Hospitalisations
Undercounting of hospitalisations due to neurological conditions and dementia
For hospitalisations data, apart from the condition codes for functional neurological disorder, this report uses the International Statistical Classification of Diseases 10th Revision Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) condition codes listed under the category of “Diseases of the nervous system”. This means that people hospitalised for some neurological conditions are not included in the hospitalisations statistics reported here.
For example, only 3 types of dementia are categorised in the ICD-10-AM under “Diseases of the nervous system”, with other types of dementia categorised elsewhere. Therefore, the numbers reported here do not account for all the different types of dementia that people may be hospitalised for. For hospitalisations of people due to all of the variants of dementia as a combined category, see AIHW’s Dementia in Australia report.
See the Data sources section of this report for more details on the condition codes used for reporting from the National Hospital Morbidity Database.
Based on the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), in 2023–24:
- there were 365,000 hospitalisations (1,350 per 100,000 population, or 1,250 per 100,000 population age-standardised) due to neurological conditions (principal diagnosis), representing 29 out of every 1,000 hospitalisations in Australia
- there were over 310,000 hospitalisations with neurological conditions as an additional diagnosis (1,150 per 100,000 population, or 970 per 100,000 population age-standardised)
- females accounted for more than half (53%) of hospitalisations due to neurological conditions (males 47%), equating to a rate of about 1,400 per 100,000 females and 1,300 per 100,000 males
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The age-standardised rate of hospitalisations (per 100,000 population) due to neurological conditions was higher for females compared with males.
- females were hospitalised for neurological conditions (principal diagnosis) at a younger age than males (median ages of 52 and 59 years respectively)
- the average length of hospital stay due to neurological conditions was 2.7 days
- almost half (45%) of hospitalisations due to neurological conditions resulted in overnight hospital stays, the average length of stay for these was 4.9 days.
Socioeconomic and remoteness areas
In 2023–24:
- people living in higher socioeconomic areas had higher rates of hospitalisations (per 100,000 population) due to neurological conditions than people living in lower socioeconomic areas, even after age-standardisation
- people living in Remote and very remote areas had the lowest age-standardised rate of hospitalisations (950 per 100,000 population) due to neurological conditions, people living in Major cities and Inner regional areas had the highest rate (both with 1,300 per 100,000 population).
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The age-standardised rate of hospitalisations (per 100,000 population) was highest for the highest socioeconomic areas and lowest for the lowest socioeconomic areas.
Data tables on socioeconomic and remoteness figures are available for download under the Data section of this report.
Trends over time
Hospitalisation trends only from 2015–16
For hospitalisations, there were some anomalies in the data for 2013–14 and 2014–15 that made the statistics for neurological conditions as a grouped category appear unreliable (see Figure 2). For comparisons over time, we therefore only go back to 2015–16.
Between 2015–16 and 2023–24:
- the crude hospitalisation rate for neurological conditions (principal diagnosis) changed very little, remaining at around 1,300 to 1,400 per 100,000 population. The age-standardised hospitalisation rate was similarly stable, remaining around 1,300 per 100,000 population
- the percentage of hospitalisations due to neurological conditions that became overnight stays decreased from 52% to 45%, the average length of stay for these increased from 4.4 days to 4.9 days
- the median age of people hospitalised for neurological conditions remained the same for all Australians at 55 years; for males the median age increased from 57 to 59 years, for females it decreased from 53 to 52 years.
Figure 2: Hospitalisation measures for neurological conditions, by age group and diagnosis scope, 2013–14 to 2023–24
This interactive visualisation shows hospitalisations for neurological conditions. The visualisation can be changed to display time trends from 2013–14 to 2022–23 or for age-groups in a specific year, disaggregated by sex. The visualisation can also be changed to display rates (per 100,000 population) or total number of hospitalisations.
Information on procedures in the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD) is reported using the Australian Classification of Health Interventions (ACHI) which classifies surgical operations, procedures and other types of interventions performed for the purpose of investigating and/or remedying health state.
In 2023–24, there were over 667,000 procedures for hospitalisations with a principal diagnosis involving neurological conditions – equating to around 1.8 procedures per neurological condition hospitalisation. Over a third (35%) of procedures were generalised allied health interventions, more than 1 in 10 (11%) were cerebral anaesthesia and 8.8% and 8% were for administration of blood (or blood products) and sleep study, respectively.
For more information on surgeries and intervention types, see Surgery and other interventions.