National hospital admissions were analysed for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in New Zealand over a 5-year period, to estimate the 5-year trends and distribution by age, prioritised ethnicity, socio-economic status, length of stay and district health board (DHB). The investigation also sought to determine the impact of these admissions on the public healthcare budget. National patientlevel routine data on admissions with a principal clinical diagnosis of COPD (mostly ICD-10 codes J440 and J441) were obtained for the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2013. There 61,516 hospital admissions including day stays over the study period. The annual admission rate was stable across the 5-year period, with a budget impact in financial years (FY)2012/13 dollar values of $59.62m, but the average length of stay (ALOS) declined from 5.09 to 4.37 days. In FY2012/13 the admission rate was 2.82 per 1000 population; age-standardised admission rates (ASR) were 4.4-fold higher for Māori and 3.6-fold higher for Pacific peoples than for European/other ethnicities. For individuals aged ≥15 years, the ASR was 2.55 per 1000. Admission rates were higher for men than women and increased steeply with age and socioeconomic deprivation (NZDep06). The mean age at discharge was lower for Māori and Pacific peoples than for European/Others (63.4, 67.1 and 72.3 years). The mean 30-day readmission rate was 6.7%. The ALOS increased with age and was shorter for Māori (3.59 days) and Pacific peoples (3.48 days) than for European/Others (4.65 days). Admission rates varied widely across DHBs, and were higher in rural than urban regions. The ALOS (including day stays) also differed considerably across DHBs, ranging from 3.52 to 6.12.
