Summary
As ongoing causes of illness, disability and death, chronic conditions, and their prevention and management, are the focus of significant research and policy interest in Australia.
The AIHW has identified an ongoing need to review, refine and assess how chronic conditions should be monitored generally and what is measurable across the spectrum of risk factors, incidence/prevalence, health care (primary health care and hospitalisation), comorbidities, functional limitation/disability, burden of disease, mortality and expenditure. The first step in this process is to determine which conditions should be monitored, and in what context. This working paper summarises an approach by the AIHW NCMCC to define and select chronic conditions for collective monitoring in Australia with greater transparency. The aim of this approach is to improve consistency and provide guiding principles for the definition of chronic conditions for collective monitoring and thereby improving national statistics for health policy, planning and research.
Context of this working paper
Criteria and guiding principles for collective chronic conditions monitoring
- Criterion 1: Duration and persistence
- Criterion 2: Purpose
- Criterion 3: Alignment and coherence
- Criterion 4: Data considerations
Application of the criteria and principles
- Example 1: The epidemiologic transition
- Example 2: Collective reporting of chronic conditions among Australia’s children
- Example 3: Heart, stroke and vascular disease monitoring
Implications: The varying burden of chronic conditions
Recommendations for the NCMCC
Appendix A: Supporting documentation
- Consultation process
- International practices in chronic conditions monitoring
- Australian policy perspectives
- Variation in AIHW chronic conditions reporting
Appendix B: Data sources for collective chronic condition monitoring
- Survey data
- Administrative data
- Other sources
End matter: Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; References; List of tables; List of figures; Glossary; Related publications