National asthma indicators
Page highlights
How common is asthma?
Around 2.8 million (11%) people in Australia were estimated to be living with asthma in 2022.
Impact of asthma
Asthma was the underlying cause of death for 467 deaths or 1.8 deaths per 100,000 population in 2022, representing 0.2% of all deaths.
Overview
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. People with asthma experience episodes of wheezing, breathlessness and chest tightness due to widespread narrowing of the airways.
The 10 National asthma indicators were published in the National Asthma Strategy 2018 (Strategy) by the National Asthma Council (NACA 2018). The Strategy aims to reduce the health, social and economic impacts of asthma with a targeted and comprehensive approach to optimise asthma diagnosis and management. These indicators provide information for policymakers about the status of asthma in Australia.
The goal of the Strategy is to reduce the impact of asthma on Australia’s health, society and economy. To achieve this, the Strategy outlines 5 high-level objectives with potential areas for action:
- support effective self-management practices
- develop the health professional workforce
- enhance asthma care and management
- create supportive community environments
- promote research, evidence and data.
Progress in achieving the goal and objectives of the Strategy will be measured by the following outcome measures:
- decrease in suboptimal asthma control
- increase in asthma action plan uptake for both adults and children
- improved adherence with appropriate preventer medicines
- increase in annual General Practitioner (GP) reviews of people with asthma
- reduced avoidable asthma-related hospitalisations (First Nations people and non-Indigenous people)
- improved quality of life among people with asthma
- reduced costs of asthma to patients, the healthcare system and government, including indirect costs such as reduced productivity
- reduced prevalence of asthma (First Nations people and non-Indigenous people)
- reduced asthma-related deaths (First Nations people and non-Indigenous people).
Individual indicators are updated regularly. For the June 2024 release, indicators using mortality data and published data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2022 National Health Survey have been updated.
It should be noted that indicators on quality of life and asthma action plans (which also use NHS data) have not been updated for this release. They are scheduled for update in an upcoming release.
For more information on each indicator, select the indicator links in the following Indicator summary table.
Outcome measure | Indicator | Baseline value* | Latest value | Progress status | Last updated |
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Reduced prevalence of asthma | The proportion of people estimated to be living with current and long-term asthma | 11% of people in Australia in 2017–18 | 11% of people in Australia in 2022 | No change![]() | 17 June 2024 |
Reduced costs of asthma to patients, the healthcare system and government, including indirect costs such as reduced productivity | Annual health expenditure on asthma | $770.4 million in 2015–16 | $851.7 million in 2020–21 | Regress![]() | 14 December 2023 |
Reduced asthma-related deaths | Deaths due to asthma (all ages) | 1.9 deaths per 100,000 population for all ages in 2017 | 1.8 deaths per 100,000 population for all ages in 2022 | Progress![]() | 17 June 2024 |
Reduced asthma-related deaths | Deaths due to asthma (5–34 years) | 0.3 deaths per 100,000 population for people aged 5–34 in 2017 | 0.3 deaths per 100,000 population for people aged 5–34 in 2022 | No change![]() | 17 June 2024 Data table |
Reduced asthma-related deaths | Deaths due to asthma (35–54 years) | 1.0 deaths per 100,000 population for people aged 35–54 in 2017 | 0.8 deaths per 100,000 population people aged 35–54 in 2022 | Progress![]() | 17 June 2024 Data table |
Reduced asthma-related deaths | Deaths due to asthma (55 years and over) | 5.5 per 100,000 population for people aged 55 and over, in 2017 | 5.1 per 100,000 population for people aged 55 and over, in 2022 | Progress![]() | 17 June 2024 Data table |
Increase in annual General Practitioner (GP) reviews of people with asthma | Asthma cycle of care claims | 0.3% of people in Australia claimed in 2017–18 | 0.1% of people in Australia claimed in 2021–22 | Regress![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Decrease in suboptimal asthma control | Asthma control medication use | 17% of people dispensed at least 1 reliever, were dispensed 3 or more relievers in 2017–18 | 18% of people dispensed at least 1 reliever, were dispensed 3 or more relievers in 2021–22 | No change![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Improved adherence with appropriate preventer medicines | Preventer medication use for asthma | 34% dispensed at least 1 preventer, were dispensed 3 or more preventers in 2017–18 | 33% dispensed at least 1 preventer, were dispensed 3 or more preventers in 2021–22 | No change![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Reduced asthma-related hospitalisations | Hospital admissions due to asthma | 172 hospitalisations per 100,000 due to asthma in 2016–17 | 99 hospitalisations per 100,000 due to asthma in 2021–22 | Progress![]() | 14 December 2023 Data table |
Reduced asthma-related hospitalisations | Emergency department (ED) presentations | 297 per 100,000 ED presentations in 2018–19 due to asthma | 232 per 100,000 ED presentations in 2020–21 due to asthma | Progress![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Increase in asthma action plan uptake for both adults and children(a) | Asthma action plans | 31% of people with asthma had a plan in 2017–18 | 34% of people with asthma had a plan in 2021–22 | Data not comparable![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Improved quality of life among people with asthma(a)(b) | Impact of asthma on quality of life (interference in daily activities) | 23% of people with asthma reported that asthma interfered with their daily activities 2 or more times in the past 4 weeks in 2017–18 | 21% of people with asthma reported that interfered with their daily activities 2 or more times in the past 4 weeks in 2020–21 | Data not comparable![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Improved quality of life among people with asthma(a)(b) | Impact of asthma on quality of life (psychological distress) | 11% of people with asthma reported experiencing very high levels of psychological distress in 2017–18 | 11% of people with asthma reported experiencing very high levels of psychological distress in 2020–21 | Data not comparable![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
Improved quality of life among people with asthma(a)(b) | Impact of asthma on quality of life (self-assessed health) | 8% of people with asthma reported having poor self-assessed health in 2017–18 | 5% of people with asthma reported having poor self-assessed health in 2020–21 | Data not comparable![]() | 30 June 2023 Data table |
*Baseline data was included in the 2019 Indicator report. Full indicator text is included in the Asthma web pages at links provided in the table above.
Notes
- It should be noted that indicators on quality of life and asthma action plans (which use NHS data) have not been updated with the 2022 NHS for this release. They are scheduled for update in a subsequent release.
- Quality of life content has not been included in the Asthma web pages for the June 2024 release, but is scheduled for update in a future release.
Progress![]() | Regress![]() | No change![]() | Data not comparable![]() |
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Used where there are 2 or more data points, and the measure is moving in the direction the Strategy wants to see. | Used where there are 2 or more data points, and the measure is not moving in the direction the Strategy wants to see. | Used where there are 2 or more data points, and the latest data are similar to the baseline. | Used where data is not comparable over time. |
NACA (National Asthma Council Australia) (2018) National Asthma Strategy, National Asthma Council Australia website, accessed 4 October 2023.