Hospitalisations among First Nations peoples between 2017 and 2019 (AIHW)

Between 2017 and 2019, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were 80% more likelly to be hospitalised for asthma than other Australians, with an age standardised asthma hospitalisation rate of 2.7 per 1,000 people, and an asthma hospitalisation rate ratio of 1.8 (rate difference 1.2 per 1,000) compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
Specifically, the age standardised asthma hospitalisation rates and rate ratios were:
– for males: 1.9 hospitalisations per 1,000 population (rate ratio 1.4 so 40% higher compared to non-Indigenous Australians)
– for females: 3.5 hospitalisations per 1,000 population (rate ratio 2.2 so 120% higher compared to non-Indigenous Australians)

By age groups, the asthma hospitalisation rates for 2017-2019 were:
– under 1 yo: 0.3 per 1,000 (vs 0.2 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 1.7) – 70% higher
– 1-4 yo: 7.1 per 1,000 (vs 6.2 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 1.2) – 20% higher
– 5-14 yo: 3.0 per 1,000 (vs 2.8 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 1.2) – 10% higher
– 15-24 yo: 1.6 per 1,000 (vs 0.9 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 1.8) – 80% higher
– 25-34: 2.1 per 1,000 (vs 0.7 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 3.1) – 310% higher
– 35-44 yo: 2.9 per 1,000 (vs 0.9 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 3.1) – 310% higher
– 45-54 yo: 3.1 per 1,000 (vs 1.0 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 3.1) – 310% higher
– 55-64 yo: 2.6 per 1,000 (vs 1.0 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 2.5) – 250% higher
– 65 and over: 2.2 per 1,000 (vs 1.5 per 1,000 in non-Indigenous, rate ratio 1.5) – 150% higher