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DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM (J00-J99)

Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), which include diseases that impact on the ability to breathe, accounted for 11,260 registered deaths in 2008, which was 7.8% of all registered deaths. In line with the pattern of previous years where more males than females died of this cause, there were 5,924 male deaths compared to 5,336 female deaths due to Diseases of the respiratory system. Over the past ten years, females tended to be older than males for this underlying cause. This trend continued in 2008 with the median age at death for males 81.3 years and females 84.1 years.

In 2008, Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47) were the underlying cause of 6,255 deaths or 4.3% of all registered deaths. Chronic lower respiratory diseases include diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. More males than females died from this cause in 2008 (3,387 compared with 2,868). Males also tended to be slightly younger than females dying from this cause over time. In 2008, the median age at death caused by Chronic lower respiratory diseases was 80.4 years for males and 81.5 years for females.

In 2008, Pneumonia (J12-J18) accounted for 1,704 of the 1,742 registered deaths due to Influenza and pneumonia (J10-J18), or 1.2% of all registered deaths in Australia. As in previous years, more females died from Pneumonia than males, with 1,003 female deaths compared with 695 male deaths. The median age at death for males was also lower, 84.9 years compared with 90.3 years for females.

The number of deaths from Pneumonitis (J69), which is similar to pneumonia but results from complications of inhalation of solids and liquids, has increased substantially over time, from 113 deaths in 1999 to 1,123 in 2008. The increase in deaths due to this cause was mainly in the 60 years and over age group. In 1999, 157 people aged 60 or over died from Pneumonitis, whereas in 2008, 1,076 people aged 60 years or over died from this underlying cause.

4.9 SELECTED UNDERLYING CAUSES(a), Diseases of the Respiratory System (J00-J99) - 2008(b)(c)(d)
			Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of all deaths
Cause of Death and ICD Code			no.	no.	no.	%
CHAPTER X Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99)			5 924	5 336	11 260	7.8
	Influenza and pneumonia (J10-J18)		711	1 031	1 742	1.2
		Influenza, virus not identified (J11)	7	18	25	-
		Bacterial pneumonia, not elsewhere classified (J15)	40	38	78	0.1
		Pneumonia, organism unspecified (J18)	639	947	1 586	1.1
	Other acute lower respiratory infections (J20-J22)		74	80	154	0.1
		Acute bronchitis (J20)	9	11	20	-
		Unspecified acute lower respiratory infection (J22)	63	67	130	0.1
	Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J47)		3 387	2 868	6 255	4.3
		Bronchitis, not specified as acute or chronic (J40)	13	22	35	-
		Unspecified chronic bronchitis (J42)	16	13	29	-
		Emphysema (J43)	467	265	732	0.5
		Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (J44)	2 641	2 096	4 737	3.3
		Asthma (J45)	161	277	438	0.3
		Bronchiectasis (J47)	83	190	273	0.2
	Lung diseases due to external agents (J60-J70)		742	513	1 255	0.9
		Pneumoconiosis due to asbestos and other mineral fibres (J61)	105	2	109	0.1
		Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids (J69)	616	507	1 123	0.8
	Other respiratory diseases principally affecting the interstitium (J80-J84)		589	391	980	0.7
		Adult respiratory distress syndrome (J80)	17	8	25	-
		Pulmonary oedema (J81)	24	25	49	-
		Other interstitial pulmonary diseases (J84)	545	356	901	0.6
	Suppurative and necrotic conditions of lower respiratory tract (J85-J86)		31	18	49	-
		Abscess of lung and mediastinum (J85)	11	11	22	-
		Pyothorax (J86)	20	7	27	-
	Other diseases of pleura (J90-J94)		40	45	85	0.1
		Pleural effusion, not elsewhere classified (J90)	26	40	66	-
	Other diseases of the respiratory system (J95-J99)		325	367	692	0.5
		Respiratory failure, not elsewhere classified (J96)	23	30	53	-
		Other respiratory disorders (J98)	302	337	639	0.4
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Causes selected are those with 20 or more deaths at the 3 digit level of ICD-10.
(b) 2008 data have been subject to process improvements which have increased the quality of these data. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information.
(c) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process.
(d) Data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.