Health‐risk behaviours among Indigenous Australians with diabetes: A study in the integrated Diabetes Education and Eye Screening (iDEES) project

Abstract

Aim To assess the prevalence of modifiable health‐risk behaviours among Indigenous Australian adults with diabetes attending a regional Victorian Indigenous primary‐care clinic. Design A cross‐sectional observational single‐site study. Methods As part of a multi‐study project we administered the Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol consumption, Physical activity and Emotional wellbeing (SNAPE) survey tool during the study baseline visit to methodically capture health‐related behavioural data in the nurse‐led integrated Diabetes Education and Eye Screening (iDEES) project in a regional Indigenous primary healthcare setting between January 2018 and March 2020. This descriptive SNAPE study helps address the lack of health behaviour data for Indigenous people with diabetes. Results Of 172 eligible adults, 135 (79%) were recruited to the iDEES study, 50 (37%) male. All participated in at least one survey. Median (range) age was 56 (46–67) years; 130 (96%) had Type 2 diabetes of median [IQR] duration 6 (2–12) years. All 135 provided smoking data; 88 (65%) completed all surveys. Forty‐nine (36%) and 29 (22%) were current or former smokers, respectively; 5 (6%) met vegetable intake guidelines, 22 (25%) met fruit intake guidelines; 38 [43%] drank alcohol in the past year. On average, participants walked for ≥10 min at a time 4 days/week and sat for an average of 8 h on weekdays; 35 (40%) had minimal‐mild, and 30 (34%) had moderate‐severe depressive symptoms. Conclusion Suboptimal modifiable health‐risk behaviours and depressive symptoms are common in Indigenous Australian adults with diabetes. Impact Orderly assessment and reporting of health‐risk behaviours using a single multi‐component survey instrument (SNAPE tool) during a nurse‐led diabetes education clinical visit is feasible and efficient. Such data may facilitate personalised interventions and improve diabetes management at both individual and health service levels.

Yarning about Diet: The Applicability of Dietary Assessment Methods in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians—A Scoping Review

“…Study characteristics are presented in Table 1 . In total, 25 publications (peer-reviewed papers ( n = 22) [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], grey literature reports ( n = 3) [ 6 , 48 , 49 ]) from 22 studies were included. The included publications covered a 74-year time period from 1948 to 2022.…”

“…The included publications covered a 74-year time period from 1948 to 2022. Of the 22 primary studies, 17 employed one dietary assessment method [ 6 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 49 ] and five employed two or more dietary assessment methods [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 46 , 48 ].…”

“…Eight studies took place in the Northern Territory (NT) [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 38 , 45 ], three in Western Australia (WA) [ 35 , 39 , 40 , 44 ] and South Australia (SA) [ 46 , 48 , 49 ], two in New South Wales (NSW) [ 42 , 43 ], and one in Queensland (QLD) [ 47 ] and Victoria (VIC) [ 36 ]. One study took place across communities in three states (which were not individually identified) and the NT [ 27 ], and one study was Australia-wide [ 6 ].…”

“…Twenty studies took place in rural/remote settings [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 49 ]. One study took place in an urban setting [ 47 ] and one in both urban and rural/remote settings [ 6 ].…”

“…One study took place in an urban setting [ 47 ] and one in both urban and rural/remote settings [ 6 ]. Of the 20 studies from rural/remote settings, 15 assessed community-level dietary intake [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 48 , 49 ], four assessed individual-level dietary intake [ 36 , 37 , 43 , 44 ] and one assessed household-level dietary intake [ 46 ]. The study in an urban setting assessed community-level dietary intake [ 47 ].…”