally representative, it may inform how coronary heart disease could be monitored in other jurisdictions using linked data.