In 2022-23, more Australians were admitted to hospital for dementia than for any other reason and their average length of stay was six times longer than the average hospital stay, according to new data.
Of the 12.1 million hospitalisations in Australia in 2022-23, about 26,300 hospitalisations were due to dementia.
For people with dementia, the average length of hospital stay was 15.5 days, compared with 2.7 for the average length of stay for all hospitalisations.
People living with dementia occupied 407,100 hospital beds days in 2022-23, which means that on average every day of the year there were more than 1,100 people living with dementia occupying an Australian hospital bed.
"We know that hospital is not the best environment for someone living with dementia," HammondCare General Manager Residential Care and Dementia Centre, Angela Raguz, told The SOURCE.
These figures were released last week in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)'s Dementia in Australia report, which provides a snapshot of dementia statistics in Australia.
Other important dementia data from the report:
- In 2023, nearly two thirds (63%) of the estimated 411,100 Australians living with dementia were women.
- It's predicted that the number of Australians living with dementia will more than double by 2058 to 849,300.
- In 2021-22, 54% of the 242,000 people living in permanent residential aged care had dementia.
- In 2022, dementia was the second leading cause of death in Australia after coronary heart disease and was the leading cause of death for women.
This week, 16-22 September, is Dementia Action Week, an annual initiative run by Dementia Australia that aims to raise awareness, understanding and acceptance for people living with dementia, and their families and carers.
