Coronary heart disease (CHD) was involved in 1 in 5 deaths in 2022 when all the information on the medical death certificate was used, according to a new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) release that reveals what Australians are most likely to die from from.
What are Australians dying of? highlights the most common causes involved in the 191,000 recorded deaths in Australia in 2022. Uses all health conditions recorded on the death certificate to provide new information about the health conditions that cause and contribute to a person’s death, highlighting the interplay of multiple diseases and the role that everyone plays. Risk factors and psychosocial contexts involved in death are also explored.
“Understanding what Australians are dying from is complex and the answer can vary depending on how we assess the conditions involved,” AIHW spokeswoman Michelle Gourley said.
“Traditionally, statistics about how people die are based primarily on the initial or ‘underlying’ cause of death, but death certificates also contain other information that can be useful in understanding why the death occurred.”
“For example, while a person’s underlying cause of death may be coronary heart disease, the death certificate may also record the health condition that directly led to death, such as acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). Other conditions that significantly contributed to death such as hypertension, diabetes, alcohol use disorders, COVID-19 and other related factors may also be listed on the death certificate.”
The report shows that 4 out of 5 deaths involved more than one cause and nearly a quarter of deaths had 5 or more causes.
While CHD was the most common subjects cause of death for Australians in 2022 (responsible for 1 in 10 deaths), was involved in many more deaths (1 in 5) taking into account all the information included on death certificates. Dementia (18%), hypertension (12%), cerebrovascular disease and diabetes (both 11%) were other common conditions implicated in the deaths.
The most common conditions contributing Death usually reflected chronic diseases and health conditions associated with risk factors and included hypertension (8%), diabetes (7%) and CAD (6%). Substance use disorders such as alcohol (2.0%), tobacco (1.3%) and other drugs (1.6%) were more common conducive conditions for men, while dementia (7%) and musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoporosis (1.9%) and osteoarthritis (1.5%) were more common conducive conditions for women.
The most common direct Causes of death (those that ultimately end a person’s life) were lower respiratory infections (8%), cardiac/respiratory arrest (7%) and sepsis (6%).
What Australians die of varies significantly by age. For those aged 15 to 54, external causes such as suicide, road traffic injuries and poisoning were common subjects causes of death. Associated complications from these causes (eg, asphyxiation, toxic effect of substances and drugs) were commonly reflected direct causes of death. Substance use disorders, depressive disorders, and psychosocial factors (such as history of self-injury, intimate partner problems, and support system factors) feature prominently as common conditions contributing to deaths at these ages.
For those aged 55 and over, chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, dementia and cancer were common subjects causes of death. Direct Causes of death reflected complications of these chronic diseases (such as infections, cardiac arrest, and respiratory failure) and other conditions that occurred in the final stages of life (such as frailty). Diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and dementia were common conditions contributing in deaths at these older ages.
Using different ways of looking at causes of death can improve our understanding of the roles that different diseases and conditions play in a person’s health and death. This can lead to better awareness of the health conditions that have the greatest impact on the community and can assist health services and decision makers in developing strategies and interventions to reduce the impact of disease and promote better health. ».
Michelle Gourley, AIHW spokesperson
