QIM 5: Proportion of regular clients with diabetes with an influenza immunisation status recorded in their GP record within the previous 15 months
Influenza is a common disease of the respiratory tract. It affects people of all ages. It is estimated that influenza is likely to be associated with more than 3,000 deaths and 13,500 hospitalisations each year in Australia, just in people aged >50 years (ATAGI 2018).
There are a number of groups who are at a higher risk of influenza and its complications. These groups experience higher illness and death associated with influenza than the rest of the population and patients with diabetes is one of the vulnerable population groups. Therefore, annual influenza vaccination is strongly recommended for patients with diabetes (ATAGI 2018).
While best practice guidelines recommend annual immunisation, a 15-month interval allows for cases when a client decides to receive a vaccine earlier than recommended (for example, from a pharmacy), or delay and wait for the release of an ‘enhanced’ vaccine (Department of Health 2020b).
Capture of results recorded outside of the general practice setting
Some patients may receive care from other practitioners in addition to a GP, including an endocrinologist/a specialist physician, and/or other health care providers to safely manage their diabetes (RACGP 2020b). Results arising from clinical intervention conducted outside of the service that are known and recorded by the practice are included in the measure. Where immunisation was provided elsewhere but is not known to the practice, this is not captured in the report. For example, this might be where the vaccination providers’ information systems may not be compatible with the clinical information system of the client’s usual general practice.
Other sources of relevant data
Data on the prevalence of long-term health conditions like diabetes are captured in the National Health Survey (NHS) conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). There are other administrative data collections where the data from these client-provider interactions are captured, for example, Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), the National Diabetes Service Scheme (NDSS) register and the Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Groups (APEG) state and territory registers. There are other administrative data collections where data on influenza immunisation are captured, for example, the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).
This indicator reports on the proportion of regular clients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or an undefined diabetes diagnosis, hereafter described as diabetes, who had an influenza immunisation status recorded in their GP record within the previous 15 months.
QIM 5: Regional proportions
As of July 2022, nationally, 54.0% of regular clients with diabetes had an influenza immunisation status recorded in their GP record within the previous 15 months. This varied from 37.8% to 65.4% across PHNs.