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The utilisation of public and private health care among Australian women with diabetes: Findings from the 45 and Up Study
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The utilisation of public and private health care among Australian women with diabetes: Findings from the 45 and Up Study

Jon Adams, Erica McIntyre, Amie Steel, Brenda Leung, Matthew Leach and David Sibbritt
PloS one, Vol.16(8), e0255573
12/08/2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255573
PMID: 34383813
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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0,  Open Access
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Abstract

Endocrinology Health services and systems not elsewhere classified Provision of health and support services not elsewhere classified Women's and maternal health
Aim To describe the prevalence of health care utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with the management of diabetes among Australian women aged 45 years and older. Design Cross-sectional survey design. Methods The questionnaire was administered to 392 women (a cohort of the 45 and Up Study) reporting a diagnosis of diabetes between August and November 2016. It asked about the use of conventional medicine, complementary medicine (CM) and self-prescribed treatments for diabetes and associated out-of-pocket spending. Results Most women (88.3%; n = 346) consulted at least one health care practitioner in the previous 12 months for their diabetes; 84.6% (n = 332) consulted a doctor, 44.4% (n = 174) consulted an allied health practitioner, and 20.4% (n = 80) consulted a CM practitioner. On average, the combined annual out-of-pocket health care expenditure was AU$492.6 per woman, which extrapolated to approximately AU$252 million per annum. Of this total figure, approximately AU$70 million was spent on CM per annum. Conclusions Women with diabetes use a diverse range of health services and incur significant out-of-pocket expense to manage their health. The degree to which the health care services women received were coordinated, or addressed their needs and preferences, warrants further exploration. Limitations of this study include the use of self-report and inability to generalise findings to other populations.

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