Causes of illness and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2011

The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare has published this Australian Burden of Disease Study which estimates the total, non-fatal and fatal burden of disease and injuries for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population for 2011 and 2003. It also provides estimates of the burden attributable to 29 risk factors, and estimates the gap in disease burden between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The report indicates that Indigenous Australians experience a burden of disease that is 2.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians and that two thirds of the burden is from chronic diseases.  Coronary heart disease, suicide and self-inflicted injuries, anxiety disorders, alcohol use disorders and diabetes were the leading specific diseases, together contributing 24% of the total burden and are also the main causes of the gap in disease burden.

The report indicates that around 37% of the burden of disease in Indigenous Australians was preventable by reducing exposure to the modifiable risk factors included in this study, notably tobacco and alcohol use, high body mass, physical inactivity, high blood pressure and high blood plasma glucose.

Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2011 Australian Burden of Disease Study series no. 6. Cat. no. BOD 7. Canberra: AIHW