Lower than expected morbidity and mortality for an Australian Aboriginal population: 10-year follow-up in a decentralised community

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine mortality from all causes and from cardiovascular disease (CVD), and CVD hospitalisation rate for a decentralised Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: For a community-based cohort of 296 people aged 15 years or older screened in 1995, we reviewed hospital and primary health care records and death certificates for the period up to December 2004 (2800 person-years of follow-up). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality from all causes and CVD, and hospitalisation with CVD coded as a primary cause of admission; comparison with prior trends (1988 to 1995) in CVD risk factor prevalence for the community, and with NT-specific Indigenous mortality a..