A new report released today by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW) showed that diabetes hospitalisation
rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are
substantially higher than hospitalisation rates for other
Australians with diabetes.
Ms Kathleen O'Brien of the AIHW's Cardiovascular Disease and
Diabetes Unit said the report looked at trends in diabetes-related
hospitalisations using hospital statistics over the period 1996-07
to 2003-04.
It found that diabetes-related hospitalisations increased by 20%
between 2000-01 and 2003-04, and the average length of stay for
someone with diabetes was more than three times the overall average
length of stay.
The report, Diabetes hospitalisations in Australia,
2003-04, found that in cases where diabetes was the main
reason for hospitalisation, the rate for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples was over seven times the rate of diabetes
hospitalisations for other Australians.
The report also examined variations in hospitalisation rates
across different socioeconomic groups and geographic regions. It
showed that hospitalisation rates rose with increasing
socioeconomic disadvantage and increasing remoteness.
Diabetes was most commonly associated with hospitalisations for
circulatory diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke.
'Diabetes is a chronic condition that can have a major impact on
life expectancy and quality of life, especially if undetected or
poorly controlled,' Ms O'Brien said.
30 August 2006
Further information: Ms Kathleen O'Brien, AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1220, mob. 0407 915 851.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of Diabetes hospitalisations in
Australia, 2003-04.