Insulin-treated diabetes in Tasmania: population-based clinical characteristics and their possible implications for diabetic health care in Australia.
The Tasmanian Insulin-treated Diabetes Register recruited 1233 eligible (treatment with insulin on May 1, 1984) subjects with insulin-treated diabetes, which enabled the description of a population-based profile of clinical characteristics. Approximately one-third of both the male and female subjects who were recruited was considered to have insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. As would be expected, subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were considerably younger, had a longer average duration of disease, and had had fewer hospital admissions compared with subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. However, in some cases, both forms of diabetes were of long duration and had resulted in multiple hospital admissions. More than 90% of subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and approximately half the subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were hospitalized at diagnosis; an absence of a secular trend in diabetes-stabilization practices was noted, which suggested a low utilization of facilities for ambulatory stabilization in Tasmania to date. To monitor metabolic control, approximately half the subjects performed self-monitoring of their blood glucose levels exclusively, which indicated the widespread acceptance of this form of evaluation (which has been introduced into Australia only within the past decade). Approximately one-quarter of the subjects continued to perform urine testing exclusively and a small proportion of subjects did not monitor their metabolic control in any way.
King
H
H
WHO Collaborating Centre for the Epidemiology of Diabetes Mellitus, Royal Southern Memorial Hospital, Caulfield, VIC.
Dixon
J
J
Senator
G
G
Zimmet
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003710:Demography; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D013648:Tasmania; D013997:Time Factors
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin