Diabetes is quickly moving up the scale of problems most
commonly managed by doctors each year in general practice-
according to a new report released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare. Diabetes has jumped from number 12
to the eighth most common problem managed over the last ten
years.
General practice activity in Australia 1999-2000
details about 100,000 doctor-patient encounters from a sample of
1000 GPs. It gives an insight into why people visit their GP, the
health problems GPs manage, and what types of treatments general
practice patients receive.
Director of the AIHW's General Practice Statistics and
Classification Unit, Professor Helena Britt, said the significant
increase in the management of diabetes was probably due to higher
GP and community awareness of the need to detect and control the
disease.
'Recent awareness campaigns and establishment of the AIHW's
National Diabetes Register mean that people are now helping to
complete a much-needed picture of diabetes in Australia, Professor
Britt said. 'There's also the fact that many Divisions of General
Practice are running diabetes shared care programs so there's a
greater awareness among doctors and this certainly plays a part in
early detection and management of the disease.
'Broadly, GPs today appear to be the gatekeepers in our health
care system. They handle a wide range of problems every day-from
the ongoing management of high blood pressure, to treating common
colds, and bronchitis-to managing chronic illnesses such as heart
disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and cancer.'
Other findings from General practice activity in Australia
1999-00 include:
- The problems most commonly managed by doctors were high blood
pressure (8.4 per 100 encounters), the common cold (7.2 per 100),
vaccination (4.6 per 100), depression, and asthma (3.4 per
100).
- Antibiotics were the most frequently prescribed drugs by
doctors-they accounted for 17% of all drugs prescribed.
- Half of all patients were either overweight or obese; 9% were
underweight.
- About 1 in 7 patients visited their doctor for a check-up,
while 1 in 10 visits were for a prescription. About 1 in 25
patients see their GP for a vaccination-half of these are for the
flu.
- The report comes from the BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation And
Care of Health) program, which is conducted by the University of
Sydney in collaboration with the AIHW.
21 December 2000
Further information: A/Professor Helena Britt,
tel. 02 9845 8150 (bh)
or 0411 197 938 (mob).
For media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability.