Spending on potentially preventable hospitalisations by selected demographics
Potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) expenditure varies by sex and age group, reflecting differences in disease risk and prevalence, complexity of care, and health-care utilisation. This is particularly relevant for chronic conditions, where disease risk and prevalence increase substantially with age. For vaccine preventable conditions, spending differences reflect differing patterns of vaccine uptake, exposure risk, or immunisation coverage across age groups.
These findings highlight the critical importance of age-targeted health strategies, particularly in managing chronic disease burden among older adults and improving vaccine outreach and preventive care among younger populations.
Key findings:
In 2023–24:
- females accounted for 52% of all PPH, though total expenditure associated with males was higher ($4.1 billion compared to $3.6 billion).
- spending was around 60% higher for females than males for urinary tract infections, hypertension, asthma, bronchiectasis, and iron deficiency anaemia (Figure 7).
- spending was around 60% higher for males than for females for diabetes complications, angina and gangrene.
- individuals aged 65 years and older represented 46% of all PPH and yet accounted for a disproportionately higher share (51%) of PPH-related costs.
- for chronic conditions, the 65 years and older age group accounted for 64% of all spending. This was highest for congestive cardiac failure (83%), COPD (73%) and angina (66%).
- spending on vaccine preventable conditions was associated with younger age groups (63%), compared to those aged 65 years and older (37%).
- individuals aged 85 years and older had an average LOS of 6.2 days. In contrast, those aged 50–54 years had a significantly shorter average LOS of 3.9 days.
During 2014–15 and 2023–24:
- there were no substantial changes observed in the distribution of PPH costs by sex.
