Patterns and trends in alcohol‐related hospitalizations in Victoria, Australia, 1987/88–1995/96

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine patterns and yearly trends in alcohol‐related hospitalization rates during the period 1987/88–1995/96 for men and women living in metropolitan and rural/remote Victoria. Alcohol‐related hospitalizations were extracted from the Victorian Inpatient Minimum Dataset (VMD) for the years 1987/88–1995/96 (public hospitals) and 1993/94–1995/96 (private hospitals), and adjusted by the appropriate aetiological fractions. Sex‐specific age‐adjusted rates we expressed per 10000 residents/year. During 1993/94–1995/96, alcohol‐related hospitalizations comprised 1.0% of all Victorian hospitalizations (about 12000/year), with men accounting for over two‐thirds of alcohol‐related hospitalizations. Approximately half of the alcohol‐related hospitalizations were for disease conditions and the other half for external cause (injury) conditions. About 80% of all alcohol‐related hospitalizations were to public hospitals, with the exception of alcohol dependence (63% to private hospitals). Alcohol‐related hospitalization rates were generally higher for people living in rural/remote areas compared to urban areas. During 1987/88–1995/96, the age‐adjusted alcohol‐related hospitalization rates in public hospitals did not change significantly for disease conditions (14.8–14.7 for men and 6.3–6.4 for women) or female external cause conditions (6.7–6.1), but decreased for external cause conditions (18.4–15.5). In private hospitals during 1993/94–1995/96, the age‐adjusted alcohol‐related hospitalization rates for disease conditions decreased (5.4–4.1 for men and 3.7–3.0 for women) but increased for external cause conditions (1.8–2.4 for men and 1.0–1.2 for women). These patterns and time‐trends in Victorian alcohol‐related hospitalizations reflect a combination of alcohol‐related morbidity levels, hospital admission practices and patterns and levels of service provision. They suggest a potential need to focus on services and programmes in rural/remote Victoria.