Measure 5.5: Increased number of people living with dementia with regular medication reviews
Medication management reviews (MMR) items are a category of services on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) used to prevent medication-related problems. Medication use by people living with dementia provides information about medication use and the importance of medication reviews to support safe and effective medication use (Dementia Australia 2019).
Data are available from the National Health Data Hub (NHDH) to track this measure.
The indicator shown below should be interpreted with caution as NHDH data may not be nationally representative of all people living with dementia across Australia. It is also important to note that medication management reviews are not the only ways GPs and pharmacists manage a patient’s medications. This indicator will be complemented by other data if they become available.
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Indicator
Percentage of the National Health Data Hub (NHDH) dementia cohort who had a medication management review attendance.
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Baseline value
16% of dementia cohort in 2021–22
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Latest value
Baseline value only
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Progress
To be provided in future updates
The desired outcome is that the proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who had a medication management review will increase over time.
Change over time
Future updates of this report will track changes over time for this indicator.
Historical change over time: 2018–19 to 2021–22
Between 2018–19 and 2019–20, the proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who had a medication management review was steady. It then decreased slightly from 19% in 2019–20 to 16% in 2021–22 (Figure 5.5.1) and may have been impacted by changes to service use due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 5.5.1: Proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who had a medication management review, 2018–19 to 2021–22
A column graph showing the proportion of people with dementia who had a medication management review increased slightly from 18% in 2018–19 to 19% in 2019–20. The proportion then decreased to 16% in 2021–22.
| Financial year | Proportion of dementia cohort |
|---|---|
| 2018–19 | 18% |
| 2019–20 | 19% |
| 2020–21 | 17% |
| 2021–22 | 16% |
Notes
- Participants missing age information were excluded from the NHDH cohort.
- Participants with missing remoteness area or socioeconomic area are included in the NHDH cohort.
Source:
AIHW NHDH 2021–22, analysis of NHDH
The proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who had a medication management review in 2021–22:
- was higher among females than males (17% and 14%, respectively)
- increased across age groups from 6% among people aged under 65 to 19% among people aged 85–94
- was higher among people in the community than people in residential aged care (28% and 3%, respectively)
- increased slightly (from 14.7% to 16.3%) with increasing socioeconomic advantage.
There were no clear patterns of variation by remoteness area.
These data come from the AIHW analysis of linked health and aged care services data in the National Health Data Hub (NHDH 2021–22).
The NHDH is a longitudinal, person-focused, de-identified health linkage system, that comprises data from state and territory, Commonwealth and non-government data sources. As of August 2025, data in the NHDH spanned from 1 January 1997 to 30 June 2024, bringing together core government administrative health, welfare, disability and aged care datasets.
Although some datasets spanned until the end of the 2023–24 financial year at the time of analysis, National Screening Assessment Form data were only available from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2022. To ensure a consistent lookback period for identifying people with dementia across financial years, the most recent year of reporting was 2021–22.
This indicator includes persons identified with dementia using data from admitted patient care, emergency department presentations, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the National Death Index, and aged care assessments. As such, NHDH data may not be representative of all people living with dementia across Australia, with some people not accessing services offered by the included NHDH data sources.
Remoteness area is classified according to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure.
Data for population groups are reported for this most recent year of data only and where data quality allows.
Note that where possible, the baseline value will be revised to 2024 in future updates to align with the release of the Action Plan.
For more detailed data, including the counts used to calculate proportions, see the Supplementary data tables.
For more information on the NHDH data and coding rules used in the analysis, see the Technical notes.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2021–22) National Health Data Hub, aihw.gov.au, accessed 5 August 2025.
Dementia Australia (2019) Medication use by people living with dementia, Dementia Australia, accessed 29 October 2024.