A lack of information about the epidemiology of heart disease and the treatment gaps for Indigenous people in Australia has prevented substantial heart disease survival improvements. This research project aims to describe the extent of and reasons for these inequities in order to improve CVD outcomes in Indigenous people.
Heart disease is recognised as a major public health issue in Indigenous people, and is a significant cause of hospitalisation for Indigenous people of both sexes. Over the last three decades there has been a marked improvement in survival from heart disease in the general Australian population due to advances in medical treatment, use of coronary artery revascularisation procedures (to unblock arteries in the heart) and provision of cardiac rehabilitation services.
However, preliminary evidence suggests that the rates of use and uptake of these services among Indigenous Australians is much less than would be expected for their high rates of heart disease. Furthermore, there is a lack of information about the epidemiology of heart disease and the treatment gaps for Indigenous people in Australia. This research project aims to describe the extent of and likely reasons for these inequities through quantitative and qualitative methods.
This project is funded by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia:
NHMRC - Project grant number 1031057 $950,800 2008-2010
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