title: Ten years of hospitalisation for oral health-related conditions in Western Australia: an unjust dichotomy.
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 130000 persons were admitted to hospitals in WA over 10 years, for oral health-related conditions, at a direct cost of more than $400million. 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Estie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tennant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009057:Stomatognathic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology