A snapshot of rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is the most severe form of arthritis, affecting around 2% of Australians. Even though management of the condition has improved markedly in recent years, largely because of the availability of new medicines, people with rheumatoid arthritis are more likely than those without the condition to report severe pain, poor health status and psychological distress. The size of indirect costs associated with rheumatoid arthritis, such as productivity losses and the cost for carers, are currently unknown.
Geographic distribution of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospitalisations in Australia: 2007-08 to 2009-10
This report investigates how hospitalisation rates for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) vary across Australia. Maps in the report show higher hospitalisation rates for both asthma and COPD in inland and rural areas of Australia. Socioeconomic status, remoteness and the proportion of the population that identifies as Indigenous all have a significant association with the hospitalisation rates for asthma and COPD by area.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report: Western Australia
This report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Western Australia are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, while death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 1997, about half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and there has been no improvement in incidence rates of treated end-stage renal disease in recent years.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report: New South Wales
This report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in New South Wales are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 2001, but almost half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report: South Australia
This report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in South Australia are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing. For example, while death rates for Indigenous infants and Indigenous people of all ages have declined since 1991, more than half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report: Victoria
This report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing concern. For example, while health assessments have increased significantly and immunisation coverage for Indigenous children is similar to non-Indigenous children by the age of 2, the incidence of treated end-stage renal disease is 4 times the rate for non-Indigenous Australians and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report: Queensland
This report provides the latest information on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland are faring according to a range of indicators on health status, determinants of health and health system performance. Indicators are based on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework. The report highlights the main areas of improvement and continuing. For example, while death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases have declined since 2001, just over half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and there has been no improvement in incidence rates of treated end-stage renal disease in recent years.
Australian hospital statistics: national emergency access and elective surgery targets 2012
This report presents 2012 data for performance indicators related to emergency department lengths of stay of 4 hours or less and lengths of time spent waiting for elective surgery, specified in the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services (NPA-IPHS). The AIHW has provided data in this report to the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council for them to determine state and territory performance against agreed targets under the NPA-IPHS.
A snapshot of juvenile arthritis
This snapshot brings together the latest information on juvenile arthritis, a relatively uncommon condition affecting less than 1% of Australian children. Limited national statistics make it difficult to evaluate the full extent of the effects of this condition on the children and those who care for them. However, available data show that Australian Government subsidies for new classes of treatment medications have continually increased since their introduction in 2002-03 and hospitalisation rates for girls with juvenile arthritis have increased in the 10 years to 2009-10. The reasons for this latter increase are not yet clear.
Vaccination uptake among people with chronic respiratory disease
Research has shown that vaccinations against influenza and pneumococcal infection can benefit people with obstructive airways disease, which includes asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This report reviews the limited information available in Australia on how many people with asthma and COPD have the vaccination, and finds that the uptake rate is not as high as would be expected if recommendations were being followed.It presents a range of data improvement options that would enhance our ability to monitor vaccination uptake in this and other at-risk population groups.
Medications prescribed for people with obstructive airways disease: antibiotics and inhaled corticosteroids
Appropriate use of medications is important in maximising health benefits for patients, minimising the negative effects of medications, and controlling health costs. This report focuses on the appropriate use of certain medications for the management of obstructive airways disease, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Data in this report suggest that antibiotics are commonly used among patients with asthma and COPD, and that supply patterns for inhaled corticosteroids are often not consistent with treatment guidelines for the management of these conditions.
Food for thought: what do short questions on food habits tell us about dietary intakes?
Short questions on food habits, such as 'How many serves of fruit do you usually eat each day?' are often used to assess dietary behaviours. This report presents analysis of the 2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey to assess how well responses to short questions compare with more comprehensive tools, such as keeping a diary of all food eaten over two 24-hour periods. Results show that short questions may be a reasonable proxy for type of milk usually consumed and a reasonable approximation of fruit and vegetable intake, but are of limited value for predicting sodium or iodine intakes.
Mental health services in brief 2012
Mental health services in Australia - in brief 2012 provides an overview of the national response to the mental health needs of Australians. It includes information on mental health service provision, available mental health resources and the changes that have occurred in these over time. The publication compliments the more comprehensive data that is available online at Mental health services in Australia http://mhsa.aihw.gov.au.
Risk factor trends: age patterns in key health risk factors over time
This report presents comparisons over time for different age groups for key health risk factors, including overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The good news is that smoking rates have declined, particularly among younger people. However, overweight/obesity rates have increased for virtually all age groups, especially females aged 12 to 44.
Social distribution of health risks and health outcomes: preliminary analysis of the National Health Survey 2007-08
Where people are born, grow, live, work and age affects their health status. This paper explores the association between selected social and health risk factors on Australians' health. It shows that people with higher household incomes and higher education qualifications are more likely to report better health and less likely to report smoking, and people living outside major cities are more likely to report being an unhealthy weight.
Multiple causes of death in Australia: an analysis of all natural and selected chronic disease causes of death 1997-2007
Multiple causes of death data are useful for describing the role of all diseases involved in deaths. This bulletin is the first comprehensive application of multiple causes of death statistics to natural causes of death and specific chronic diseases of public health importance in Australia. It may be useful for guiding and improving policy for reducing deaths from these chronic diseases and for targeting future investment in health prevention. When describing patterns of causes of death using only the underlying cause, important cause information is overlooked. Analyses using multiple cause data complement routine descriptions of mortality that use only the underlying cause and offer broader insight into the disease processes occurring at the end of life.
Dialysis and kidney transplantation in Australia: 1991-2010
End-stage kidney disease is a serious and costly health problem in Australia that usually requires kidney replacement therapy (dialysis or kidney transplantation) for patients to survive. At the end of 2009 there were more than 18,000 people receiving kidney replacement therapy. The majority received dialysis treatment, which accounted for more than 1.1 million hospitalisations in the 2009-10 financial year. During 2009 more than 2,300 patients started kidney replacement therapy and 772 kidney transplant operations were performed.
The health of Australia's males: a focus on five population groups
This report is the second in a series on the health of Australia's males. It examines the distinct health profiles of five population groups, characterised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, remoteness, socioeconomic disadvantage, region of birth, and age. Findings include: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males generally experience poorer health than the overall population, with higher rates of chronic diseases such as lung cancer, diabetes and kidney disease; Socioeconomic disadvantage is frequently related to poorer health status among males, with rates of rates of obesity and tobacco smoking higher among males from more disadvantaged areas.
A working guide to international comparisons of health
Comparisons of health between countries are popular and useful, and often attract media attention. This guide highlights the types of questions to ask before comparing countries and when presenting health data in an international context.
Risk factors contributing to chronic disease
Chronic diseases are responsible for a large portion of the disease burden in Australia, and many are highly preventable by reducing known risk factors. This report shows that:Most people have at least one risk factor and more than 90% do not consume enough vegetables.Social disadvantage is associated with risky health behaviours.Nearly 60%of Australians do not undertake sufficient levels of physical activity, and many of us (almost 80%) usually spend 3 or more hours sitting during our leisure time.
Comorbidity of mental disorders and physical conditions 2007
This report investigates the prevalence of mental illness in association with common chronic diseases and shows that in 2007: 12% of Australians aged 16-85 had a mental disorder and a physical condition at the same time; the most common comorbidity was anxiety disorder combined with a physical condition, affecting around 1.4 million (9%) Australian adults; people living in the most disadvantaged areas of Australia were 65% more likely to have comorbidity than those living in the least disadvantaged areas.
2010 Australian national infant feeding survey: indicator results
The 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey is the first specialised national survey of infant feeding practices in Australia. The survey also collected information on attitudes towards, and enablers for and barriers against breastfeeding.This report provides baseline data on key infant feeding indicators, including:most babies (96%) were initially breastfed, but only 39% were exclusively breastfed for less than 4 months, and 15% for less than 6 months;overall 35% of infants were introduced to solid foods by 4 months of age and 92% by the recommended age of 6 months;around 7% of infants drank cow's milk by 6 months, with most not starting until the recommended age of 12 months.
Australian hospital statistics 2010-2011: emergency department care and elective surgery waiting times
'Australian hospital statistics 2010-11: emergency department care and elective surgery waiting times' presents information relating to emergency department care in major public hospitals and public hospital elective surgery waiting times for the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011. In 2010-11: over 6.2 million emergency department presentations were provided by major public hospitals, with 70% of patients receiving treatment within an appropriate time for their urgency (triage category); about 621,000 patients were admitted to Australian public hospitals from waiting lists for elective surgery, with 50% of patients admitted within 36 days. Data on emergency department waiting times for the ACT have been corrected and resupplied to the AIHW for the period 2008–09 to 2010–11. Chapter 2 tables have been revised to reflect these correction and are available in the Excel tables that accompany this report.
Australian hospital statistics 2010-2011: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in Australian public hospitals
In 2010-11: all states and territories had rates of hospital-associated SAB below the national benchmark with rates ranging from 0.9 to 1.4 cases per 10, 000 patient days; there were 1,873 cases of hospital-associated SAB reported for Australia. The reported SAB cases occurred during approximately 17 million days of patient care.
Allergic rhinitis ('hay fever') in Australia
Hay fever is a term commonly used to refer to allergic rhinitis caused by seasonal exposure to pollen. Allergic rhinitis can cause significant irritation and interference in a sufferer's daily activities, considerably reducing their quality of life. It is one of the most common chronic respiratory conditions in Australia, affecting around 15% of Australians or 3.1 million people. The amount of money paid by community pharmacies to wholesalers for medications commonly used to treat allergic rhinitis doubled between 2001 ($107.8 million) and 2010 ($226.8 million).