A five year descriptive analysis of potentially preventable hospitalisations for Ear, Nose, and Throat conditions in regional Victoria, Australia, from 2015 to 2020

Abstract

Background Potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) of ear, nose, and throat (ENT) conditions in the Murray Primary Health Network (PHN) region have been found to be higher than the state average of Victoria, Australia. This study aimed to examine the association between patient characteristics and PPH for ENT conditions from 2015 to 2020 in the Murray PHN region Methods Unit record hospital separation data were obtained from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset. Differences between patients from ‘higher than expected’ postcodes and ‘other’ postcodes (with respect to the distribution of demographic and other patient characteristics) were determined using chi-squared tests for each ENT subgroup. The results were confirmed by logistic regression analyses using resident of a postcode with higher than expected hospitalisations as the outcome variable. Results There were 4816 hospital separations in the Murray PHN with a primary diagnosis of ENT as defined by the PPH framework in the National Health Agreement. Of the 169 postcodes located in the catchment area, 15 were identified as having higher than expected numbers of upper respiratory tract infection hospitalisations, 14 were identified for acute tonsillitis, and 12 were identified for otitis media. Conclusion Of the identified postcodes, differential patient factors included 0–9 year old’s, the Indigenous population, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (patients requiring an interpreter and language other than English patients). Further investigation of the identified postcodes is warranted to determine access to and utilisation of primary healthcare services in the management of PPH ENT conditions in the region.