High blood pressure, osteoarthritis, an
immunisations/vaccinations dominated older people's reasons for
visits to their GP, according to a new report released today by the
University of Sydney and the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare.
The report, Older Patients Attending General Practice in
Australia 2000-02, is based on 50,000 GP consultations with
patients aged 65 years or more.
It found that 93% of older patients attending general practice
had chronic conditions. High blood pressure and osteoarthritis were
the most common chronic conditions reported, as well as being the
top two reasons for consultation overall.
Report co-author Julie O'Halloran, of the AIHW's General
Practice Statistics and Classification Unit at the University of
Sydney, said that high blood pressure was also the condition most
likely to co-exist with other conditions.
'In particular we found that common combinations were high blood
pressure with lipid disorder (e.g. high blood cholesterol), or high
blood pressure with osteoarthritis.'
'Another interesting finding was that when we compared the
results of this study with a similar one completed in 1990-91, we
found that osteoarthritis, diabetes, and lipid disorders were more
frequently managed in 2000-02 than a decade ago.'
'Conversely, ischaemic heart disease (heart attack and angina),
heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were
managed less frequently than 10 years earlier', Ms O'Halloran
said.
Ms O'Halloran said that she was surprised at the relatively low
management rates of some conditions, such as osteoporosis and
dementia-both causes of disability among older people.
The relatively high uptake of annual health assessments for
older people, recently introduced by the Australian Government, was
reflected in the results of the study, with data from almost 200
assessments reported.
'GPs appear to be taking the opportunity when conducting health
assessments to look at the health of the patient holistically, and
to identify problems that may not have been readily apparent during
other consultations'.
Other findings from the report include:
- Almost 1 in 5 patients aged 65 or more was obese, with over
half being either overweight or obese. However, among those aged
75+, 1 in 10, particularly women, were underweight.
- Injuries were managed at 1 in every 20 encounters with older
patients.
- Medications acting on the cardiovascular system were the most
frequently prescribed, supplied or advised.
27 August 2003
Further information: Julie O'Halloran, tel.
(02) 9845 8161 or 0412 971 061 OR A/Prof Helena Britt, tel. (02)
9845 8150 or 0411 197 938
Media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
AIHW tel. (02) 6244 1032, OR Media Office, University of Sydney, 02
9351 2261
Availability: Check the AIHW
Publications Catalogue for details.