Age-Specific and Age-Standardised Prevalence of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Queensland (2021) Using Linked Data

Francia C, Fraser J, Justo R, Katzenellenbogen J, Stacey I, Johnston L. Heart Lung Circul. DOI 10.1016/j.hlc.2024.06.728

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), an acquired chronic heart-valve disease, and its precursor acute rheumatic fever (ARF), disproportionately affects Indigenous Australians. We estimated the RHD prevalence (2021) for Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of Queensland by sex, age group and region.

Methods: This Queensland population-based study used linked jurisdiction-wide hospital, emergency department, death and RHD registry data to identify a cohort of RHD (<55-years of age) alive at June 30th, 2021. We calculated age-specific and age-standardised prevalence for both <25-years and <55-years. Disease burden between population groups were compared using age-standardised prevalence ratios.