Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

DIABETES MELLITUS

Definition

This topic refers primarily to those ever told by a doctor or nurse they have diabetes mellitus or high sugar levels in their blood or urine, and who consider they currently have this condition.

All types reported were recorded for the item 'whether ever told by a doctor or nurse':

• diabetes - type 1;
• diabetes - type 2;
• diabetes - gestational;
• diabetes - insipidus;
• diabetes - type unknown; and
• high sugar levels.

More than one response was allowed.

Population

Information was obtained for all persons in the NHS and persons aged 2 years and older in the NNPAS.

Methodology

Respondents were asked if they had ever been told by a doctor or nurse that they had diabetes and/or high sugar levels in blood or urine. Those who reported they had been told they had diabetes or high sugar levels were asked the age at which they were told they had diabetes/high sugar levels, and the type of diabetes they were told they had. Persons were then asked whether the diabetes or high sugar level was still current.

Those reporting only diabetes insipidus were sequenced out of further diabetes questions at this point and recorded elsewhere as a current, long-term condition and coded under other endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases. From this point on in the Users' Guide, any references to diabetes refer to diabetes mellitus only.

Where the respondent had reported they currently had any type of diabetes, those conditions were assumed to be of six months or more duration, with the exception of gestational diabetes (which is assumed to be short-term). If the respondent reported they currently had high sugar levels they were asked if their condition had lasted, or was expected to last, for six months or more. Therefore estimates of diabetes exclude gestational diabetes.

All respondents, regardless of whether they reported having diabetes, were asked whether their parents and/or siblings had been told by a doctor or nurse that they had diabetes. This new question has been included in the AHS to assist with the calculations of diabetes risk using the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK).

Respondents aged 50 years and over who identified that they had not been diagnosed with diabetes or high sugar levels, and respondents of any age who identified that they had not been diagnosed with diabetes or high sugar levels but had current long-term heart or circulatory conditions, were asked whether they had been screened for diabetes in the last 3 years.

Respondents who had current/long-term diabetes or high sugar levels were asked:

• how often in the last 12 months did they or someone else test their blood glucose levels;
• how often in the last 12 months did they or someone else check their feet;
• whether they were currently taking insulin every day and, if so, the age at which they began taking insulin and the brand of insulin that they take;
• whether they had changed their eating pattern or diet because of diabetes/high sugar levels, and whether they were still following a change of diet;
• whether they had taken any other actions including:
  • losing weight;
  • exercising most days;
  • taking vitamins, supplements or herbal treatments; and,
• whether they had taken the HBA1c test in the last 12 months.

Respondents were then sequenced to the "Actions" module where they were asked questions about the number of times they had seen a GP, specialist, etc. for their diabetes/high sugar levels.

Respondents were asked in a later module about all medications and health supplements that they were taking, but not in relation to any specific condition. This differs from the 2007-08 survey where questions about medication were asked within the diabetes/high sugar level module.

Information on diabetes/high sugar levels was collected in both the NHS and NNPAS. In Australian Health Survey: First Results (cat. no. 4364.0.55.001), released on 29 October 2012, data on this item are available from the NHS component (21,000 people). Results from the AHS core sample (the full 34,000 people, consisting of both NHS and NNPAS samples combined) will be available in May 2013. For more information on the structure of the AHS, see the Introduction of this Users' Guide.

Data items

The data items and related output categories for this topic will be available in Excel spreadsheet format from the Downloads page of this product.

Interpretation

Points to be considered in interpreting data for this topic include the following:

• those cases of diabetes or high sugar levels reported through the general questions about long-term conditions (rather than the specific questions about diabetes and high sugar levels) have not necessarily been medically diagnosed;
• because this is a household-based survey, those people with diabetes resident in hospitals, nursing or convalescent homes, or similar accommodation are outside the scope of this survey. As a result, the survey will under-represent those with more severe complications of the condition; and,
• gestational diabetes is not considered a long-term condition and therefore is not counted in the estimates for diabetes.

Comparability with 2007-08

The methodology used in the 2011-12 NHS was similar to that used in the 2007-08 NHS survey, and therefore data for most items are considered directly comparable between surveys.

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