Avoidable emergency presentations

Population groups

• Indigenous status

  What was the number of First Nations and non-Indigenous people with disability who had avoidable emergency department presentations?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), by Indigenous status. In 2018, 5,100 First Nations people and 114,400 non-Indigenous people with disability had GP-type emergency department presentations.

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  Indigenous status	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  First Nations	**5,100	(1,500–8,600)
  Non-Indigenous	114,400	(98,900–130,000)
  All persons	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  • ** Estimate has a relative standard error of 25–50% and should be used with caution.

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.
  3. Data source does not cover very remote areas and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 29 September 2022.

  ** Estimate has a relative standard error of 25–50% and should be used with caution.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview
  

• Sex and gender

  Does the number of people with disability who had avoidable emergency department presentations vary by sex?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), for males and females. In 2018, 55,300 males and 64,200 females with disability had GP-type emergency department presentations.

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  Sex	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  Males	55,300	(44,600–66,000)
  Females	64,200	(51,000–77,300)
  All persons	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 20 May 2022.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview
  

• Age group

  How many people with disability of different ages had avoidable emergency department presentations?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), grouped by age. In 2018, 9,900 people with disability aged 15–24 and 42,100 people with disability aged 65 and over had GP-type emergency department presentations.

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  Age group	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  Under 15	12,300	(7,000–17,600)
  15–24	9,900	(5,800–14,000)
  25–44	23,500	(16,800–30,100)
  45–64	31,700	(24,800–38,600)
  65 and over	42,100	(33,400–50,800)
  All ages	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 20 May 2022.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview
  

• Cultural and linguistic diversity status

  How many people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds had avoidable emergency department presentations?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), by culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) status. In 2018, 16,000 people from CALD backgrounds and 103,500 people among the non-CALD group had GP-type emergency department presentations.

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  Cultural and linguistic diversity status	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  CALD	16,000	(10,200–21,800)
  CALD – low English proficiency	**6,600	(2,800–10,400)
  CALD – high English proficiency	9,400	(5,300–13,500)
  Non-CALD	103,500	(87,400–119,500)
  All persons	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  • ** Estimate has a relative standard error of 25–50% and should be used with caution.

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.
  3. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) cohort includes people not born in a main English-speaking country and/or who mainly speak a language other than English at home.
  4. English proficiency is reported for people in the CALD cohort only. Low English proficiency group includes people who mainly speak a language other than English at home and say they speak English 'not well' or 'not at all'. High English proficiency group includes people who mainly speak English at home, and those who mainly speak a language other than English at home and say they speak English 'well' or 'very well'.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 29 September 2022.

  ** Estimate has a relative standard error of 25–50% and should be used with caution.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview
  

• Remoteness

  How many people with disability in different remoteness areas had avoidable emergency department presentations?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), grouped by remoteness. In 2018, 72,600 people with disability in major cities and 11,400 of those in outer regional and remote areas had GP-type emergency department presentations.

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  Remoteness	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  Major cities	72,600	(58,500–86,800)
  Inner regional	35,500	(27,800–43,100)
  Outer regional and remote	11,400	(6,300–16,500)
  All areas	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.
  3. Remoteness is classified according to Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia. Data source does not cover very remote areas.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 29 September 2022.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview
  

• Disability group

  How many people with different types of disability had avoidable emergency department presentations?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), by disability group. In 2018, among the people with disability who had GP-type emergency department presentations there were 79,900 people with physical restrictions and 11,400 with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury.

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  Disability group	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  Sensory and speech	31,800	(22,300–41,200)
  Intellectual	20,900	(14,500–27,300)
  Physical restriction	79,900	(67,600–92,200)
  Psychosocial	38,400	(28,600–48,200)
  Head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury	11,400	(6,500–16,200)
  Other	59,900	(49,600–70,300)
  All with disability	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.
  3. Components will not add to total as people may report impairments related to more than one disability group. In such cases, people are counted separately for each disability group but are only counted once in the aggregated total.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 29 September 2022.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview
  

• Severity of disability

  How many people with different levels of disability severity had avoidable emergency department presentations?

  The data in the graph and the table below show the number of people with disability (of all ages) who felt a general practitioner (GP) could have provided care for their most recent visit to the emergency department (within the past 12 months), grouped by disability severity. In 2018, 43,600 people with severe or profound disability and 75,900 people with other disability status had GP-type emergency department presentations.

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  Severity of disability	No. of people with disability who visited emergency department for something a GP could treat	95% Confidence Interval
  Severe or profound disability	43,600	(34,100–53,100)
  Other disability status	75,900	(61,700–90,000)
  All with disability	119,500	(102,800–136,200)

  Notes:

  1. Restricted to people with disability living in households who have been to a hospital emergency department for own health in the last 12 months.
  2. Excludes people who do not know if GP could have provided care for the most recent time went to emergency department.
  3. Severe or profound disability means always or sometimes needing assistance or supervision with self-care, mobility, and/or communication.

  Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019. Microdata: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, 2018, ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002, ABS, AIHW analysis of detailed microdata in DataLab, accessed 29 September 2022.

  Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics – Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) | Data source overview