Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Measures: annual data update 2023–24

Findings from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) have revealed that of the Australian population aged 14 years and over, more than three-quarters (77%) have consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 5.2% consuming alcohol daily in 2022-23. This study also found that around 1 in 3 people (31% or 6.6 million) aged 14 years and over consumed alcohol at risky levels in 2022-23 (i.e. having more than 10 standard drinks per week on average in the past year or having more than 4 standard drinks in a single day at least once a month in the past year). Men were more likely than women (39% compared to 9.5%) to drink at risky levels (AIHW 2024d).

Alcohol-induced deaths are defined as those that can be directly attributed to alcohol use (i.e. where an alcohol-related condition is recorded as the underlying cause of death), as determined by toxicology and pathology reports. The number of alcohol-induced deaths continues to rise, with 1,742 deaths reported in 2022, an 11.7% increase from 1,559 alcohol- induced deaths in 2021 which was an increase from 5.5 per 100,000 population in 2021 to

6.0 per 100,000 population in 2022. Alcohol-related deaths include deaths directly attributable to alcohol use (as defined above) and deaths where alcohol was listed as an associated cause of death (e.g. a motor vehicle accident where a person recorded a high blood alcohol concentration). There were 4,981 alcohol-related deaths in 2022. This has increased from 2,823 alcohol-related deaths in 2012, an increase from 11.6 per 100,000 population to 17.4 per 100,000 (AIHW 2024d).

Capture of results recorded outside of the general practice setting

Results arising from clinical intervention conducted outside of the service that are known and recorded by the practice are included in the measure. Where alcohol consumption was recorded elsewhere but is not known to the practice, this is not captured in the report. For example, this might be where the rehabilitation centre’s information systems may not be compatible with the clinical information system (CIS) of the client’s usual general practice.

Other sources of relevant data

Data on prevalence of health risk factors such as alcohol consumption status of Australians are captured in the National Health Survey (NHS) conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS). There are other administrative data collections where the relevant data from these client-provider interactions are captured, for example, smoking and drug rehabilitation services, and community health centres.