This indicator reports on the proportion of Indigenous people with type 2 diabetes who had a blood pressure test in the previous 6 months and are regular clients attending Indigenous specific primary health care services. The goal for this indicator is 70% by 2023.
Why is it important?
Chronic diseases, including diabetes, are the major causes of morbidity and mortality among Australian and Torres Strait Islander people. Effective management of chronic disease can delay the progression of disease, improve quality of life, increase life expectancy and decrease the need for high-cost interventions leading to net savings.
What data are available?
In the absence of national data on Indigenous people with type 2 diabetes who have regular blood pressure tests, this indicator uses data from the Indigenous primary health care national Key Performance Indicators (nKPIs) data collection. These data pertain to Indigenous regular clients. A regular client is defined as a client who has attended the primary health care organisation at least 3 times in the last 2 years.
What do the data show?
Nationally, in June 2018, among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander regular clients with type 2 diabetes:
- 66% had their blood pressure result recorded within the previous 6 months
- the proportion who had their blood pressure result recorded was lowest in the Northern Territory (63%) and highest in Queensland (71%).