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| Note: | Hospital separations were classified using ICD-10-AM. Rates were age-adjusted using the Australian population as at 30 June 2001. Numbers for 2004-05 include an estimate of the small number of interstate hospitalisations, data for which were unavailable at the time of production. Dementia was coded in 1-10 diagnosis fields. |
| Source: | NSW Inpatient Statistics Collection and ABS population estimates (HOIST). Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health. |
Dementia is a major problem among older people. It is characterised by disturbed memory, thinking and other intellectual impairments accompanied by deterioration in emotional control and social behaviour. Dementia can be caused by a number of diseases that impair the brain. The most common is Alzheimer's disease, which is responsible for about 70% of cases. Other causes include cerebrovascular disease and other conditions affecting the brain (NCCH, 2006).
Dementia is not an inevitable part of the ageing process, but it is common in the elderly and is very common in the very old. It is estimated that 6.6% of persons aged over 65 years and 30.6% of persons older than 95 years had dementia in Australia in 2004 (AIHW, 2006).
Dementia is the greatest single contributor to the cost of care in residential aged care (AC, 2005). Most people with dementia also have other chronic health conditions such as oral health problems, fractures, osteoporosis, arthritis and urinary tract infections. For most people with dementia (67%) it is their main disabling condition (AIHW, 2006).
Hospital separations do not reflect the burden of dementia in the community, but account for additional burden placed on hospital resources when persons with severe dementia are admitted posing difficulties in treatment and overall management.
There were 31,023 hospitalisations of persons with dementia in 2004-05, out of which 7.3% (2,260 separations) were specifically for dementia or conditions which are often characterised by dementia (such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease) and where presence of dementia was noted in the hospital record. The remaining 92% of hospitalisations were for other, unrelated conditions with dementia identified as a co-morbidity, which in some way affected the hospital stay. The type of dementia was not specified in most hospitalisations for dementia in the last 7 years of available data (71.8% 'not specified' in 2004-05). Most of hospital separations for dementia or with dementia were in persons aged 65 years and over.
Dementia represents a significant challenge to health, aged care and social policy. In 2005 Australian Government announced that dementia was one of the national health priorities (AIHW, 2006).
| For more information: |
National Centre for Classification in Health. The International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM). Volume 5. Sydney: NCCH, 2006. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health 2006. AIHW cat. no. AUS 73. Canberra: AIHW, 2006. Available at: www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10321 Access Economics. Dementia estimates and projections, NSW and its regions. Report for Alzheimer's Australia NSW and NSW Health. Canberra: 2005. Available at: www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2005/pdf/dementia_est.pdf. |
| Print version: | Although this page can be printed directly from your Web browser, a higher quality version of this entire page (graph, table and text) is available as an Acrobat PDF file which can be printed or viewed on screen using free software. |
| Downloadable files: | The data contained in the table on this page are available for download as a CSV file which can be imported into many software packages. The graph is available for download as an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file and as an EMF (Enhanced Metafile Format) file. Files in these formats can be imported into most word processing, presentation and graphics software packages. |
| Copyright notice: | This work is copyright NSW Department of Health, 2006. It may be reproduced in whole or in part, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source. Commercial usage or sale is prohibited. |
| Suggested citation: | Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales - Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/chorep/bod/bod_dementhos.htm. Accessed (insert date of access). |
| Produced by: | Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Population Health Division, NSW Department of Health. |
| Last updated on: | 24 November 2006 |
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