Health and economic implications of heart disease inequity in Australia

Description

Health economic modelling led by Monash University has projected that over the next 10 years Australia’s most socioeconomically disadvantaged will have a 32 per cent higher chance of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and stroke, compared with the least disadvantaged.

 

The research, led by health economist Associate Professor Zanfina Ademi and PhD student Clara Marquina, projected that the acute healthcare costs of these cardiovascular events amongst the most disadvantaged will translate to AU$183 million, with the projected productivity costs equating to AU$959 million.

 

The researchers used the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE) from Australian-specific data to project new-onset cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related health economic outcomes by socioeconomic quintile in Australians aged 40 – 79 years from 2021 to 2030. 

 

The aim of the study was to generate data on the economic implications of CVD by socioeconomic status and, therefore, inform structural interventions to address known risk factors and reduce the possibility of cardiovascular disease amongst Australia’s most vulnerable population.

 

CVD remains the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The cost to Australian lives and the economy is substantial, accounting for 26 percent of deaths in 2018 and 9 percent of total government healthcare expenditure in 2015 – 2016. Common risk factors include smoking, elevated cholesterol, higher blood pressure, alcohol consumption and diet. 

 

Corresponding author Associate Professor Ademi from Monash’s Centre for Medicine Use and Safety said the results highlight the pressing need to implement primary prevention interventions to reduce cardiovascular health inequity. 

 

“The magnitude of difference between socioeconomic groups highlights the societal burden of inequity in healthcare outcomes, and the urgent need to implement structural prevention strategies targeted at disadvantaged groups that will in turn provide net economic benefit.” 

 

“Immediate policies are needed to reduce the burden of health inequity in Australia. This model provides a platform to incorporate socioeconomic status into health economic models by estimating which interventions are likely to yield more benefits in each socioeconomic quintile.”

 

“The persistence of health inequities is pervasive, even in countries with universal healthcare coverage. In Australia, despite the theoretical universality of the healthcare system and interventions targeting individual risk factors such as smoking, the equity gap remains.”

 

The study was led by a team of Melbourne-based researchers from Monash University and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. 

 

To read the full paper visit PharmacoEconomics, and visit Monash Lens to read about more recent research from Associate Professor Ademi.