We have recently linked the NDSS to the ANZDATA, National Death Index, hospital admission and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data over the period from 2002–19 from Victoria, Queensland, ACT and New South Wales. This captures over 80% of people with diabetes in Australia. We have named this study DECAL. DECAL provides a powerful, large-scale population-based dataset which can be used to investigate a range of research questions. The data comprises over 1.5 million Australians with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hospital events and death outcomes and medication use over 17 years.
With this linked dataset, we will be able to:
- Measure the trends in the incidence of end stage kidney disease (ESKD), cardiovascular disease and other complications in diabetes.
- Identify the role of diabetes in the development of Alzheimer's disease.
- Explore patterns and trends in diabetes medication utilisation according to demographic and socioeconomic strata.
Future project will explore the feasibility of linking this data to other datasets.