Trends in drug-related hospitalisations in Tasmania, 1999-2019
- There were 1,265 hospitalisations with a drug-related principal diagnosis in TAS in 2018-19.
- This is equivalent to 261 hospitalisations per 100,000 people, as compared to 127 hospitalisations per 100,000 people in 1999-00 (Figure 1).
- The rate of hospitalisations was higher among females than males in 2018-19 (299 versus 222 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 10-19 age groups (490, 370, and 326 hospitalisations per 100,000 people, respectively).
- The rate of hospitalisations was highest where there was a principal diagnosis indicating amphetamines and other stimulants (47 hospitalisations per 100,000 people; Figure 2).
- The highest number and rate of hospitalisations was observed in inner regional TAS (981 hospitalisations,289 hospitalisations per 100,000 people; Figure 3).
Figure 1. Age-standardised rate (per 100,000 people) of drug-related hospitalisations, by sex, Tasmania, 1999-00 - 2018-19.
Provision of Tasmanian data between 2008-09 and 2015-16 was limited to drug related hospital separations based on selected drug-related ICD-10-AM codes (see the methods for the list of ICD-10-AM codes). Estimates of drug-related hospitalisations for this period are likely to be underestimated.
Figure 2. Age-standardised rate (per 100,000 people) of drug-related hospitalisations, by drug identified in the principal diagnosis, Tasmania, 1999-00 - 2018-19.
Note: Age-standardised rates were not calculated if the number of hospitalisations was less than or equal to 10 (please refer to our methods document for details). Suppressed data are visible as gaps in the data series.
Figure 3. Age-standardised rate (per 100,000 people) of drug-related hospitalisations, by remoteness, Tasmania, 2012-13 - 2018-19.
Note: There are no major cities in Tasmania. Where the number of hospitalisations for remote and very remote Tasmania were small (less than or equal to 10) 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