Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Population Health Metrics
Published in: Population Health Metrics 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Research

Mortality in an Aboriginal Medical Service (Redfern) cohort

Authors: Stephen Morrell, Bronwen Phillips, Richard Taylor, John Daniels, Kate Burgess, Naomi Mayers

Published in: Population Health Metrics | Issue 1/2013

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Published estimates of Aboriginal mortality and life expectancy (LE) for the eastern Australian states are derived from demographic modelling techniques to estimate the population and extent of under-recording of Aboriginality in death registration. No reliable empirical information on Aboriginal mortality and LE exists for New South Wales (NSW), the most populous Australian state in which 29% of Aboriginal people reside.
This paper estimates mortality and LE in a large, mainly metropolitan cohort of Aboriginal clients from the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) Redfern, Sydney, NSW.

Methods

Identifying information from patient records accrued by the AMS Redfern since 1980 of definitely Aboriginal clients, without distinction between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (n=24,035), was extracted and linked to the National Death Index (NDI) at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Age-specific mortality rates and LEs for each sex were estimated using the AMS patient population as the denominator, discounted for deaths. Directly age-standardised mortality and LEs were estimated for 1995–1999, 2000–2004 and 2005–2009, along with 95% confidence intervals. Comparisons were made with other estimates of Aboriginal mortality and LE and with the total Australian population.

Results

Mortality declined in the AMS Redfern cohort over 1995–2009, and the decline occurred mostly in the ≤44 year age range. Male LE at birth was estimated to be 64.4 years (95%CI:62.6-66.1) in 1995–1999, 65.6 years (95%CI:64.1-67.1) in 2000–2004, and 67.6 years (95%CI:65.9-69.2) for 2005–2009. In females, these LE estimates were 69.6 (95%CI:68.0-71.2), 71.1 (95%CI:69.9-72.4), and 71.4 (95%CI:70.0-72.8) years. LE in the AMS cohort was 11 years lower for males and 12 years lower for females than corresponding all-Australia LEs for the same periods. These were similar to estimates for Australian Aboriginal people overall for the same period by the Aboriginal Burden of Disease for 2009, using the General Growth Balance (GGB) model approach, and by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for 2005–2007. LE in the AMS cohort was somewhat lower than these estimates for NSW Aboriginal people, and higher than ABS 2005–2007 estimates for Aboriginal people from Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.

Conclusions

The AMS Redfern cohort has provided the first empirically based estimates of mortality and LE trends in a large sample of Aboriginal people from NSW.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Moodie P: Mortality and morbidity in Australian aboriginal children. Med J Aust 1969,1(4):180-185.PubMed
2.
Read A, Stanley F: Postneonatal mortality in Western Australia 1970–1978. Aust Paediatr J 1983,19(1):18-22.PubMed
3.
Coory M: An investigation into the disparity between Australian aboriginal and Caucasian perinatal mortality rates. Ann Epidemiol 1995,5(5):393-399. 10.1016/1047-2797(95)00037-8CrossRefPubMed
4.
Freemantle C, Read A, de Klerk N, McAullay D, Anderson I, Stanley F: Patterns, trends, and increasing disparities in mortality for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants born in Western Australia, 1980–2001: population database study. Lancet 2006,367(9524):1758-1766. 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68771-0CrossRefPubMed
5.
McCredie J: Aboriginal children are still twice as likely to die as other young Australians. BMJ 2008, 337: a1852. 10.1136/bmj.a1852CrossRefPubMed
6.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Experimental estimates and projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 1991–2021. Canberra: Cat. No. 3238.0. ABS; 2009.
7.
Brown A: Bridging the survival gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: priorities for the road ahead. Heart Lung Circ 2009,18(2):96-100. 10.1016/j.hlc.2009.01.005CrossRefPubMed
8.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Canberra: Cat No. 4713.0. ABS; 2010.
9.
Short M: (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) Personal communication. : ; 2009.
10.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Australian Demographic Statistics. Canberra: Cat No. 3101.1. ABS; 2003.
11.
Chiang C: Life Table and Mortality Analysis. Geneva: World Health Organisation; 1978.
12.
Armitage P, Berry G: Statistical Methods in Medical Research. 3rd edition. Oxford, Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications; 1994.
13.
Dobson A, Kuulasmaa K, Eberle E, Scherer J: Confidence intervals for weighted sums of Poisson parameters. Stat Med 1991,10(3):457-462. 10.1002/sim.4780100317CrossRefPubMed
14.
Vos T, Barker B, Stanley L, Lopez A: The burden of disease and injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2003. Brisbane: School of Population Health, The University of Queensland; 2007.
15.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Experimental Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2005–2007. ABS cat. no. 3302.0.55.003: Australian Bureau of Statistics; 2009.
16.
Population Health Division, NSW Health: The health of the people of New South Wales - Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health; 2009.
17.
Wilson T, Condon J, Barnes T: Northern Territory Indigenous life expectancy improvements, 1967–2004. Aust N Z J Public Health 2007,31(2):184-188. 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2007.00039.xCrossRefPubMed
18.
Gracey M, Williams P, Smith P: Aboriginal deaths in Western Australia: 1985–89 and 1990–94. Aust N Z J Public Health 2000,24(2):145-152. 10.1111/j.1467-842X.2000.tb00134.xCrossRefPubMed
19.
Mathers C: Mortality patterns of urban, rural and remote populations in northern Australia. People Place 1995,3(2):15-24.PubMed
20.
Rowley K, O’Dea K, Anderson I, McDermott R, Saraswati K, Tilmouth R, Roberts I, Fitz J, Wang Z, Jenkins A, Best J, Wang Z, Brown A: Lower than expected morbidity and mortality for an Australian Aboriginal population: 10-year follow-up in a decentralised community. Med J Aust 2008,188(5):283-287.PubMed
21.
Trigger D, Anderson C, Lincoln R, Matis C: Mortality rates in 14 Queensland Aboriginal reserve communities. Association with 10 socioenvironmental variables. Med J Aust 1983,1(8):361-365.PubMed
22.
Thomson N, Smith L: An analysis of aboriginal mortality in NSW country regions, 1980–1981. Med J Aust 1985,143(9 Suppl):S49-S54.PubMed
23.
Preston S, Hill K: Estimating the Completeness of Death Registration. Popul Stud 1980, 34: 349-366.CrossRef
24.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Health and Welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. ABS Catalogue No. 4704.0. ABS, AIHW; 2008.
25.
Bhat PM: General Growth Balance Method: a Reformulation for Populations Open to Migration. Popul Stud 2002, 56: 23-34. 10.1080/00324720213798CrossRef
26.
Hill K: Estimating census and death registration completeness. Asian and Pacific Population Forum 1987,1(3):8-13. 23–4PubMed
27.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Discussion Paper: Assessment of Methods for Developing Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Australia 2006. Canberra: ABS Catalogue No. 3302.0.55.002. ABS; 2008.
28.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Calculating Experimental Life Tables for Use in Population Estimates and Projections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 1991 to 2001. Canberra: Demography Working Paper, No: 2004/3, Cat. No. 3106.0.55.003. ABS; 2004.
29.
Hill K, Barker B, Vos T: Excess Indigenous mortality: are Indigenous Australians more severely disadvantaged than other Indigenous populations? Int J Epidemiol 2007,36(3):580-589. 10.1093/ije/dym011CrossRefPubMed
30.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Information paper: Census data enhancement Indigenous mortality quality study. Canberra: Cat. No. 4723.0. ABS; 2008.
31.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW): Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2008 report, detailed analyses. Canberra: Cat. No. IHW 22. AIHW; 2008.
32.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW): Life expectancy and mortality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Canberra: Cat. No. IHW 51. AIHW; 2011.
Metadata
Title
Mortality in an Aboriginal Medical Service (Redfern) cohort
Authors
Stephen Morrell
Bronwen Phillips
Richard Taylor
John Daniels
Kate Burgess
Naomi Mayers
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Population Health Metrics / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1478-7954
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-7954-11-2

Other articles of this Issue 1/2013

Population Health Metrics 1/2013 Go to the issue

Research

Descriptive epidemiology of chronic liver disease in northeastern Italy: an analysis of multiple causes of death

Research

Prevalence of physical activity and obesity in US counties, 2001–2011: a road map for action

Research

Comparing life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy by body mass index category in adult Canadians: a descriptive study

Review

Global epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease

Research

Developing the design of a continuous national health survey for New Zealand

Research

Decomposing Indigenous life expectancy gap by risk factors: a life table analysis