Excess Deaths Associated with Rheumatic Heart Disease, Australia, 2013–2017

Abstract

During 2013–2017, the mortality rate ratio for rheumatic heart disease among Indigenous versus non-Indigenous persons in Australia was 15.9, reflecting health inequity. Using excess mortality methods, we found that deaths associated with rheumatic heart disease among Indigenous Australians were probably substantially under-counted, affecting accuracy of calculations based solely on Australian Bureau of Statistics data.