Cerebrovascular Accident in Australia

Running head: Stroke 1
Cerebrovascular Accident in Australia
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Introduction
The cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is also called a stroke or brain attack. It is a severe
condition that is among the leading causes of death in Australia. It is a long-term disability that
mostly affects young adults in Australia. Cerebrovascular accident is the medical term that is
used for the stroke. When the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain are blocked suddenly,
the stroke condition is called an ischaemic stroke, and when the raptures of the vessels start
bleeding, it is called haemorrheagic stroke. It causes a sudden loss of sensation that may last for
more than 24 hours (Hsu et al., 2017, pp. 692-699). Most deaths that are reported in Australia
due to cerebrovascular illness is from a stroke. Current studies have shown that stroke has
increased cases of mortality and morbidity in younger adults in Australia. Nearly half of the
CVA related deaths are due to poor management of the variable factors which can be prevented.
There are societal barriers in the lower socio-economic groups, which increases the prevalence of
the disease into these vulnerable groups in Australia (Tănăsoiu & Albu, 2017, pp. 45-48).
The Prevalence, Mortality, and Burden of CVA in Australia
The CVA disease affects about 1.2% of Australian patients in sometimes of their lifetime. This
percentage corresponds to 217 500 people (Béjot et al., 2016, pp. 59-68). The different
communities of Australia are affected by the disease. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
persons are the more significant population in Australia known to be the indigenous population.
The preference of the disease in Australia was monitored through the reported case in the
hospital facilities. The prevalence of stroke cases in Australia is 1.7%, and the mortality rate is
around 6.8% (Giang et al., 2017, pp. 12(6)). About 378 aboriginal persons and 10285 non-
indigenous populations in Australia were identified and recorded having a stroke in a period of

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study of 5 years. Among these groups, 80% of each group managed to survive for 28 days only
(Katzenellenbogen et al., 2016, pp. 103-116).
At a restricted age of 15 to 64 years, the rate ration of the incidence was higher at males 4.6:
females 5.8 in terms of non-fatal incidences of the disease (Arnao et al., 2016, pp. 287-301).
Excess mortality rate and the survival duration increased for both the non-indigenous and the
indigenous population. According to the past, the mortality rate of CVA is higher in the
indigenous people than in the non-indigenous population between all ages (Middleton et al.,
2017, pp. 1331-1336).
The average survival of the people who developed stroke for the first time is 13 years
lower in the males and seven years lower in females among the indigenous population. In non-
indigenous, the survival age ranges from 15 to 24 years’ age groups. In 2005 there were around
100 cases of CVA every day in Australia. More than 60% of the cases of stroke in the non-
indigenous burden affected the people aged between 15 to 54 years as compared to those of the
non-indigenous population with 24% (Katzenellenbogen et al., 2016, pp. 103-116). The deaths
caused by the disease cause a socioeconomic barrier where many children and the young
population are left suffering after the loss of their breadwinners. The disease makes life very
difficult since the government has to spend a lot while dealing with the causes, treatment,
management measures, and harmful effects of the CVA disease (Béjot et al., 2016, pp. 59-68).
Characteristics of people with CVA in Australia
Socio-demographic characteristics
Heath related Disease

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Some of the risk factors of stroke can be controlled. These manageable factors include gender,
family history, and age. Other risk factors of stroke are related to lifestyles. These lifestyles
related factors that may increase chances of developing stroke include; diabetes, high blood
pressure, excessive drinking of alcohol, lack of regular exercise, cigarette smoking, high level of
blood cholesterol, obesity, a diet with high levels of fats and salt and low levels of fibre,
vegetables, and fruits (O'Donnell et al., 2016, pp. 761-775). The other significant risk factor is
atrial fibrillation that is experienced by people of older age (Andrew et al., 2016, pp. 2053-2062).
Disability levels
There are five disabilities that can occur due to stroke disease; paralysis, painful sensory
disturbance, challenges in understanding a particular language, thinking and memory disability,
and emotional distress. The type of disability caused by a stroke depends on the part of the brain
that is damaged. Paralysis occurs on one side of the body. The side of the body that is paralyzed
is usually opposite to the side of the brain that is affected. Sensory destruction includes the
deficits to feel pain, temperature, touch, or position. Most of the people living with CVA disease
experience language impairments such as inability to write, speak, or understand both written or
spoken language. Stroke survivors have deficits in short-term memory, attention, comprehension,
planning, and learning. Emotional disturbances experienced by CVA survivors include; fear,
frustrations, sadness, anxiety, and anger (Crichton et al., 2016, pp. 1091-1098).
Cost
In the year 2012, there were more than 420000 people who lived with CVA disease in
Australia, where two-thirds of them were unable to carry out their daily life activities due to
disability effects of stroke. The overall financial cost that the Australian government spent on