Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data

Web report

Last updated: 10 Oct 2024

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2024) Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 11 October 2024.

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/first-nations-people/eye-health-measures-for-aboriginal-and-torres-stra

MLA

Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 10 October 2024, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/first-nations-people/eye-health-measures-for-aboriginal-and-torres-stra

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data [Internet]. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024 [cited 2024 Oct. 11]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/first-nations-people/eye-health-measures-for-aboriginal-and-torres-stra

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2024, Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data, viewed 11 October 2024, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/first-nations-people/eye-health-measures-for-aboriginal-and-torres-stra

Latest edition

The number and proportion of First Nations people who had a diabetes test and were screened for diabetic retinopathy: Measure 2.3.1

The number of First Nations people who had eye examinations in the 12-month period who were also screened for diabetes in the previous 2 years (MBS data). First Nations people who had a diabetes test may not have been found to have diabetes. For this reason, the rate of those screened for diabetic retinopathy may be an underestimate.

Current National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines recommend a diabetic eye examination annually for First Nations people with diabetes, and at least every 2 years for non-Indigenous Australians with diabetes (Figure 19 and Figure 20).

Latest data

An estimated 28,762 First Nations people had a diabetes test in the previous 2 years, and 14,351 (50%) also had an eye examination at least once in 2022–23. Most of the screenings were performed by optometrists (13,927), with smaller numbers by ophthalmologists (1,031) and General Practitioners (281) (Figure 19).

Figure 19: Eye examinations among those tested for diabetes (MBS data), 2022–23

Notes

People screened for diabetes are those who had a diabetes test (made a claim for MBS item 66551) within the reference period or the year before.
People who had an eye exam by an optometrist are those who made a claim for MBS group A10, except items 10921–10930 within the reference period. People who had an eye exam by an ophthalmologist are those who made a claim for MBS group D1 subgroup 2 within the reference period.
Medicare data presented by Indigenous status have been adjusted for the under-identification in the Medicare Voluntary Indigenous Identifier (VII) database.
MBS data do not cover services provided in the public health system.
Data are based on date of service.
A person can receive services from more than one health professional. This means, the sum of the number of patients by profession may not equal the total.

Source: AIHW analysis of Medical Benefits Schedule data.

Explore more aspects of the data in the following section. See also Figure 20.

By remoteness

In 2022–23, the proportion of First Nations people who had an eye examination was highest in Inner regional areas and Major cities (54% and 53%, respectively), and then decreased with increasing remoteness (Figure 20 – remoteness).

By jurisdiction

In 2022–23, the proportion of First Nations people who had an eye examination ranged from 55% in the Australian Capital Territory to 34% in Western Australia (Figure 20 – jurisdiction).

Time trend

Age-specific proportions of those tested for diabetes who had an eye examination fluctuated between 2012–13 and 2022–23 for First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians, but overall increased across all age groups. The greatest increase for First Nations people was in those aged 15–24 where the proportion examined rose from 18% in 2012–13 to 34% in 2022–23 (Figure 20 – time trend). For non‑Indigenous Australians the greatest increase was in those aged 65 and over, the proportion of examinations increased from 47% in 2012–13 to 63% in 2022–23 (Figure 20 – time trend). In 2022–23, higher proportions of non-Indigenous Australians than First Nations people were screened in all age groups, although proportions screened were very similar in those aged 65 and over.

Between 2012–13 and 2022–23, the total age-standardised proportion of First Nations people tested for diabetes who had an eye examination increased from 30% to 43%, while for non-Indigenous Australians it rose from 34% to 47% (Figure 20 – time trend).

Figure 20: Eye examinations among those tested for diabetes (MBS data): interactive data

Extended description for figure 20 – time trend Expand

Indigenous status Age Year Percent

First Nations 15–24 2012–13 18.0

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2012–13 29.0

First Nations 15–24 2013–14 20.5

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2013–14 32.2

First Nations 15–24 2014–15 21.7

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2014–15 35.1

First Nations 15–24 2015–16 22.3

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2015–16 34.2

First Nations 15–24 2016–17 20.3

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2016–17 35.1

First Nations 15–24 2017–18 22.1

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2017–18 37.6

First Nations 15–24 2018–19 23.8

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2018–19 39.3

First Nations 15–24 2019–20 24.4

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2019–20 37.4

First Nations 15–24 2020–21 25.2

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2020–21 41.3

First Nations 15–24 2021–22 29.7

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2021–22 38.5

First Nations 15–24 2022–23 34.4

Non-Indigenous 15–24 2022–23 40.4

First Nations 25–34 2012–13 18.9

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2012–13 25.2

First Nations 25–34 2013–14 22.3

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2013–14 28.9

First Nations 25–34 2014–15 24.2

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2014–15 31.0

First Nations 25–34 2015–16 20.2

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2015–16 31.0

First Nations 25–34 2016–17 22.1

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2016–17 31.8

First Nations 25–34 2017–18 22.7

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2017–18 34.8

First Nations 25–34 2018–19 24.6

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2018–19 34.7

First Nations 25–34 2019–20 24.8

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2019–20 33.8

First Nations 25–34 2020–21 31.4

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2020–21 36.1

First Nations 25–34 2021–22 28.7

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2021–22 35.3

First Nations 25–34 2022–23 32.2

Non-Indigenous 25–34 2022–23 38.5

First Nations 35–44 2012–13 24.7

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2012–13 28.7

First Nations 35–44 2013–14 28.5

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2013–14 33.0

First Nations 35–44 2014–15 30.8

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2014–15 34.2

First Nations 35–44 2015–16 27.4

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2015–16 33.9

First Nations 35–44 2016–17 30.1

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2016–17 35.1

First Nations 35–44 2017–18 29.4

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2017–18 37.0

First Nations 35–44 2018–19 29.8

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2018–19 37.1

First Nations 35–44 2019–20 30.0

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2019–20 35.4

First Nations 35–44 2020–21 35.7

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2020–21 38.7

First Nations 35–44 2021–22 31.5

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2021–22 37.2

First Nations 35–44 2022–23 34.6

Non-Indigenous 35–44 2022–23 40.2

First Nations 45–54 2012–13 35.4

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2012–13 37.5

First Nations 45–54 2013–14 41.8

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2013–14 42.5

First Nations 45–54 2014–15 40.7

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2014–15 43.4

First Nations 45–54 2015–16 39.7

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2015–16 43.4

First Nations 45–54 2016–17 39.4

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2016–17 44.5

First Nations 45–54 2017–18 39.7

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2017–18 47.1

First Nations 45–54 2018–19 42.2

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2018–19 46.2

First Nations 45–54 2019–20 39.6

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2019–20 44.2

First Nations 45–54 2020–21 45.7

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2020–21 48.8

First Nations 45–54 2021–22 42.8

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2021–22 47.1

First Nations 45–54 2022–23 45.0

Non-Indigenous 45–54 2022–23 49.6

First Nations 55–64 2012–13 41.7

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2012–13 42.0

First Nations 55–64 2013–14 50.2

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2013–14 47.6

First Nations 55–64 2014–15 49.2

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2014–15 48.3

First Nations 55–64 2015–16 48.5

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2015–16 48.6

First Nations 55–64 2016–17 48.2

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2016–17 49.7

First Nations 55–64 2017–18 49.8

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2017–18 52.0

First Nations 55–64 2018–19 50.5

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2018–19 51.5

First Nations 55–64 2019–20 46.6

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2019–20 48.9

First Nations 55–64 2020–21 54.4

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2020–21 53.5

First Nations 55–64 2021–22 51.2

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2021–22 51.7

First Nations 55–64 2022–23 52.9

Non-Indigenous 55–64 2022–23 54.5

First Nations 65+ 2012–13 49.9

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2012–13 47.5

First Nations 65+ 2013–14 56.8

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2013–14 53.7

First Nations 65+ 2014–15 56.5

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2014–15 55.2

First Nations 65+ 2015–16 58.2

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2015–16 56.1

First Nations 65+ 2016–17 58.1

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2016–17 57.9

First Nations 65+ 2017–18 58.8

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2017–18 60.3

First Nations 65+ 2018–19 60.4

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2018–19 60.3

First Nations 65+ 2019–20 57.1

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2019–20 57.0

First Nations 65+ 2020–21 63.8

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2020–21 61.5

First Nations 65+ 2021–22 60.3

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2021–22 60.3

First Nations 65+ 2022–23 63.2

Non-Indigenous 65+ 2022–23 63.4