NEW ZEALAND HEALTH INFORMATION SERVICE

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Annual statistical publication that collates and analyses national data on the numbers and diagnoses of patients discharged from publicly funded hospitals.

The publication highlights the following facts:

Use of public hospitals

Number of hospital discharges, total population

• In 2002/03 there were 828,195 discharges from publicly funded hospitals.
• Females accounted for 57.2 percent of 2002/03 hospital inpatient discharges.
• Inpatient hospitalisations (570,965) were 68.9 percent of total discharges.

Number of hospital discharges, Māori population

• Discharges for Māori (132,726) were 16.0 percent of total discharges in 2002/03.
• Māori female hospitalisations were 56.2 percent of total discharges for Māori in 2002/03.
• Māori inpatient hospitalisations (87,540) were 66.0 percent of total discharges.

Public hospital discharges by age

• Of the total discharges, 27.8 percent were of patients aged 65 years and over.
• Of discharges for Māori, 10.1 percent were of patients aged 65 years and over.

Hospitalisation rates

• The age-standardised hospitalisation rate has increased from 1995/96 (17,367 per 100,000 population) to 2002/03 (20,099 per 100,000 population).
• The age-specific hospitalisation rate for those aged 65 years and over has increased from 38,036 per 100,000 in 1995/96 to a rate of 49,275 per 100,000 in 2002/03.

Total population

• There were 135,699 discharges involving injury and poisoning in 2002/03.
• Males accounted for 53.3 percent of these cases.
• Complications of medical and surgical care (32.7 percent) and accidental falls (25.6 percent) were leading categories of injury and poisoning hospitalisations.

Māori population

• There were 19,284 discharges for Māori in 2002/03 which involved injury and poisoning.
• Males accounted for 59.5 percent of injury cases for Māori.
• Complications of medical and surgical care (25.7 percent), accidental falls (19.4 percent), and exposure to mechanical forces (18.8 percent) were leading categories of injury and poisoning hospitalisations for Māori.

The statistical tables included in this publication can be downloaded as an Excel file (2.8 MB).

The full publication can be downloaded as a PDF file (376 kB).

Note that this issue of Selected Morbidity Data for Publicly Funded Hospitals does not contain a full set of tables. For statistical tables, the Excel file must be obtained.

Alternatively, to order the printed publication, e-mail nzhis-pub@moh.govt.nz or contact the Publications Officer, NZHIS, PO Box 5013, Wellington, phone (04) 496 2000, fax (04) 496 2340.

Published 2006
23 pages, A4
A limited number of hardcopy publications are available free of charge
ISBN 0-478-30020-4 (print version)
ISBN 0-478-30017-4 (online version)
HP 4138

The 2001/2002 (PDF, 1.3 MB), 2000/2001 (PDF, 1.4 MB), 1999/2000 (PDF, 1.7 MB), 1998/99 (PDF, 1.2 MB) and 1997/98 (PDF, 1.5 MB) issues of this publication are also available.


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