Asthma in Australia 2008 Table 2.1

Asthma in Australia 2008

Table 2.5
Selected comorbidities among patients admitted to hospital with a principal diagnosis of asthma, by Indigenous status and age, 2003–04 to 2005–06

	Proportion of all asthma separations (%) (95% CI)		Rate ratio (95% CI)
Age group/comorbidity	Indigenous	Other	Indigenous vs other
0–14 years
Respiratory infections	33.6 (30.9–36.4)	35.1 (34.4–35.8)	1.0 (0.9–1.0)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchiectasis	. .	. .	. .
Non-infectious upper respiratory conditions	0.6 (0.2–1.3)	0.6 (0.5–0.7)	1.1 (0.5–2.4)
Diabetes mellitus	n.p.	0.2 (0.1–0.2)	n.p.
Heart, stroke and vascular disease	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.
Arthritis and osteoporosis	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.
Mental and behavioural disorders	0.7 (0.3–1.4)	0.5 (0.4–0.6)	1.5 (0.6–3.4)
Cancer	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.
15 years and over
Respiratory infections	27.1 (24.9–29.4)	28.7 (28.2–29.3)	0.9 (0.9–1.0)
COPD and bronchiectasis	2.3 (1.7–3.0)	2.3 (2.2–2.5)	1.0 (0.7–1.3)
Non-infectious upper respiratory conditions	n.p.	1.3 (1.2–1.5)	n.p.
Diabetes mellitus	19.7 (18.0–21.6)	8.3 (8.0–8.6)	2.4 (2.1–2.7)
Heart, stroke and vascular disease	5.0 (4.0–6.1)	3.2 (3.1–3.4)	1.5 (1.2–2.0)
Arthritis and osteoporosis	0.7 (0.4–1.2)	1.9 (1.8–2.0)	0.4 (0.3–0.5)
Mental and behavioural disorders	2.3 (1.8–3.0)	4.1 (3.9–4.3)	0.6 (0.5–0.7)
Cancer	n.p.	0.4 (0.4–0.5)	n.p.

n.p. Not published (numbers too small to produce a reliable estimate

. . Not applicable Notes

1. Data are included only for those states/territories for which the Indigenous identifier was considered reliable, that is, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory (public hospitals only) (all years) and New South Wales and Victoria (2004–05 and 2005–06 only).

2. Asthma was classified according to International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) codes J45 and J46.

3. Separations for which the care type was reported as Newborn with no qualified days, and records for Hospital boarders and Posthumous organ procurement have been excluded.

4. Comorbidities were classified as follows: respiratory infections (J0–J22); COPD and bronchiectasis (J40–J44, J47); non-infectious upper respiratory conditions (includes rhinitis, sinusitis, laryngitis) (J30–39); diabetes mellitus (E10–E14); heart, stroke and vascular disease (I20–I25, I60–I69, I50, I70–I79); arthritis and osteoporosis (M00–M25, M80–M82); mental and behavioural disorders (F30–F39, F40–F48, F90–F98); and malignant neoplasms (i.e. cancer) (C00–C96).

5. ‘Other’ includes both non-Indigenous persons and persons for whom Indigenous status was not stated or was inadequately described. Indigenous status was not stated or was inadequately described for 1.9% of hospital separations among other Australians in 2003–04 to 2005–06 where asthma was the principal diagnosis.

6. CI = confidence interval.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

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