part of the evaluation of the Queensland
Strategy for Chronic Disease 2005 - 2015
In November 2008 the LWDS launched the first annual survey of Queenslanders about their experiences of diabetes. Approximately 4,000 participants are enrolled in the study and provided information about their experiences with the health care system, their quality of life and how this condition impacts on them, as well as other health and lifestyle related questions.
The graph below shows the percentage of male and female participants in each age group. Of the participants aged 18-39 years, 37% are male and 63% are female. Of the participants aged 40-59 years, 52% are male and 48% are female. Of the participants aged 60-75 years, 58% are male and 42% are female.
Overweight and obesity is linked to insulin resistance for diabetes, as well as other ill-health conditions including stroke, heart failure, arthritis, sleep apnoea and more. The World Health Organization recommends a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 kg/m2 to 25 kg/m2. The data collected in the LWDS shows that 82% of respondents are overweight or obese with a BMI over 25 kg/m2.
The participants of the LWDS were asked how many fruit and vegetables they eat on a regular day and 61% of participants with type 2 diabetes are meeting fruit intake recommendations of 2 serves of fruit per day and 13% of participants with type 2 diabetes are meeting the national vegetable intake recommendations of 5 serves of vegetables per day.
The Diabetes Service offers education, information and support to adults with diabetes, and to their families and carers. The Community Diabetes Team consists of Diabetes Educators, Dieticians and an Indigenous Health Worker. The graph below shows that 88% of LWDS participants did not use this type of service within the last 12 months.
97% of the LWDS participants report that the most common place for them to access information about diabetes is from health professionals, including general practitioners, specialists and nurse educators. The second most common source for information is Diabetes Australia, followed by pharmacists and then the internet.
Participants were asked about their satisfaction with the health care system. From the graph below we can see that overall our participants are satisfied with the health care system.
Participants were asked about their satisfaction with the health services and ongoing treatment of their diabetes. Overall, the response was positive with most people reported being ‘very satisfied’ with their current diabetes treatment.
Participants of the LWDS were asked about the care that they have received for their diabetes and how often it occurred.
Detailed planning for the Living with Diabetes study commenced in 2006. Before the study could commence, considerable work was undertaken to develop and trial the surveys, the participant recruitment methods, and the procedures to support participants and manage their data.
Final ethical clearance for the study was granted in June 2008. Participants were recruited and provided with support to complete their first annual survey in November 2008 and their second annual survey in 2009. Data collection for the second annual survey is progressing and results can be analysed in the middle of this year.
The diagram below shows a brief timeline of the activities to date.
