Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash

New Aussie endometriosis data shows rising health spending as hospitalisations double

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Endometriosis-related hospitalisations increased by 54% in Australia from 2012-13 to 2022-23, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The AIHW has released updates to its endometriosis data, and says hospitalisations are up 34% when taking population growth into account. The researchers say health system spending on endometriosis has more than doubled over a similar time period, and 14% of women born in 1973-78 were diagnosed with endometriosis by the time they turned 50. Comparing age of diagnosis with women born in 1989-95, the AIHW says a higher percentage of the younger cohort have been diagnosed before age 31.

Organisation/s: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

Funder: Australian Government

Media release

From: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

New endometriosis insights from the AIHW

We wanted to tell you about the new data we have available on endometriosis – spanning prevalence, hospitalisations, emergency department presentations, burden of disease, health system expenditure an overview of the impact of the condition.

Updates to our endometriosis webpage coincide with the 16th World Congress on Endometriosis, beginning today (21 - 24 May).

Snapshot of the key updates:

  • The number of endometriosis-related hospitalisations has increased by 54% from 28,700 in 2012–13 to 44,200 in 2022–23.
  • The hospitalisation rate has increased by 34% from 250 to 335 per 100,000 females in the same period.
  • The hospitalisation rate for females aged 20–24 has doubled from 325 to 650 per 100,000 females.
  • The majority (4 in 5 or 82%) of hospitalisations were among females aged 15–44, equating to 19 per 1,000 hospitalisations for females in this age group.
  • In 2023–24 there were 4,800 endometriosis-related ED presentations, with three-quarters of these (76%) triaged as needing to be seen within 30 minutes or less.
  • Endometriosis remains the third leading cause of non-fatal disease burden due to reproductive and maternal conditions among females, after genital prolapse and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
  • Health system spending on endometriosis has more than doubled from $142 million in 2013–14 to $293 million in 2022–23.
  • Around 1 in 7 (14%) females born in 1973–78 were estimated to have been diagnosed with endometriosis by age 44–49.
  • By age 31, a higher proportion of females in the younger cohort had been diagnosed with endometriosis (9.2% of those born in 1989–95 compared with 6.9% born in 1973–78).

For more information, visit: Endometriosis, About - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

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