An atlas of diabetes in South Australia: Population patterns of prevention, detection and management
Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU)
10.25905/5c6ddd9bb908c
https://torrens.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/An_atlas_of_diabetes_in_South_Australia_Population_patterns_of_prevention_detection_and_management/7749533
<p>The WHO
Global report on diabetes (2016) highlights the scale of diabetes as an
important public health problem. The number of adults living with (type 1 and
type 2) diabetes has almost quadrupled since 1980 to 422 million adults. This
dramatic rise is largely due to the rise in type 2 diabetes and factors driving
it include overweight and obesity. For Australia, the scale of the issue is no
different. In the 2011 burden of disease study diabetes was ranked the twelfth
leading cause of the total burden of disease (eighth for males and fourteenth
in females). Diabetes also contributes to coronary heart disease which is the
top ranked cause of the total burden of disease. For causes of the fatal burden
of disease, diabetes is ranked ninth (eleventh for males and ninth for females)
and coronary heart disease is ranked the leading cause. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The WHO
report calls upon governments to ensure that people are able to make healthy
choices and that health systems are able to diagnose, treat and care for people
with diabetes. It encourages us all as individuals to eat healthily, be
physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For
Australia, diabetes is ranked the sixth leading cause of death contributing 3%
of total deaths [2]. Over one in every 20 (5.1%) people were estimated to have
been informed by a healthcare professional that they had diabetes in 2014/15
[3]. The true prevalence is likely to be higher given that there will be a
proportion who are undiagnosed. Almost nine out of every 10 (86.3%) of these
cases were type 2 diabetes. In addition, (based on 2011/12 data) there are also
estimated to be a further 3.1% of adults who are at high risk of type 2
diabetes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>With respect
to the major risk factors for diabetes, in 2014/15 44.5% of the Australian
population were estimated to miss the recommended level of physical activity in
the last week, either being inactive or insufficiently active and almost two in
every three (63.4%) adults were overweight or obese. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Healthcare
directly attributable to diabetes costs approximately $1.7 billion per year
with the total cost (including reduced productivity and absence from work)
estimated to cost up to $14 billion per year. The average annual healthcare
cost per person with diabetes is estimated to be $4,025 if there are no
associated complications but more than doubles to $9,645 in people with
complications. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Importantly,
Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable [4], and the risk of those with diabetes
developing complications can be reduced significantly with appropriate
management. </p>
2019-02-20 23:07:06
diabetes data
Public Health Data
South Australia
Endocrinology
Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified