Notes on the data: Aboriginal premature mortality by selected cause

Deaths from cirrhosis and other diseases of the liver, Aboriginal people 0 to 74 years, 2018 to 2022

Policy context: Cirrhosis means scarring of the liver which is a result of long-term liver damage [1]. Cirrhosis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in people with chronic liver disease world-wide [2]. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a substantially higher prevalence of liver disease than non-Indigenous Australians, with cirrhosis and its complications being the sixth leading cause of mortality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in 2020 [3]. Among chronic diseases, liver disease accounts for 11% of the mortality gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people [3].

The data show that, for the period 2018 to 2022, almost all deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from digestive system diseases – deaths from cirrhosis and other diseases of the liver – were premature, with 95.1% before 75 years of age, 82.3% before 65 years and 52.8% before 55 years – details here. This was higher than the proportion for the total population at ages 0 to 74 years (95.1% c.f. 74.5%).

References

Liver foundation. Cirrhosis. Available from: https://liver.org.au/your-liver/liver-diseases/cirrhosis/#:~:text=It is estimated that cirrhosis affects at least 1 in 200 Australians. Last accessed: 3 September 2024.
Huang, D.Q., Terrault, N.A., Tacke, F. et al. Global epidemiology of cirrhosis — aetiology, trends and predictions. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 20, 388–398 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-023-00759-2.
Tashkent, Yasmina; Olynyk, John K.; and Wigg, Alan J. (2022) "Liver Disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People," Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet: Vol. 3 : Iss. 4 , Article 5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14221/aihjournal.v3n4.5.

Notes: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes: K70-K76

Deaths data

For deaths data released since 2007, the ABS has applied a staged approach to the coding of cause of death which affects the number of records available for release at any date. In general, the latest year’s data is preliminary, the second latest is revised and the data for the remaining years is final. For further information about the ABS revisions process see the following and related sites: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3303.0Explanatory+Notes12012.

However, data published here are from the following releases: 2018, 2019 and 2020 final; and 2021 and 2022 preliminary.

Data quality

Almost all deaths in Australia are registered. However, Indigenous status is not always recorded, or recorded correctly. The incompleteness of Indigenous identification (referred to as completeness of coverage) means that the number of deaths registered as Indigenous is an underestimate of the actual number of deaths which occur in the Indigenous population. It should also be noted that completeness of coverage is likely to vary between geographical areas.

While there is incomplete coverage of Indigenous deaths in all state and territory registration systems, some jurisdictions have been assessed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as having a sufficient level of coverage to enable statistics on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mortality to be produced. Those jurisdictions are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Geography: Data available by Indigenous Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic outcomes (based on IRSEO) and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Aboriginal deaths from cirrhosis and other diseases of the liver at ages 0 to 74 years

Denominator: Aboriginal population aged 0 to 74 years

Detail of analysis: Average annual indirectly age-standardised rate per 100,000 Aboriginal population (aged 0 to 64 and 0 to 74 years); and/or indirectly age-standardised ratio, based on the Australian standard

Source: Data compiled by PHIDU from deaths data based on the 2018 to 2022 Cause of Death Unit Record Files supplied by the Australian Coordinating Registry and the Victorian Department of Justice, on behalf of the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the National Coronial Information System. ABS estimated resident population (produced as a consultancy for PHIDU), 30 June 2021