Palliative care admissions rise
The number of palliative care hospital admissions in Australia rose by more than half between 2001 and 2010, according to a report released last Friday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The number of palliative care hospital admissions in Australia rose by more than half between 2001 and 2010, according to a report released last Friday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Palliative care services in Australia, shows there were almost 56,000 palliative care admissions reported in public and private hospitals in 2009-10.
The average age of people being admitted to palliative care was 71.9 years.
More males than females were admitted to palliative care (54% to 46%).
The rate of admission as a proportion of the population, taking age into account, was also higher for males than females (28.0 and 19.4 per 10,000 people, respectively).
AIHW spokesperson, Brent Diverty, says: “Although there were more palliative care admissions for males overall, in the 25-54 age group there were more admissions for women.
“And for people aged 85 years and over, there were 20% more admissions for women compared to men.”
People aged 75 years and over accounted for about half of all palliative care admissions. The proportion of palliative care admissions increases with age, with only about one in 10 of the total number being for patients under 55 years.
Most palliative care admissions in Australia were to public hospitals (85%), particularly in New South Wales (92%) and Victoria (89%).
In Western Australia, however, most palliative care admissions were to private hospitals (61%). Among all general practice encounters in 2010-11 about one in 1,000 were palliative carerelated.
