What are the 4 Ts? It’s about time your patients knew!
Too many Australians are being diagnosed with diabetes too late. This is true for both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Over 600 people end up in hospital emergency rooms each year very sick, and then find out they have type 1 diabetes.
Locally, in Northern NSW in 2011/12, hospitalisation rates for diabetes were 472 per 100,000 for Aboriginal people and 120 per 100,000 for non-Aboriginal people, nearly a fourfold difference.1
44.8% of Aboriginal respondents reported diabetes as one of the top five serious health concerns in their community (n=306), compared to 15.2% of non-Aboriginal respondents (n=2,083).2
In 2015-16, 10 of the 12 LGAs in NCPHN had a significantly higher rate of type 1 diabetes hospitalisations than NSW (51.2 per 100,000 per population). Kempsey 147.2, Clarence Valley 127.9, Bellingen 101.1, Richmond Valley 98.2, Kyogle 96.2, Nambucca 88.7, Coffs Harbour 87.3, Ballina 82.8, Tweed 82.6 and Lismore 71.4.3
In 2015-16, two of the 12 LGAs in NCPHN had a significantly higher rate of type 2 diabetes hospitalisations than NSW (87.8 per 100,000 per population) Richmond Valley 140.3 and Clarence Valley 115.6.4
The delay in diagnosis is putting many people at risk of major life-threatening health problems.
Make sure your patients know the 4 Ts of type 1 diabetes:
- Tired
- Thinner
- Toilet
- Thirst
“It’s About Time” we detected all types of diabetes earlier and save lives.
“It’s About Time” we detected silent, undiagnosed type 2 diabetes
Up to 500,000 Australians may have silent, undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. They may have type 2 diabetes for up to seven years before it is diagnosed. During this time type 2 diabetes may be damaging their blood vessels and nerves and causing vision loss, amputations, heart attacks, stroke and kidney damage.
Visit the HealthPathway for Screening and Diagnosis of Diabetes.
For a list of all localised pathways see:
Mid and North Coast Localised Pathways
Username: manchealth
Password: conn3ct3d
References
1. Northern NSW Local Health District, 2015. Northern NSW Integrated Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Plan 2015-2020 Vol. 2 [Online]. Available at: http://nnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/blog/2015/07/30/northern-nsw-integrated-aboriginal-health-wellbeing-plan-2015-2020/ (Accessed September 2017)
2. North Coast Primary Health Network, 2016. Primary Health Needs Survey, unpublished.
3. Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, 2017. Diabetes hospitalisations by type of diabetes and age. [Online] Available at: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/Indicator/dia_typehos/dia_typehos_lgamap_snap [Accessed October 2017]
4. Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, 2017. Diabetes hospitalisations by type of diabetes and age. [Online] Available at: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au/Indicator/dia_typehos/dia_typehos_lgamap_snap [Accessed October 2017]