The cost of diabetes and obesity in Australia

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of the AusDiab 2011–2012 study items included for cost calculation.

Costs	Included items
Direct healthcare	Ambulatory service (visits to general practitioners, medical specialists, healthcare professionals, alternative therapeutics, day clinics and/or outpatient clinics, admission to hospital emergency department) Hospitalization (overnight public and private hospital stays, out-of-pocket expenses) Prescription medication in tablet/capsule form and insulin Aspirin (the only non-prescription medication included)
Direct non-healthcare	Transport to hospital Supported accommodation (aged care homes) Home service and day center
Government subsidies	Age pension Disability support pension Service pension (Veteran pension) Sickness allowance Newstart allowance (unemployment benefit)

Table 2. Age- and sex-adjusted annual per person cost (in 2016 Australian dollars) (95% CIs) by weight and diabetes status.

Weight status	n	Mean (SD) age (years)	Direct healthcare ($)	Direct non-healthcare ($)	Total direct cost ($)	Government subsidies ($)
No diabetes
Normal weight	1,310	59.9 (11.8)	1,359 (1,210–1,509)	634 (381–954)	1,998 (1,679–2,317)	5,649 (5,106–6,287)
Overweight	1,676	60.7 (11.1)	1,328 (1,195–1,462)*	674 (396–1,024)*	2,016 (1,728–2,304)	6,129 (5,648–6,612)*
Obesity	986	59.5 (10.4)	1,676 (1,413–1,939)*	957 (515–1,473)*	2,501 (2,027–2,976)*	7,148 (6,376–7,833)*
Diabetes
Normal weight	52	69.4 (10.9)	1,786 (929–2,642)	520 (54–1,904)	2,353 (717–3,989)	6,117 (3,711–9,005)
Overweight	151	69.0 (9.5)	2,093 (1,495–2,691)*	1,459 (576–2,550)*	3,263 (2,193–4,333)*	8,085 (6,524–9,609)*
Obesity	234	64.8 (9.9)	1,925 (1,373–2,477)*	1,609 (587–2,890)*	3,131 (2,199–4,064)*	8,058 (6,903–9,412)*

*p < .05 between normal weight and other weight status within the same diabetes group.

Figure 1. Contribution of direct healthcare cost components by weight and diabetes status. Annual per person costs were age- and sex-adjusted.