Ten years of hospitalisation for oral health-related conditions in Western Australia: an unjust dichotomy
Estie Kruger A B and Marc Tennant AA International Research Collaborative – Oral Health and Equity, School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, Faculty of Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: estie.kruger@uwa.edu.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 22(2) 153-158 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY14087
Submitted: 31 May 2014 Accepted: 27 November 2014 Published: 14 January 2015
Abstract
The objective of this study was: (1) to examine the demographics of in-patient oral health care by Aboriginal status; (2) to identify the mix of oral conditions by Aboriginal status; and (3) to describe trends over a 10-year period, comparing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups. Hospitalisation data were obtained from the Western Australian Morbidity Data System (HMDS). The principal diagnosis, as classified by the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10AM), was obtained for every episode for adult patients who were discharged from all hospitals in Western Australia (WA) for the financial years 1999–2000 to 2008–09. Results indicated that more than 130 000 persons were admitted to hospitals in WA over 10 years, for oral health-related conditions, at a direct cost of more than $400 million. Most of those admitted were younger than 30 years, and 2.8% of all those admitted were Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people were admitted at significantly higher rates, for a very different mix of conditions, they were mostly from younger age groups, were mostly from very remote and the most disadvantaged areas and were almost all uninsured, compared with non-Aboriginal people. Hospital admissions for oral health-related conditions, as well as the mix of conditions that drive these hospitalisations, are strongly divided across social, racial and geographic variables, and remain a burden to the health-care system.
Additional keywords: Aboriginal, dental, rural and remote.
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