Gubhaju, L 1, MacNiven, R 2, Banks, E 3, Joshy, G 3, Bauman, A 2, Eades, S 1. 1 Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 2 The University of ...
PREVENTATIVE CARE AND ACCESS TO PRIMARY HEALTHCARE AMONG MIDDLE-TOOLDER AGED ABORIGINAL AND NON-ABORIGINAL PEOPLE 1 2 3 3 2 1 Gubhaju, L , MacNiven, R , Banks, E , Joshy, G , Bauman, A , Eades, S 1 2 Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 3 Australia, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Introduction/background/issues This study examined differences in preventative care and healthcare access among middle to older aged Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults. Methods Cross-sectional data came from 314 Aboriginal and 59,175 non-Aboriginal participants from a 45 and Up sub-study. Odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age, sex and geographic location were estimated for Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal participants. Results/discussions Aboriginal participants had a lower odds of getting a same-day urgent GP appointment (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.8), a higher odds of travelling >1 hour to the nearest hospital (2.1, 1.1-3.8) and GP (1.9, 1.23.0) and were less confident in their ability to manage their health (0.7, 0.6-0.9) than non-Aboriginal people. Due to shortage of money, Aboriginal participants had a higher odds of not collecting a prescription medicine (5.3, 3.8-7.5), not getting a medical test/treatment (3.9, 2.7-5.5) and limiting fruit/vegetable consumption (3.7, 2.6-5.1) compared to non-Aboriginal participants. Overall, 8.9% of Aboriginal participants and 2.8% of non-Aboriginal participants were smokers who had not received smoking cessation advice from their GPs in the previous 12 months. Among those who were overweight or obese, Aboriginal participants had a higher odds of being advised to increase their physical activity (1.8, 1.3-2.3) and eat less high fat/cholesterol food (1.7, 1.3-2.2) than non-Aboriginal participants. Conclusions/implications Aboriginal participants have greater physical and financial constraints in accessing healthcare than non-Aboriginal participants. Absolute differences in risk factor profiles highlight disparities in smoking cessation advice. Key message There are important differences in healthcare access between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and opportunities for prevention that should inform health policy and practice.
