Eye problems account for one in 30 hospitalisations
Eye problems accounted for nearly 250,000 (or one in 30) hospitalisations in 2005-06, according to a new report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
“Around 70% of these hospitalisations were for lens surgery such as cataract removal, and many were same day procedures,” said Robert Van der Hoek of the Institute’s Population Health Unit.
The AIHW report, Eye health in Australia: a hospital perspective, shows that the rate of hospitalisations for eye problems rose marginally between 2001-02 and 2005-06.
The total public hospital cost for treating eye problems in 2005-06 was nearly $233 million. For private hospitals the cost was an estimated $220 million.
The median waiting time for elective eye surgery in a public hospital was 69 days, which was the longest of any specialty.
This report is the first in a series of national reports providing an overview of eye health in Australia.
