For more detail, see Data tables A1–3 and D1–3.
There are many ways that the severity, or seriousness, of an injury can be assessed. Using available data, three measures of the severity of hospitalised injuries are:
- number of days in hospital
- time in an intensive care unit (ICU)
- time on a ventilator.
The average number of days in hospital for injuries in this category was less than the average for all hospitalised injuries, but the percentage of cases that included time in an ICU or involved continuous ventilatory support were much higher than for all hospitalised injuries in 2019–20 (Table 3).
Table 3: Severity of injury hospitalisations of undetermined intent, 2019–20
|
Undetermined intent
|
All hospitalised injuries
|
Average number of days in hospital
|
2.4
|
4.5
|
% of cases with time in an ICU
|
12.3
|
2.4
|
% of cases involving ventilator
|
10.0
|
1.4
|
Note: Average number of days in hospital (length of stay) includes admissions that are transfers from 1 hospital to another or transfers from 1 admitted care type to another within the same hospital, except where care involves rehabilitation procedures.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
In 2019–20, among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:
- there were 457 hospitalisations and 14 deaths of undetermined intent (Tables 4 and 5)
- males had higher rates of hospitalisation
- hospitalisation rates were highest among people aged 25–44, compared with other age groups (Figure 3).
Table 4: Number and rate of injury hospitalisations of undetermined intent by sex, Indigenous Australians, 2019–20
|
Males
|
Females
|
Persons
|
Number
|
262
|
195
|
457
|
Rate (per 100,000)
|
61
|
46
|
54
|
Note: Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
Table 5: Number and rate of injury deaths of undetermined intent by sex, Indigenous Australians, 2019–20
|
Males
|
Females
|
Persons
|
Number
|
7
|
7
|
14
|
Rate (per 100,000)
|
1.9
|
1.9
|
1.9
|
Notes
- Rates are crude per 100,000 population.
- Deaths data only includes data for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
In 2019–20, Indigenous Australians were 3.7 times as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to be hospitalised with injuries of undetermined intent (Table 6).
Table 6: Age-standardised rates (per 100,000) of injury hospitalisations of undetermined intent by Indigenous status and sex, 2019–20
|
Males
|
Females
|
Persons
|
Indigenous Australians
|
66
|
52
|
59
|
Non-Indigenous Australians
|
19
|
13
|
16
|
Notes
- Rates are age-standardised per 100,000 population.
- ‘Non-Indigenous Australians’ excludes cases where Indigenous status is missing or not stated.
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.
The age-specific rate of injury hospitalise of undetermined intent was highest among the 25–44 life-stage age group for Indigenous Australians and the 15–24 age group for non-Indigenous Australians (Figure 3). Deaths data are not presented because of small numbers.