Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates of hypertension in the general population of Australia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

A recent call-to-action highlighted that Australia is lagging behind high-income countries regarding hypertension control rates. We performed a systematic literature search of reports on prevalence, awareness, treatment and control rates since 2010. We also undertook an individual participant data meta-analysis of six population-based studies in the general population from 1980 to 2018 to understand the size of the problem and trajectories over time.

Experiences of a National Web-Based Heart Age Calculator for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: User Characteristics, Heart Age Results, and Behavior Change Survey.

Background: Heart age calculators are used worldwide to engage the public in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. Experimental studies with small samples have found mixed effects of these tools, and previous reports of population samples that used web-based heart age tools have not evaluated psychological and behavioral outcomes.

Objective: This study aims to report on national users of the Australian heart age calculator and the follow-up of a sample of users.

Tobacco smoking and risk of 36 cardiovascular disease subtypes: fatal and non-fatal outcomes in a large prospective Australian study.

Background: Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Evidence on the relation of smoking to different subtypes of CVD, across fatal and non-fatal outcomes, is limited.

Methods: A prospective study of 188,167 CVD- and cancer-free individuals aged ≥ 45 years from the Australian general population joining the 45 and Up Study from 2006 to 2009, with linked questionnaire, hospitalisation and death data up to the end of 2015.

Impact of Reducing Pre-Hospital Delay in Response to Heart Attack Symptoms in Australia.

Background: This research estimates the broader socioeconomic impacts of reducing pre-hospital delay times across Australia in patients with heart attack symptoms.

Methods: A cost benefit analysis (CBA) was undertaken to demonstrate the costs and benefits of a public awareness/education campaign to reduce pre-hospital delay time from 5.2hours (Base Case) to 4.

Exploring Motivation and Barriers to Physical Activity among Active and Inactive Australian Adults.

Physical inactivity is a major global public health issue associated with a range of chronic disease outcomes. As such, the underlying motivation and barriers to whether or not an individual engages in physical activity is of critical public health importance. This study examines the National Heart Foundation of Australia Heart Week Survey conducted in March 2015.