Trends in drug-related hospitalisations in Victoria, 1999-2019
- There were 14,251 hospitalisations with a drug-related principal diagnosis in VIC in 2018-19.
- This is equivalent to 217 hospitalisations per 100,000 people, as compared to 190 hospitalisations per 100,000 people in 1999-00 (Figure 1).
- The rate of hospitalisations was higher among males than females in 2018-19 (222 versus 213 hospitalisations per 100,000 people).
- In 2018-19, the rate of hospitalisations was highest among the 20-29 age group, followed by the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups (417, 345, and 307 hospitalisations per 100,000 people, respectively).
- The rate of hospitalisations was highest where there was a principal diagnosis indicating amphetamines and other stimulants (53 hospitalisations per 100,000 people; Figure 2).
- The highest number and rate of hospitalisations was observed in major cities VIC (10,927 hospitalisations,207 hospitalisations per 100,000 people; Figure 3).
Figure 1. Age-standardised rate (per 100,000 people) of drug-related hospitalisations, by sex, Victoria, 1999-00 - 2018-19.
Note: From 1st July 2011 to 30th June 2013 (i.e., between 2011-12 and 2012-13), there was a large decrease in public hospitalisations reported for the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) because episodes where the patient�s entire care is provided in the emergency department were not considered for admission, irrespective of whether a criterion for admission is met. (From 2013-14 onwards, �ED-only admissions� were largely replaced with admissions to Short Stay Observation Units.)
Figure 2. Age-standardised rate (per 100,000 people) of drug-related hospitalisations, by drug identified in the principal diagnosis, Victoria, 1999-00 - 2018-19.
Figure 3. Age-standardised rate (per 100,000 people) of drug-related hospitalisations, by remoteness, Victoria, 2012-13 - 2018-19.
Note: The number of hospitalisations for remote and very remote Victoria in each year were small (less than or equal to 10) thus age-standardised rates were not calculated. Please refer to our methods document for details. The size (area) of the bubble is proportional to the number of hospitalisations.
Funding
The Drug Trends program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the Drug and Alcohol Program.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for data from the National Hospital Morbidity Database.
Recommended citation
Man, N., Chrzanowska, A., Sutherland, R., Degenhardt, L. & Peacock, A. (2021). Trends in drug-related hospital separations in Australia, 1999-2019. Drug Trends Bulletin Series. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney.
Related Links
Hospitalisations data visualisations: https://drugtrends.shinyapps.io/hospital_separations
Hospitalisations methods document: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource-analytics/trends-drug-related-hospitalisations-australia-1999-2019
For information on drug-induced deaths in Australia, go to: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource-analytics/trends-drug-induced-deaths-australia-1997-2019
For more information on NDARC research, go to: http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/
For more information about the AIHW and NHMD, go to: https://www.aihw.gov.au/
For more information on ICD coding go to: http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/ https://www.ihpa.gov.au/what-we-do/icd-10-am-achi-acs-current-edition
For more research from the Drug Trends program go to: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/program/drug-trends
Contact us
Email: drugtrends@unsw.edu.au