Emergency Department (ED) presentations due to asthma trends 2018-2019 to 2021-2022 (AIHW)

According to AIHW asthma report:

Between 2018–19 and 2021–22, ED presentation rates decreased from 300 to 240 per 100,000 population and were higher for females compared with males.

In 2021–22, asthma ED presentations rates were around twice as high for:

• people living in Remote areas compared with people living in Major cities (420 and 215 per 100,000 population, respectively)
• people living in areas of most disadvantage (lowest socioeconomic areas) compared with people living in the least disadvantaged areas (highest socioeconomic areas) (320 and 160 per 100,000 population) (Figure 18).

Like asthma hospitalisations, asthma ED presentations can also be impacted by seasonal variation. However, differences observed between 2019 and 2020 are more likely to be due to the 2019–20 bushfire season and the COVID‑19 pandemic.

In 2020, ED presentation rates decreased significantly during the nationwide lockdown from March and increased again from May. Rates for most of 2020 were lower than observed in 2019, likely due to the impact of health protection measures implemented for the pandemic (Figure 18).

Trends over time for ED presentations due to asthma (as principal diagnosis), from 2018-19 to 2021-22:
– 71,624 ED for asthma in 2018/19 (297 per 100,000 age-standardised)
– 66,199 ED for asthma in 2019/20 (270 per 100,000 age-standardised)
– 56,587 ED for asthma in 2020/21 (232 per 100,000 age-standardised)
– 59,173 ED for asthma in 2021/22 (242 per 100,000 age-standardised)

Figure 18: Emergency department presentations due to asthma, by age and sex, remoteness area and socioeconomic area, 2021–22, over time (2018–19 to 2021–22) and by month (2019 to 2022)