A national population-based study has shown that asthma exacerbation rates have increased over the period 2010 to 2019, but hospitalisation rates have decreased. The study retrospectively examined de-identified data from five national healthcare datasets. Exacerbations were defined based on hospital discharge diagnoses or oral corticosteroid dispensing. The total number of patients with asthma was 447,797 in 2010 and 512,627 in 2019, equating to approximately 10% of the population. The asthma exacerbation rate was 19.4% (376.2 per 1000 patient years) in 2010 and 25.1% (438.3 per 1000 patient-years) in 2019. Exacerbations rates were consistently higher in females, Pacific peoples and Māori. Hospital admissions decreased from 1.4% in 2010 to 0.9% in 2019, however over 50% of admissions were in Māori and Pacific peoples. The study authors concluded that their findings suggest a move away from secondary to primary care management of asthma exacerbations.
