COPD mortality rate drops
April 19, 2012
THE number of Australians dying
due to chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) has
dropped dramatically over the past
40 years, according to the latest
report by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Interestingly the report found
that the mortality rate dropped
more significantly in men with
COPD than in women, with the
death rate from COPD in men
falling to 29 per 100,000 in 2009,
less than a third of the rate in 1970.
Women however were found to
have consistently lower mortality
rates from the disease, with the
AIHW finding that in 1970 male
death rate was around eight times
the female rate, whilst in 2009 the
death rate for COPD among women
was 17 per 100,000 people.
In terms of causal factors, the
AIHW found that smoking was still
the largest contributor to the
disease.
“Trends in the rate of deaths from
COPD generally follow tobacco
consumption trends,’ said AIHW
spokesperson Dr Adrian Webster.
Meanwhile, hospitalisations for
the disease for men aged 55 and over
were also found to have dropped,
with figures showing a 20% fall
between 1998-99 and 2009-10, from
1,545 to 1,236 hospitalisations per
100,000 people.
Conversely the hospitalisation rate
for women was slightly higher in
2009–10 than in 1998–99, with 870
hospitalisations per 100,000 people
compared with 835 per 100,000.
AIHW researchers also noted a
strong seasonal influence on COPD,
with hospitalisation much more
common in winter and early spring.
In terms of the costs of health
services related to COPD, the AIHW
found that the nation spent $560m
in 2004-05, mainly on hospital costs
for admitted patients.
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