A review of literature, 2006 ( pdf - 438 KB) - ARCHI

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Macedonian Women’s Health Project Review of literature ___________________________________________________________________ Cause of death and hospitalisation According to data collected by SESAHS in the period 1997 to 2001, there were 55 deaths recorded among Macedonian-born women. It is likely that these figures underestimate the number of women of Macedonian background because, at the time of their birth, a separate Republic of Macedonia would not have existed and their country of birth may have been recorded as Yugoslavia, Serbia, Greece or Bulgaria. Although these numbers are too small to provide an accurate profile of mortality in this group, the leading causes of death among Macedonian-born women were similar to those in the general community with cancer (20 women) and diseases of the circulatory system (18 women) being the most common causes of death. In SESAHS data on hospitalisation in the same period, the largest proportion of inpatient episodes among Macedonian-speaking females related to diseases of the digestive system (18.9%) and childbirth and pregnancy (18.0%). Other common reasons for hospitalisation included illness related to neoplasm and the genitourinary, circulatory and nervous systems (See Figure 6). 70 Number of Macedonian women 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Digestive System Total Pregnancy/Childbirth/Puerperium Total Reason for hospitalisation Neoplasm Total Genitourinary System Total Circulatory System Total Nervous System and Sense Organs Total Figure 6: Main reasons for hospitalisation among Macedonian-speaking women SESAHS 1997–2001 (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001) - 13 -
Macedonian Women’s Health Project Review of literature ___________________________________________________________________ Use of other health services Figures from BreastScreen NSW for 2003 in the local government areas (LGAs) of Rockdale, Hurstville and Kogarah illustrate Macedonian women's low participation rates in mainstream health services. Macedonian women have the lowest participation rate for screening (40.3%) apart from Serbian women who are the least likely to attend breast screening (Figure 7). When compared with 2004 figures for all women in NSW (51.0%) and the combined South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra screening rates for all women (56.2%), breast screening rates among Macedonian women are quite low. Many Macedonian women may not be accessing breast and cervical screening services in Australia due to the fact that these services do not exist in Macedonia (Macedonian Australian Welfare Association 2004). Percentage of women screened for breast cancer 70% 65% 60% 55% 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% Arabic Chinese Croatian English Greek Italian Maltese Macedonian Portuguese Serbian Spanish Language spoken Figure 7: Breast screening participation rate of women aged 50-69 in the LGAs of Hurstville, Kogarah, and Rockdale (Source: BreastScreen NSW 2003) Although ethnicity is not documented in NSW cervical screening rates, a Victorian study has explored the factors associated with high cervical cancer rates among women from the former Federation of Yugoslavia (Fernbach 2000). Although the majority of women in the study were familiar with cervical screening, Macedonian women reported a much lower two yearly screening rate (56%) compared with that of other cultural groups (67%) and the general population (69%). This was coupled with a perception that most of their peers (75%) were well-screened. Compared to other women in the study, Macedonian women were more likely to believe that it is difficult to have Pap tests every two years. - 14 -
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A review of literature, 2006 ( pdf - 438 KB) - ARCHI

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