Disparities in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are widely reported, particularly with respect to chronic diseases. Comparisons of self-reported and objectively measured risk data suggest that a substantial proportion of the Australian population are unaware of their risk status, with potential implications for prevention of chronic disease and associated complications for individuals. This analysis explores rates of reported and unreported chronic disease risks in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and examines sociodemographic characteristics associated with unreported risk.
3,293 Indigenous adults provided blood samples as part of a national health measures survey. We compared the prevalence of self-reported and measured high blood pressure (HBP), high cholesterol (HC), diabetes, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The level of agreement was assessed using the kappa statistic and logistic regression explored sociodemographic factors associated with unreported risk.
The self-reported prevalence of HBP, HC, diabetes and CKD was 9%, 6%, 10% and 4% respectively, while objectively-measured prevalence of each was 21%, 26%, 8% and 3%. Differences were statistically significant at p<0.01 for HBP and HC. Kappa statistics were 0.17, -0.05, 0.61 and 0.34, respectively. Unreported HBP was associated with male sex and younger age, while unreported HC was associated with lower household income. Chronic disease risk factors were prevalent in a cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, and unreported risk was high for HBP and HC. Awareness of risk levels at the individual and population levels is key for better health outcomes and service provision and planning in this priority population.