Three conditions – heart failure, COPD and type 2 diabetes – account for half of all potentially preventable hospitalisations for chronic conditions in Australia, new figures show
A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows there were 748,000 admissions in public and private hospitals classified as PPH in 2017-18, accounting for 1 in 15 hospital admissions and 1 in 10 hospital bed days.
Overall, the most common reasons for PPH were COPD , UTIs and dental conditions. But in terms of bed days, the highest burden was seen for pneumonia and influenza, congestive cardiac failure and COPD.
Nearly half of all PPH (46%) were in older people, mostly due to chronic conditions with COPD, congestive cardiac failure, iron deficiency anaemia and type 2 diabetes complications being the most common in this age group. A minority of PPH were due to acute conditions and vaccine-preventable conditions.
There were 343,500 PPH for chronic conditions, accounting for 1.4 million bed days. Congestive cardiac failure, COPD and type 2 diabetes complications accounted for 50% of admissions and 71% of bed days for chronic conditions. Men had higher rates of PPH for type 2 diabetes complications, congestive cardiac failure, angina and COPD. Women had higher rates of PPH for hypertension and bronchiectasis