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

Autor: Jon Adams, Erica McIntyre, Amie Steel, Brenda Leung, Matthew Leach, David Sibbritt
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 8, p e0255573 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255573
Popis: AimTo 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.DesignCross-sectional survey design.MethodsThe 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.ResultsMost 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.ConclusionsWomen 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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