DIABETES

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition characterised by insufficient insulin production. It impacts on the health of many Australians and can result in a range of complications, including serious damage to the nerves and blood vessels. If left undiagnosed or poorly managed, diabetes can lead to coronary heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, limb amputations or blindness. According to the 2003 Australian Burden of Disease Study, diabetes accounted for 9% of the disease burden in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (Endnote 1). Data presented are for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who: reported having ever been told by a doctor or nurse that they had diabetes; or reported having ever been told by a doctor or nurse that they had high sugar levels in their blood or urine, and that this condition is current. More information on the number of people with diabetes based on measured blood sugar levels will be available upon release of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Biomedical results later in 2014.

Data presented are for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, including those who reported high sugar levels in their blood or urine.

UPDATED RESULTS FROM 2012–13

In 2012–13, around one in eleven (9%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 2 years and over had diabetes mellitus or high sugar levels in their blood or urine.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females were significantly more likely than males to have diabetes/high sugar levels (10% compared with 8%). However, this is partly due to there being a greater proportion of women than men in older age groups in which diabetes/high sugar levels are more prevalent. The difference between overall age standardised rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females was not statistically significant.

Within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, diabetes/high sugar levels were prevalent from about 25 years of age onwards, with rates progressively rising in line with age. One in six (18%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25 years and over had diabetes/high sugar levels, with rates ranging from 5% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–34 years to 40% of those aged 55 years and over.


In 2012–13, the prevalence of diabetes/high sugar levels among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ranged from 7% in Major Cities and Inner Regional areas to 14% in Very Remote areas. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in non-remote areas were less likely than those in remote areas to have reported diabetes (8% compared with 13%).



CHANGE OVER TIME

Between 2001 and 2012–13, the prevalence of diabetes/high sugar levels in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population increased significantly from 6% to 9%. There have been statistically significant increases in the rates for diabetes/high sugar levels in both non-remote and remote areas over the decade — from 6% to 8% in non-remote areas and from 8% to 13% in remote areas.

HOW DO THESE RATES COMPARE WITH THE RATES FOR NON-INDIGENOUS PEOPLE?

After adjusting for differences in the age structure of the two populations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were more than three times as likely as non-Indigenous people to have diabetes/high sugar levels (rate ratio of 3.2). There were statistically significant differences between the age standardised rates for both females (rate ratio of 3.9) and males (rate ratio of 2.7).

Rates for diabetes/high sugar levels among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were between three and five times as high as the comparable rates for non-Indigenous people in all age groups from 25 years onwards.



ENDNOTES

1. Vos, T, Barker, B, Stanley, L & Lopez, A 2007, The Burden of Disease and Injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 2003, School of Population Health, Brisbane.