Hospital discharge rates and deaths from asthma in the Hunter Health Region (NSW) 1971--72 to 1975-76
Hardes, G.R.; Allomes, J.; Leeder, S.R.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine 9(5): 504-510
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-8291 PMID: 294904 Document Number: 142414
During the five years 1971--72 to 1975--76 annual total discharges of patients with a primary diagnosis of asthma from public hospitals in the Hunter Health Region (NSW) fluctuated only slightly. The number of discharges did not reflect consistently the underlying population distribution. Significantly more discharges than expected occurred among people living in the drier inland areas of the Region. Over the same period 65 residents of the Hunter Health Region were certified dead with asthma as the primary cause. In 29, death occurred at one of the Region's public hospitals but only eight were admitted as hospital inpatients primarily with asthma. Of the 65 asthma deaths, 36 (55.4%) occurred outside the Region's public hospitals.