Drinking Patterns in Australia, 2001-2007

This report uses data from the three most recent National Drug Household Surveys to look at trends in alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, alcohol beverage of choice, and under-age drinking. Using the 2007 data, the report also explores factors that are associated with short-term risky or high-risk drinking behaviour. (AIHW catalogue no. PHE133)

Aged Care in Australia

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released two reports:


Residential aged care in Australia 2008-09 - This report provides comprehensive statistical information on residential aged care facilities and services, their residents, admissions and separations, and residents' dependency levels. At 30 June 2009, there were over 178,000 residential aged care places, an increase of 1.6% compared with 30 June 2008. Almost 82,000 permanent residents (59%) had a recorded diagnosis of dementia at 30 June 2009. Other recorded health conditions affecting residents included circulatory diseases (42,000 residents) and diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue (26,800 residents). (AIHW catalogue no. AGE62)


Aged care packages in the community 2008-09: a statistical overview - At 30 June 2009, over 44,000 people were receiving help from a community aged care package, including just over 23,300 new admissions during 2008-09. The findings suggest that proportionate to their populations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and those from non-English speaking countries used community aged care packages at a higher rate compared with other Australians. (AIHW catalogue no. AGE61)

General Practice Activity - Two Reports

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released two reports dealing with general practice:

General practice activity in Australia 2009-10 - presents results from the twelfth year of the BEACH program (Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health), a national study of general practice activity. From April 2009 until March 2010, 988 general practitioners recorded data about 98,800 GP patient encounters involving the management of 155,373 problems. For an 'average' 100 encounters, GPs recorded 107 medications, 35 clinical treatments, 18 procedures, 9 referrals to specialists and 4 allied health services, and ordered 45 pathology and 10 imaging tests. (AIHW catalogue no. GEP27)

General practice activity in Australia 2000-01 to 2009-10: 10 year data tables - presents results from the most recent 10 years (April 2000 to March 2010) of the BEACH program. During this time 9,842 GPs provided details of almost 1 million GP patient encounters. It is possible to review changes which have occurred over the decade in the characteristics of general practitioners and the patients they see; the problems managed; and the treatments provided. Changes in patients' body mass index, smoking status and alcohol use are described for a subsample of adult patients. (AIHW catalogue no. GEP28)

Calculating Screening Rates for Bowel Cancer

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released a report "Calculating screening rates for bowel cancer: methodologies for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and the National Healthcare Agreement performance indicators explained". Although they are similar concepts, the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program participation monitoring indicator, and the National Healthcare Agreement key performance indicator for bowel cancer screening (PI-12), are different measures. Consequently, they produce different results. This paper describes and explains the differences between the two indicators. (AIHW catalogue number (CAN54)

Christmas articles

The Christmas edition of the BMJ always provides engaging reading. Slightly less serious than usual, and often quite tongue in cheek, this year's research offerings at http://www.bmj.com/ include:

• A study from Switzerland: "Effect on gastric function and symptoms of drinking wine, black tea, or schnapps with a Swiss cheese fondue" (includes an accompanying video)


• "Beauty sleep: experimental study on the perceived health and attractiveness of sleep deprived people" - a small sample showed that people appear less attractive if they haven't had a good night's sleep


• "Phantom vibration syndrome among medical staff: a cross sectional survey" - a study which sought to discover the prevalence of 'the sensory hallucination sometimes experienced by people carrying pagers or cell phones when the device is not vibrating.'

But there's more. In addition to the research there are other Christmas features including items on New Zealand doctors and rugby, Agatha Christie's doctors, the rise and fall of celebrity pathology, and Mozart's 140 causes of death and 27 mental disorders.

Most of the articles are open access, so happy reading and Merry Christmas as well from NCAHS libraries!

Cancer in Australia 2010

Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2010 has been released by the AIHW. It provides a comprehensive picture of national statistics on cancer using a range of resources, presenting the latest available data and trends over time. As well, differences by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, state and territory, remoteness area and socioeconomic status are discussed.
Some of the findings include the fact that by the age of 85 years, 1 in 2 males and 1 in 3 females will have been diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their life.

Cancer is estimated to be the leading cause of the burden of disease in Australia in 2010, accounting for 19% of the total burden, but despite that, the rate of death from cancer has fallen.

Webliography of evidence-based health resources

The Cochrane Collaboration has compiled a this handy website which includes an alphabetical list of evidence-based resources such as databases and journals, or you can browse the recommendations for books, articles and online resources by speciality area (eg. epidemiology, statistics, literature appraisal, reporting guidelines etc).
This "Webliography" also includes links to tutorials and tools on evidence-based care, patient resources and social network sites.

Premature mortality from chronic disease

This bulletin uses potential years of life lost to describe mortality patterns for deaths due to chronic disease. It shows that most premature deaths were due to chronic disease. The leading cause of premature mortality among females was breast cancer and among males it was coronary heart disease. Further, the bulletin highlights that a large proportion of premature chronic disease deaths were also potentially avoidable.

Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare it is available to download here.

Atlas of the Human Body

The American Medical Association is providing an excellent visual aid with it's Atlas of the Human Body. The images and text are available to email and share to others.

Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies

This is a new website, funded by the Australian Government and housed at the University of Tasmania. The Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies (ACYS) provides support for youth organisations, youth workers, youth researchers and young people themselves, as well as policymakers, researchers and practitioners in other sectors working with youth. It focuses on information about early adolescence to the early adult years (12 to 25 years).

ACYS aims are:

• to house and provide access to a range of youth sector information, including research, news, programs and initiatives, and sector contacts details;
• to provide critical evaluation, synthesis, analysis and filtering of relevant information about young people, particularly in relation to research;
• to provide up-to-date information on current practice initiatives;
• to raise awareness of youth issues, facilitate research on young people and youth issues;
• to improve communication throughout the youth sector by facilitating access to information; and,
• to support the development of a professional youth sector that provides effective support to young people.

World Malaria Report 2010

The World Health Organization has released the World Malaria Report, 2010. It summarises information received from 106 malaria-endemic countries and highlights continued progress made towards meeting the World Health Assembly (WHA) targets for malaria to be achieved by the end of 2010 and by 2015.

The report outlines the evolving situation of financing for malaria control, how these growing resources have resulted in increased coverage of WHO-recommended malaria control interventions, and the association between this rapid scale-up and substantial reductions in malaria burden.

Draft Guideline for the management of VSU

The NHMRC is inviting comments on the Draft consensus-based clinical practice guideline for the management of volatile substance use (VSU). The purpose of this guideline is to provide practical recommendations to assist health professionals to identify, assess and treat people who use volatile substances.

Although it has been difficult to collect statistical evidence on the prevalence of VSU, international studies have indicated that it is most prevalent among young people (aged 12-14 years) from socioeconomically deprived and marginalised groups. In Australia, petrol sniffing is the most common form of VSU in remote indigenous areas, where inhaling from aerosol cans is more common in rural and urban areas.

This guideline looks at prevention, treatment, brief intervention, case management, withdrawal and education. Submissions are being sought by Friday 14 January 2011.

MyHospitals website

The MyHospitals website, which is intended to give the community clear, comparable and user-friendly information about the services and the performance of their local hospital, was launched on 10 December. The website has been developed and the data compiled by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It includes waiting times for elective surgery and emergency department care for the 2009/10 financial year as well as a comparison to the previous year.
MyHospitals website is located at www.myhospitals.gov.au.

Infectious Diseases Epidemiology & Surveillance

This Victorian Government Infectious Diseases site includes the Blue Book (Guidelines for the control of infectious diseases), along with various other fact sheets, guidelines, standards and legislation for the investigation, control and prevention of infectious diseases in a range of settings. Detailed surveillance reports are available (updated daily), along with requirements and methods for notifying diseases.

Causes of Death, Australia

This publication contains preliminary summary statistics for doctor certified deaths which accounted for 86.7% of all deaths in 2009. Published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, final results for 2009 will be available in Causes of Death, Australia, 2009 (cat.no. 3303.0) which is due for release in 2011.

Reducing alcohol and other drug related harm

High rates of AOD consumption and related harm are both a consequence of, and contribute to, the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The harmful use of AOD (that is, any use that impacts negatively on the health, social and emotional wellbeing of users themselves and others) is a significant public health problem for the Australian community as a whole and incurs significant economic costs. Dennis Gray and Edward Wilkes of Closing the Gap Clearinghouse have written a Resource Sheet "Reducing alcohol and other drug related harm" available here.

Health Expenditure Australia

'Health expenditure Australia 2008-09' examines expenditure on different types of health goods and services in the decade to 2008-09. The report published by the Australian Insititute of Health and Welfare, describes funding by the Australian Government and state governments, private health insurance and individuals; compares health expenditures in the different states and territories; compares Australia's spending with other countries.

Diabetes in pregnancy:

A new report "Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies" was published by the AIHW today.
Diabetes is known to adversely affect women and their babies during pregnancy, labour and delivery. These adverse effects differ by type of diabetes and between population groups. This report is the first to explore these differences among Australian mothers and their babies at a national level, showing that:
1. diabetes affects about 1 in 20 pregnancies;
2. mothers with pre-existing Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, and their babies, are at highest risk of adverse effects;
3. mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus, and their babies, are also at increased risk;
4. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and their babies are more likely to experience adverse effects than non-Indigenous mothers and their babies.
This report is a useful resource for policymakers, researchers, clinicians and others interested in the effect of diabetes on the health of Australian mothers and their babies.

Australian Health Survey 2010

Examining how Australians view their health care system, this paper presents the results of a telephone survey of a representative sample of 1201 Australians. The Menzies‐Nous Australian Health Survey 2010 provides valuable insight into the views held by Australians about their own health, the Australian health system and affordability of health and aged care services.
The survey was conducted by the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and The Nous Group (Nous) on July 2010 and asked questions on the following subjects:
* satisfaction with the health system;
* support for health reform;
* access to health care services;
* confidence in services;
* affordability of health care.
Read the results and releases here.

Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, Australia, 2008-09

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has published 'Apparent consumption of alcohol, Australia, 2008-09' which provides estimates of the apparent consumption of alcohol based on the availability of alcoholic beverages in Australia. It provides estimates of the quantity of pure alcohol available for consumption from beer, wine, spirits, and ready to drink (pre-mixed) beverages, plus estimates of the total volume of beer and wine available for consumption.

The publication also provides estimates of apparent per capita consumption, the total apparent consumption for the total population aged 15 years and over. The population of 15 years and over is consistent with methodology used internationally for measuring trends in apparent consumption over time. (ABS 4307.0.55.001)

Australia's Mothers and Babies 2008

In 2008, 292,156 women gave birth to 296,925 babies in Australia. The increase in births continued, with 2,720 more births (0.9%) than reported in 2007. This is the second year that the rate of caesarean section has not significantly increased with a 0.2% rise from 30.9% in 2007 to 31.1% in 2008. The details are contained in the report 'Australia's mothers and babies 2008' (AIHW catalogue number (PER 50))

The Horizon Report 2010 Australia - New Zealand

The Horizon Report Australia - New Zealand is now available. This report is part of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, a comprehensive research venture established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years on a variety of sectors around the globe. This volume examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative enquiry within higher education in Australia and New Zealand over a five-year time period. This is the third in the annual series of reports focused on higher education in the region.

Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released a report outlining the involvement of Australians in organised sport or physical activity during the 12 months prior to April 2010. People between the ages of 15 and 24 years had the highest playing participation rate (38%) and overall participation rate (39%) while people aged 35 to 44 had the highest participation rate in non-playing roles (15%). Detailed information from the survey is available from the ABS website (cat. no. 6285.0). It includes the characteristics of persons involved; characteristics of involvement; and comparison over time.

Dental Reports from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has recently released the following dental reports:

• Age and the Costs of Dental Care - Data from the National Dental Telephone Interview Survey 2004-06 and the Longitudinal Study of Dentists' Practice Activity 2003-04 was used to explore the relationship between age and the costs of dental care. Generally, dental costs rise with age until declining in the older age groups (75 years and over). (AIHW catalogue number (DEN 203))


• Trends in Access to Dental Care among Australian adults: in brief - The trends in dental care among Australian dentate (have some natural teeth) adults from 1994-2008 are investigated in this report, drawn from the National Dental Telephone Interview Survey (NDTIS) conducted in 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008. It compares the services received by those eligible for public dentistry and those who are not. (AIHW catalogue number (DEN 205))


• Socioeconomic variation in periodontitis among Australian adults 2004-06 - The prevalence of periodontitis (inflammation of the tissue surrounding teeth) and its variation by socioeconomic status is explored, adjusting for age and sex. Data from the National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004-06 was used in this report. (AIHW catalogue number (DEN 207))


• Self-rated Oral Health of Adults - Adults were asked to rate their oral health in the 2008 National Dental Telephone Interview Survey (NDTIS) and this report examines their responses by various demographics including age, sex, education and private dental insurance status. (AIHW catalogue number (DEN 206))


• Trends in Access to Dental Care Among Australian Teenagers - The trends in dental care among Australian teenagers from 1994-2008 are investigated in this report, drawn from the National Dental Telephone Interview Survey (NDTIS) conducted in 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008. It compares the services received by those eligible for public dentistry and those who are not. (AIHW catalogue number (DEN 191))

These reports are not available in print. They are available on the Internet only.

National Mental Health Report 2010

The National Mental Health Report 2010, which is the eleventh in the series, presents the latest data on progress made under the National Mental Health Strategy. The report provides a fifteen year view of trends and performance at the national and state and territory levels, over the period scanning the First, Second and Third National Mental Health Plans from 1993 to 2008. Extensive information is presented that describes changes in the resources and structure of mental health services in Australia since the commencement of the strategy. (Department of Health and Ageing)

Health acronyms

Have you ever needed quickly interpret one of those pesky acronyms, so prominent in the health field? Here are some online sites which may be useful to bookmark:

PHC-RIS Acronyms includes over 1000 acronyms related to Australian general practice and primary health care.

Acronyms of Australian Medical-related Organisations has been put together by the Australian Government

Medical Abbreviations Dictionary - from Medilexicon in the US. Has over 200,000 abbreviations and acronyms, including Australian ones.

Patient-centred care report

Patient-centred care: improving quality and safety by focusing care is a discussion paper from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
Based on national and international movements towards patient-centred policies in health care, (and taking into account Australia’s health care system, with its mix of public and private sectors), various recommendations are outlined:

• Patient-centred care should be considered a dimension of quality in its own right.
• Nationally standardised patient survey tools should be implemented
• Patient surveys should include questions specifically addressing patient centred domains
• Performance-based payments should include "improving patient care experience" as an indicator
• Data regarding patient care experience in health services should be made publicly available on the Internet.

Health of Australians with a Disability

The AIHW has released Health of Australians with a Disability : health status and risk factors. This bulletin is the first in a series about health of Australians with disability. It examines how health problems affect health status of people with disability in Australia with a focus on prevalence and age at onset of some significant long term health conditions and relevant health risk factors and behaviours.

Guidelines for doctors using social media

The AMA has just released Social Media and the Medical Profession : A guide to online professionalism for medical practitioners and medical students. A joint initiative of the Australian Medical Association Council of Doctors-in-Training, the New Zealand Medical Association Doctors-in-Training Council, the New Zealand Medical Students’ Association and the Australian Medical Students’ Association, they aim to provide some practical advice to ensure that professional standards are maintained.

"Although doctors and medical students are increasingly participating in online social media, evidence is emerging from studies, legal cases, and media reports that the use of these media can pose risks for medical professionals. Inappropriate online behaviour can potentially damage personal integrity, doctor-patient and doctor-colleague relationships, and future employment opportunities. Our perceptions and regulations regarding professional behaviour must evolve to encompass these new forms of media."