Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 9—Health 343
9.20 PATIENTS IN PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTIONS AND HOSPITALS—1906 to 1996
Rate(a)
4
3
2
Administrative data(b)
Census data(c)
1906 1916 1926 1936 1946 1956 1966 1976 1986 1996
(a) Crude rate per 1,000 population. (b) Counts of patients in Psychiatric Institutional Registers.
(c) Counts of people resident in psychiatric institutions on Census night.
Source: Data for 1906 to 1971 from Psychiatric Institutional Registers in various editions of
Year Book Australia; Population Census data for 1971 to 1976.
1
0
Asthma
Australia has one of the highest rates of asthma
prevalence, morbidity and mortality in the world
(AIHW 2000). The 1995 National Health Survey
estimated that 11% of Australians (2.04 million
people) had asthma, generally as a long-term
condition. This represents an increase from the
prevalence in 1989–90 National Health Survey,
which estimated that 8.5% of Australians had
the condition.
The management of asthma is an important
public health issue because of the personal
burden it places on its sufferers and the financial
burden it places on the health system. In 1996,
asthma was responsible for 2.6% of the total
burden of disease in Australia (AIHW 1999).
Asthma became the sixth National Health Priority
area in 1999.
As illustrated in graph 9.21, asthma is particularly
prevalent in children. The International Study of
Asthma and Allergy in Childhood reported an
estimated prevalence rate of approximately
25% in 6–7 year old Australian children and
29% in 13–14 year olds (ISAAC Steering
Committee 1998). The 1995 National Health
Survey found that the prevalence of asthma was
most common in those aged less than 25 years,
peaking in the 5–14 years age group (19%).
People with asthma reported worse general
health and wellbeing than people without
asthma. Furthermore, asthma can cause
significant disability. The 1998 Survey of
Disability, Ageing and Carers estimated that over
171,000 people experienced disability associated
with their asthma, resulting in restriction of daily
living activities such as attendance at work or
school.
In the 1995 National Health Survey, around
90% of those with asthma reported taking a
health-related action recently, in particular using
medications (81%) and consulting a doctor
(31%).
According to the Bettering the Evaluation and
Care of Health (BEACH) survey, asthma is the
sixth most frequently managed problem by
general practitioners, accounting for 32 of every
1,000 encounters (AIHW General Practice
Statistics and Classification Unit 1999). Asthma is
also one of the top five reasons for doctors
referring patients to hospital. During 1997–98
asthma was the principal diagnosis in 60,280
hospital separations (1.1% of all hospital
separations), with an average stay of 3.5 days.
There were 251,470 or 4.5% of hospital
separations if both principal and additional
diagnoses are included.
Mortality
Asthma accounted for 0.5% of deaths in Australia
in 1998, when 278 males and 407 females died
from the disease. As graph 9.22 shows, between
1989 and 1998 the standardised death rates due
to asthma declined for males (from 5.9 to 3.1 per
100,000) and females (from 5.8 to 3.5 per
100,000). In 1998 death rates were highest for
those aged 65 years and over for both males and
females.