Tobacco Smoking-Attributable Burden of Disease in the Adult Northern Territory Population, 2014-18

Tobacco smoking is an important preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. Smoking rates are higher in the Northern Territory (NT) among Aboriginal peoples living in remote areas. Understanding smoking-attributable mortality and burden of disease in the NT population is important for building awareness and implementing targeted public health strategies.

To estimate the impact of tobacco smoking on mortality and morbidity in the NT Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations aged 30 years and above between 2014 and 2018.

NT, Australia.

Adults (> 30 years) who were NT residents.

We used the NT Burden of Disease study (2014-2018) results and Global Burden of Disease methods to estimate smoking-attributable deaths and smoking-attributable burden of disease for the NT Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations. The smoking prevalence data were based on 2018-19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heath Survey and 2016 National Drugs Strategy Household Survey.

Smoking was attributable to 18.3% of the total deaths for NT adults aged 30 years and above with 23.8% in Aboriginal and 13.9% in the non-Aboriginal population. Smoking explained 19.5% and 10.7% of total disability adjusted life years among the NT Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations respectively. The top three smoking-attributable burden of diseases for the Aboriginal population were ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In the non-Aboriginal population, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and back pain were the leading causes of smoking-attributable burden. Leading causes of smoking-related mortality in the Aboriginal population were ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and diabetes, while in non-Aboriginal population the most common causes were lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischaemic heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Tobacco smoking was associated with a higher burden of disease among the Aboriginal population than the non-Aboriginal population. Our study quantifies the disproportionate impact of tobacco smoking within the Aboriginal population and the NT as a whole compared to the rest of Australia.