Notes on the data: Premature mortality by selected cause - 0 to 74 years

Deaths from cerebrovascular diseases, persons aged 0 to 74 years, 2017 to 2021

Policy context: Cerebrovascular diseases include any disorder of the blood vessels which supply the brain and its covering membranes. Most cases of cerebrovascular death are due to stroke. Stroke occurs when a blood vessel to the brain is suddenly blocked (ischaemic stroke) or bleeds (haemorrhagic stroke) [1]. This may cause the part of the brain which was supplied by that vessel to be damaged or to die, leading to a loss of brain function and/or difficulty in movement, thinking and communication. Ischaemic strokes are more common but haemorrhagic strokes have a higher fatality rate [1]. Strokes can also be temporary, where symptoms disappear within 24 hours (transient ischaemic attacks).

In 2018, an estimated 387,000 people - 214,000 and 173,000 females - had had a stroke at some time in their lives, based on self-reported data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers [2].

For 2017 to 2021, 18.5% of deaths from cerebrovascular diseases were premature, although with a higher proportion for males (24.9%) than females (13.9%) – these and other details are available here.

References

Australia Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Australia's health 2010. (AIHW Cat. no. AUS 122). Canberra: AIHW; 2010.
Australia Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Stroke. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/stroke; last accessed 21 March 2022.

Notes: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes: I60-I69

For detailed data released since 2007, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (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 are designated preliminary, the second latest as revised and the data for the remaining years as 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.

Data published here are from the following releases: 2017, final; 2018, revised; and 2019, 2020,and 2021 preliminary.

Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Deaths from cerebrovascular diseases at ages 0 to 74 years

Denominator: Population aged 0 to 74 years

Detail of analysis: Average annual indirectly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population (aged 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 2017 to 2021 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. The population is the average of the ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP) for Australia, 30 June 2017 to 30 June 2021.