AIHW statistics on asthma, osteoporosis and arthritis

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has launched new information on its website which makes asthma statistics more accessible and easier to understand. 

The product was developed in collaboration with the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring, a collaborating unit of the AIHW.

“This new snapshot of the latest asthma statistics enables people to find facts and figures about asthma quickly and easily,” said Dr Adrian Webster of the AIHW’s Primary Health and Respiratory and Musculoskeletal Monitoring Unit.

The web product addresses questions such as:

• Who gets asthma?
• What drugs are used to treat asthma?
• What roles do GPs play in treating asthma?
• How does asthma affect quality of life?

The new asthma web pages are available at: www.aihw.gov.au/asthma-and-chronic-respiratory-diseases

Use of health services for arthritis and osteoporosis
This AIHW report provides an overview of the use of health services for the management of arthritis and osteoporosis in Australia.

Information has been used to generate profiles of health service use for three specific conditions – osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.

There is considerable variation in the type and extent of health services used and actions taken to manage the three conditions.

While the management of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis is primarily focused on reducing pain and slowing down disease progression, the focus in the case of osteoporosis is largely on containing its role as a risk factor for fractures and other associated complications.