Burden of diabetes
Page highlights:
Type 1 diabetes burden
- In 2022, type 1 diabetes was responsible for around 19,000 DALY in Australia – equating to 0.7 DALY per 1,000 population.
- The proportion of fatal and non-fatal burden was similar (49% and 51%, respectively).
Type 2 diabetes burden
- In 2022, type 2 diabetes was the 12th highest disease-specific cause of DALY at 3.9 per 1,000 population.
- 61% of the burden attributed to type 2 diabetes was non-fatal.
Risk factors for diabetes burden
- In 2018, the 3 leading risk factors contributing to type 2 diabetes total burden were overweight and obesity, diet and physcial inactivity.
What is burden of disease?
Burden of disease is a measure of the years of healthy life lost from living with or dying from disease and injury. The measure used is the ‘disability-adjusted life year’ (DALY). This combines health loss from living with illness and injury (non-fatal burden, or YLD) and dying prematurely (fatal burden, or YLL) to estimate total health loss (total burden, or DALY). Burden of disease estimates seek to capture both the quantity and health-related quality of life, and to reflect the magnitude, severity and impact of disease and injury within a population. Burden of disease does not quantify the social or financial consequences of disease and injury. Further information can be found in Australian Burden of Disease Study 2022 (ABDS).
Note: The ABDS 2022 does not include estimates by Remoteness areas, Socioeconomic groups or risk factors. The most recent estimates are presented in the Australian Burden of Disease Study: Impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2018 and Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden reports.
Type 1 diabetes burden
In 2022, type 1 diabetes was responsible for around 19,000 DALY in Australia – equating to 0.7 DALY per 1,000 population.
The proportion of fatal and non-fatal burden was similar with 49% (9,400 YLL) attributed to fatal burden and 51% (9,600 YLD) attributed to non-fatal burden.
Variation by age and sex
In 2022:
- Overall DALY rates were highest among people aged 50–54 (1.1 per 1,000 population)
- DALY were highest among males aged 50–54 and females aged 30–34 (1,121 and 815 DALY, respectively) (Figure 1)
- Age-standardised DALY rates were 1.5 times as high among males as females.
Figure 1: Type 1 diabetes total burden (DALY), by age group and sex, 2022
The chart shows the burden of type 1 diabetes in 2022 was higher among males than females and older Australians. DALY were highest among males aged 50–54 and females aged 30–34 (1,121 and 815 DALY, respectively).
Trends over time
Between 2003 and 2022, there was a 27% increase in non-fatal burden (YLD) attributed to type 1 diabetes. This further coincides with a 27% decrease in the fatal burden from years of lost life (YLL).
Variation between population groups
The overall burden of type 1 diabetes was higher among people living in lower socioeconomic areas and in Inner regional areas compared with other socioeconomic areas and remoteness areas. In 2018, after adjusting for different population age structures:
- rates were 1.5 times as high among those living in Inner regional areas compared with those living in Major cities.
- rates were over 2 times as high amongst those living in the lowest socioeconomic area (highest disadvantage) compared with those living in the highest socioeconomic area (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Type 1 diabetes total burden (DALY), by select population groups, 2018
The horizontal bar chart shows that the burden of type 1 diabetes for males and females were highest among people living in inner regional areas, and people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
In 2018, type 1 diabetes was responsible for 596 DALY among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia – equating to 0.7 DALY per 1,000 population.
The proportion attributed to fatal burden was higher (58%, or 343 YLL) than that attributed to non-fatal burden (42% or 253 YLD).
Between 2003 and 2018, there was a 57% decrease in the age-standardised DALY per 1,000 population, attributed to type 1 diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (AIHW 2022a).
Type 2 diabetes burden
In 2022, type 2 diabetes was the 12th highest disease-specific cause of DALY at 3.9 per 1,000 population (AIHW 2022).
Sixty-one per cent (76,400 YLD) of burden attributed to type 2 diabetes was non-fatal, with the remaining 39% (49,100 YLL) of the total burden being fatal.
Variation by age and sex
The overall burden attributed to type 2 diabetes was higher in males and older Australians.
In 2022:
- the overall disease burden attributed to type 2 diabetes was 1.5 times as high among males as females
- 52% (65,500 DALY) of DALY attributed to type 2 diabetes occurred in persons aged 65–84
- in the 65–69 year age group, DALY in males were over 1.6 times those in females (11,200 and 6,800, respectively)
- in females aged 90–94, DALY attributed to type 2 diabetes were 1.2 times as high as their male counterparts (2,200 and 1,800, respectively) (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Type 2 diabetes total burden (DALY), by age group and sex, 2022
The chart shows the burden of type 2 diabetes in 2022 was higher among males and older Australians. DALY were highest among males aged 65–69 and females aged 70–74 (11,189 and 7,092 DALY, respectively).
Trends over time
Between 2003 and 2022, there was a 21% increase in non-fatal burden of type 2 diabetes, from 1.9 to 2.4 YLD per 1,000 population. However, there was a 25% decrease in the rate of fatal burden for the same time period, from 2.0 to 1.5 YLL per 1,000 population.
Variation between population groups
The overall burden of type 2 diabetes varied by socioeconomic areas and remoteness areas. In 2018, after adjusting for different population age structures:
- rates in Remote and very remote areas were 2 times as high as Major cities.
- rates were 2.4 times as high in those living in the lowest socioeconomic group compared with those living in the highest socioeconomic area (Figure 4).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
In 2018, type 2 diabetes was responsible for around 7,000 DALY among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia – equating to 8.4 per 1,000 population.
The proportion attributed to fatal burden (46% or 3,000 YLL) was slightly lower than that attributed to non-fatal burden (57% or 4,000 YLD).
Between 2003 and 2018, there was a 42% decrease in the age-standardised DALY per 1,000 attributed to type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (AIHW 2022a).
Figure 4: Type 2 diabetes total burden (DALY), by selected population groups, 2018
The horizontal bar chart shows that the burden of type 1 diabetes for males and females were highest among people living in remote and very remote areas, and people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas.
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes burden
Behavioural, environmental and biomedical risk factors commonly impact an individual’s health and increase the risk of disability, injury or death. In 2018:
- Over one-third of type 2 diabetes total burden was attributable to overweight and obesity (37% in males and 35% in females).
- Around 19% of type 2 diabetes total burden was attributable to dietary risk factors for both males and females.
- Physical inactivity attributed a larger proportion of total burden for type 2 diabetes in females than males (14.8% and 12.8%, respectively).
- Tobacco use attributed a larger proportion of total burden for type 2 diabetes in males than females (3.7% and 1.0%, respectively) (AIHW 2021).
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2021) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018: Interactive data on risk factor burden, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 08 June 2022.
AIHW (2022) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2022, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 15 May 2023. doi:10.25816/e2v0-gp02
AIHW (2022a) Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2018, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 25 May 2022.