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released: 1 Sep 2009 media release

In 2003 asthma was the leading cause of burden of disease in Australian children, contributing 17.4% of total DALYs and the eleventh-leading contributor to the overall burden of disease in Australia, accounting for 2.4% of the total number of DALYs. Asthma also contributed a substantial proportion to the Indigenous health gap in the burden of non-communicable conditions. It is predicted that asthma will continue to rank as one of the major causes of disease burden in Australia for the next 2 decades, particularly among females.

ISSN 1448-7594; ISBN 978 1 74024 943 0; Cat. no. ACM 16; 36pp.; Out of print

Full Publication

Publication table of contents

  • Preliminary material
    • Title and verso pages
    • Contents
    • Acknowledgments
    • Summary
      • How is burden of disease measured?
      • What is the burden of asthma in Australia?
      • How can we use this information?
  • Body section
    1. Introduction
    2. Methods and data sources
      • 2.1 Quantifying the total burden of disease: disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
      • 2.2 Non-fatal burden: years lived with disability (YLD)
        • 2.2.1 Disability weights
        • 2.2.2 Prevalent years lived with disability (PYLD)
      • 2.3 Fatal burden: years of life lost due to premature death (YLL)
      • 2.4 Estimates of the burden of disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
    3. Results
      • 3.1 Leading causes of disease burden in Australia
      • 3.2 Disease burden due to asthma in Australia
        • 3.2.1 Comparison of the burden of asthma with other conditions
        • 3.2.2 Age and sex distribution of the burden of asthma
      • 3.3 The burden of asthma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
        • 3.3.1 Disparities in health between Indigenous Australians and the total Australian population-the Indigenous health gap
        • 3.3.2 Leading causes of disease burden in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
        • 3.3.3 Comparison of the burden of asthma with other conditions
        • 3.3.4 Age and sex distribution of the burden of asthma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
      • 3.4 Projections of the future burden of asthma
    4. Discussion
      • 4.1 Burden of asthma worldwide and in Australia
      • 4.2 Evaluation of the estimates
        • 4.2.1 Estimation of incident YLD
        • 4.2.2 Counting cases of asthma
        • 4.2.3 Indigenous data
        • 4.2.4 Diagnostic labelling
        • 4.2.5 Disability weights
        • 4.2.6 Co-morbid conditions
        • 4.2.7 What is not measured in burden of disease
      • 4.3 Conclusions
  • End matter
    • Glossary
    • References
    • List of figures
    • List of tables

Recommended citation

AIHW 2009. Burden of disease due to asthma in Australia 2003. Cat. no. ACM 16. Canberra: AIHW.