Trends in hospital admissions and mortality from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Australia

Walters, E Haydn; Wood-Baker, Richard; Wilson, David H; Tucker, Graeme; Adams, Robert J; Villanueva, Elmer V

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2008.tb01603.x

Topics

An article published in April last year has prompted debate about the interpretation of time series analyses. (MJA 2007; 186: 408-411)

To the Editor: Our comments and question relate to the interesting article by Wilson et al on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Australia.1 The statistics on mortality trends for these diseases were complex, but the gist of the matter seems to relate to averaged trends for COPD and asthma over a 10-year period.

1 Department of Rural and Indigenous Health and Gippsland Medical School, Monash University, Moe, VIC.
2 Department of Health, Adelaide, SA.

Correspondence: haydn.walters@utas.edu.au

1. Wilson DH, Tucker G, Frith P, et al. Trends in hospital admissions and mortality from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Australia, 1993–2003. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 408-411. <MJA full text>
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National GRIM (General Record of Incidence of Mortality) books. Canberra: AIHW, 2005. http://www.aihw.gov.au/mortality/data/grim_books_national.cfm (accessed Oct 2007).
3. Roberts RF, Innes KC, Walker SM. Introducing ICD-10-AM in Australian hospitals. Med J Aust 1998; 169 Suppl: S32-S35. <MJA full text>
4. Wilson DH, Tucker G, Frith P, et al. Trends in hospital admissions and mortality from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Australia, 1993–2003. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 408-411. <MJA full text>
5. Wilson DH, Tucker G, Frith P, et al. Trends in hospital admissions and mortality from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Australia, 1993–2003. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 408-411. <MJA full text>
6. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, National Cancer Statistics Clearing House. C50 incidence, 1983–2001. Canberra: AIHW, 2005.
7. Morgan OW, Griffiths C, Majeed A. Interrupted time-series analysis of regulations to reduce paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning. PLoS Med 2007; 4: e105.
8. White MD. Examining the impact of external influences on police use of deadly force over time. Eval Rev 2003; 27: 50-78.
9. Chang HJ, Huang N, Lee CH, et al. The impact of the SARS epidemic on the utilization of medical services: SARS and the fear of SARS. Am J Public Health 2004; 94: 562-564.
10. Walters EH, Wood-Baker R. Trends in hospital admissions and mortality from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Australia [letter]. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 258-258.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.