Notes on the data: Avoidable deaths by sex and cause
Avoidable deaths by sex and cause, 2016 to 2020
Policy context: In 2010, the National Healthcare Agreement (NHA) included a performance indicator called Potentially Avoidable Deaths (PI-20). The specification for this indicator was endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council in 2009 based on advice from the National Health Information Standards and Statistics Committee (NHISSC).
On 4 December 2013, NHISSC agreed to the re-establishment of the Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations/Potentially Avoidable Deaths (PPH/PAD) Working Group to finalise specification of this performance indicator for the 2015 NHA report. Throughout 2014, work was done by the PPH/PAD Working Group, with further revisions by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and including additional NHISSC comments from several states. It also included an examination of the international work in avoidable mortality.
Deaths determined to be avoidable are limited to those before 75 years of age, other than for Acute lymphoid leukaemia/Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, where the limit is 0 to 44 years.
Almost one third (32.0%) of deaths from all causes and at all ages) were determined to be avoidable.
The data presented in this dataset are those listed in the PI-16 Potentially avoidable deaths, 2020.
Notes:
Indicator detail
Deaths are defined as avoidable in the context of the present health system, based on the NHA PI-16 Potentially avoidable deaths, 2020.
Not all of the causes of avoidable mortality are shown in this atlas as some have too few cases to be reliable indicators at the small area level.
Note: Some of the selected avoidable mortality indicators comprise the same condition(s)/ ICD codes as the selected premature mortality indicators presented in the data/ maps.
Potentially avoidable mortality (0-74 years)
ICD-10 codes/ specifications in scope are as specified below:
Cause of death group |
ICD-10 codes |
Limits (age*, sex) |
Infections | ||
Selected invasive infections | A38-A41 A46, A48.1, G00, G03, J02.0, J13-J16, J18, L03 | |
Viral pneumonia and influenza | J10-J12 | |
HIV/AIDS | B20-B24 | |
Cancer | ||
Colorectal | C18-C21, C26.0 | |
Skin | C43, C44 | |
Breast | C50 | Female |
Cervix | C53 | |
Prostate | C61 | |
Kidney | C64 | |
Thyroid | C73 | |
Hodgkin's disease | C81 | |
Acute lymphoid leukaemia/Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia | C91.0 | 0-44 years |
Diabetes | E10-E14 | |
Diseases of the circulatory system | ||
Rheumatic and other valvular heart disease | I00-I09, I33-I37 | |
Hypertensive heart and renal disease | I10-I13 | |
Ischaemic heart disease | I20-I25 | |
Cerebrovascular diseases | I60-I69 | |
Heart failure | I50, I51.1, I51.2, I51.4, I51.5 | |
Pulmonary embolism | I26 | |
Diseases of the genitourinary system | ||
Renal failure | N17-N19 | |
Diseases of the respiratory system | ||
COPD | J40-J44 | |
Asthma | J45, J46 | |
Diseases of the digestive system | ||
Peptic ulcer disease | K25-K27 | |
Maternal & infant causes | ||
Complications of perinatal period | P00-P96 | |
Other conditions | ||
Complications of pregnancy, labour or the puerperium | O00-O99 | |
Selected external causes of morbidity and mortality | ||
Falls | W00-W19 | |
Fires, burns | X00-X09 | |
Suicide and self-inflicted injuries | X60-X84, Y87.0 | |
Misadventures to patients during surgical and medical care | Y60-Y69 | |
Medical devices associated with adverse incidents in diagnostic and therapeutic use | Y70-Y82 | |
Surgical and other medical procedures as the cause of abnormal reaction of the patient, or of later complication, without mention of misadventure at the time of the procedure | Y83-Y84 | |
Other external causes of morbidity and mortality | ||
Transport accidents | V01-V99 | |
Exposure to inanimate mechanical forces | W20-W49 | |
Exposure to animate mechanical forces | W50-64 | |
Accidental drowning and submersion | W65-W74 | |
Other accidental threats to breathing | W75-W84 | |
Exposure to electric current, radiation and extreme ambient air temperature and pressure | W85-W99 | |
Contact with heat and hot substances | X10-X19 | |
Contact with venomous animals and plants | X20-X29 | |
Exposure to forces of nature | X30-X39 | |
Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances | X40-X49 | |
Overexertion, travel and privation | X50-X57 | |
Accidental exposure to other and unspecified factors | X58-X59 | |
Assault | X85-Y09 | |
Event of undetermined intent | Y10-Y34 | |
Legal interventions and operations of war | Y35-Y36 | |
Drugs, medicaments and biological substances causing adverse effects in therapeutic use | Y40-Y59 | |
Sequelae of external causes of morbidity and mortality | Y85-Y89 |
*Age is 0 to 74 years, unless otherwise noted.
For deaths data released since 2007, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has applied a staged approach to the coding of cause of death which affects the number of records available for release at any date. In general, the latest year’s data is preliminary, the second latest is revised and the data for the remaining years is final. For further information about the ABS revisions process see the following and related sites: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3303.0Explanatory+Notes12012.
However, data published here are from the following releases: 2016 and 2017, final; 2018, revised; and 2019 and 2020, preliminary.
Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area
Numerator: Avoidable deaths for the categories above, aged 0 to 74 years
Denominator: Population aged 0 to 74 years
Detail of analysis: Average annual indirectly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population (aged 0 to 74 years); and/or indirectly age-standardised ratio, based on the Australian standard.
Source: Data compiled by PHIDU from deaths data based on the 2016 to 2020 Cause of Death Unit Record Files supplied by the Australian Coordinating Registry and the Victorian Department of Justice, on behalf of the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the National Coronial Information System. The population is the ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP) for Australia, 30 June 2016 to 30 June 2020.
© PHIDU, Torrens University Australia This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia licence.