4727.0.55.006 - Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Updated Results, 2012

4727.0.55.006 - Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Updated Results, 2012–13

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/06/2014 First Issue

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+ Key Findings About the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey Structure of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey Self-assessed health status + Selected long-term health conditions Diabetes and high sugar levels Heart and circulatory diseases Kidney disease + Selected health risk factors + Selected socioeconomic characteristics Key Findings for Indigenous Regions History of Changes About this Release	KIDNEY DISEASE Kidney disease occurs when the nephrons inside a person's kidneys, which act as blood filters, are damaged. Kidney disease is closely associated with other long-term health conditions, such as diabetes and hypertensive disease (high blood pressure), and risk factors such as smoking and obesity, all of which are more prevalent in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population than in the non-Indigenous population (Endnote 1). UPDATED RESULTS FROM 2012–13 In 2012–13, around one in fifty (2%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 2 years and over had kidney disease. Similar proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females had kidney disease (both about 2%). Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged less than 45 years, the rate of reported kidney disease was slightly less than 1% (or less than one in 100 people). The prevalence of kidney disease was significantly higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 45 years and over, affecting 4% of people aged 45–54 years and 8% of those aged 55 years and over. KIDNEY DISEASE BY SELECTED AGE GROUPS, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people(a)— 2012–13 In 2012–13, kidney disease was less prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 2 years and over in non-remote areas than in remote areas (1.6% compared with 2.5%). CHANGE OVER TIME The prevalence of kidney disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 2 years and over did not change significantly between 2004–05 and 2012–13 (both 2%). 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 significantly more likely than non-Indigenous people to have kidney disease (rate ratio of 3.7). This pattern was evident for both males (rate ratio of 3.9) and females (rate ratio of 3.6). ENDNOTE 1. http://www.kidney.org.au/kidneydisease/tabid/578/default.aspx - accessed 11 November 2013 Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.