Better health outcomes at lower costs: the benefits of primary care utilisation for chronic disease management in remote Indigenous communities in Australia’s Northern Territory

Table 3 Annual average hospitalisations, avoidable hospitalisation, death rate and years of life lost by primary health care utilisation groups, NT remote Indigenous communities, 2002-2011

Annual average	Primary care utilisation			95% confidence interval			Reduction
Annual average	Low (n = 6987)	Medium (n = 5926)	High (n = 1271)	Low	Medium	High	Medium	High
Hospitalisations per person
Diabetes	5 (1421)	1.1 (1892)	1 (772)	4.87-5.11	1.06-1.16	0.89-1.04	78%	80%
IHD	5.9 (612)	2.3 (626)	1.5 (340)	5.69-6.08	2.22-2.47	1.34-1.6	61%	75%
COPD	3.4 (572)	1.3 (657)	1 (322)	3.27-3.58	1.18-1.35	0.92-1.15	62%	71%
Renal Disease	7.7 (1143)	1.2 (1923)	1.1 (826)	7.54-7.87	1.16-1.26	1.06-1.2	84%	86%
Hypertension	4 (1433)	1.1 (1986)	0.9 (832)	3.92-4.13	1.07-1.16	0.88-1.01	73%	78%
PAHs
Diabetes	2.7	0.6	0.5	2.6-2.78	0.6-0.67	0.48-0.59	76%	80%
IHD	4	1.5	0.9	3.8-4.12	1.43-1.63	0.84-1.05	63%	78%
COPD	2	0.8	0.8	1.93-2.17	0.76-0.9	0.66-0.86	60%	60%
Renal Disease	3.4	0.5	0.6	3.31-3.53	0.5-0.57	0.54-0.65	85%	82%
Hypertension	2.3	0.7	0.5	2.19-2.35	0.64-0.71	0.49-0.6	70%	78%
Deaths (per 100)
Diabetes	3.23	0.99	0.80	2.92-3.53	0.85-1.14	0.59-1	69%	75%
IHD	4.71	1.76	1.61	4.16-5.26	1.42-2.09	1.17-2.04	63%	66%
COPD	5.08	1.96	2.04	4.48-5.68	1.62-2.31	1.54-2.54	61%	60%
Renal Disease	4.21	1.18	1.06	3.82-4.59	1.02-1.34	0.83-1.29	72%	75%
Hypertension	3.11	1.28	0.97	2.82-3.41	1.12-1.44	0.75-1.19	59%	69%
YLLs
Diabetes	1.00	0.24	0.20	0.99-1.02	0.23-0.24	0.19-0.21	76%	80%
IHD	1.47	0.46	0.39	1.44-1.5	0.44-0.47	0.37-0.41	69%	73%
COPD	1.32	0.41	0.44	1.29-1.35	0.39-0.42	0.41-0.46	69%	67%
Renal Disease	1.30	0.28	0.25	1.28-1.32	0.27-0.28	0.24-0.27	78%	81%
Hypertension	0.89	0.30	0.23	0.87-0.9	0.29-0.31	0.22-0.24	66%	74%

Notes: n: sample size; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IHD: Ischemic heart disease; PAH: Potentially avoidable hospitalisations; YLLs: Years of life lost.