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“In Australia, about 411,100 individuals were living with dementia in 2022, and dementia was the second leading cause of disease burden in 2023 [7]. Studies have shown that older people with cognitive impairment are more likely to use GP visits and hospital admissions, while people experiencing both cognitive and sensory impairments have higher utilisation of GP and any medical doctor visits [8]. In addition, about 50% of older Australians have a disability and this itself could induce higher utilisation of health services [9, 10]. These statistics provide further motivation for concentrating on socioeconomic inequalities and related inequity among these populations to determine who are using more services, the wealthier or the economically disadvantaged, and to quantify the extent of such inequality and inequity.”

Source: Gannon, B., Aung, P.M., Dhingra, A. et al. Examining the magnitude of inequality and inequity in use of healthcare resources among older Australians with cognitive decline. Int J Equity Health 24, 76 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02432-3

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other OECD member nations.

Page last updated July 1, 2026 by Doug McVay, Editor.