Hospitalisations by category of cause
Data table
View data tableNote
Hospital separations were classified using ICD-10-AM. Numbers for 2006-07 include an estimate of the small number of interstate hospitalisations, data for which were unavailable at the time of production.
Source
NSW Admitted Patient Data Collection and ABS population estimates (HOIST). Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health.
Commentary
Mental health disorders relate to behaviours and conditions which interfere with social functioning and capacity to negotiate daily life. Hospitalisations due to mental and behavioural disorders constituted 4.4% of all hospitalisations in Australia during 2005-2006, and accounted for 12.2% of all patient days in hospital (AIHW 2008).
Hospitalisations due to mental and behavioural disorders include hospitalisation due to organic mental disorders (permanent or temporary dysfunctions of the brain inherited or caused by injury, disease, ageing or exposure to external factors), psychoactive substances, schizophrenia, mood disorders, neurotic and stress related, behavioural due to physical factors, adult personality disorder, retardation, psychological development disorders and behavioural disorders which had onset in childhood.
Hospitalisation due to mental and behavioural disorders in NSW accounted for 4% of all hospitalisations in NSW in 2006-2007 with 100,978 hospitalisations in that year. The largest number of hospitalisations occurred in males aged 25-44 years (11% of all causes of hospitalisations amongst this age group) and females aged 25-44 years (6% of all causes of hospitalisations amongst this age group).
The majority of hospitalisations amongst males were due to psychoactive substances (29.1%), particularly amongst 15-24 and 24-44 year olds. The majority of hospitalisations for females were for mood disorders (36.8%), with women in the 25-44 and 45-64 age groups having the highest number of hospitalisations.
Mental and behavioural disorders accounted for 2.1% of deaths for males and 3.5% of females in the period 2002-2006. Almost 73% deaths in males and 91% deaths in females from mental and behavioural disorders were from organic mental disease that comprises dementia in Alzheimer's disease.
For more information
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health 2008. Cat. no. AUS 99. Canberra: AIHW, 2008. Available at: www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10585
Begg S, Vos T, Barker B. et al. The burden of disease and injury in Australia, 2003. PHE 82. Canberra: AIHW, 2007. Available at www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10317
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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: www.health.nsw.gov.au/publichealth/chorep/. Accessed (insert date of access).
Produced by
Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Population Health Division, NSW Department of Health.
Last updated on 15 December 2008
