Using quality improvement strategies to strengthen regional systems for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye health in the Northern Territory.

Problem: In the Katherine region, Northern Territory, barriers to eye care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people include unclear eye care referral processes, challenges coordinating patient eye care between various providers, complex socioeconomic determinants and a lengthy outpatient ophthalmology waiting list.

Design: Mixed methods participatory approach using a regional needs analysis, clinical file audit and stakeholder survey, to develop, implement and monitor quality improvement strategies.

Setting: Collaboration with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and regional eye care stakeholders in the Katherine region.

Performance of cardiovascular risk prediction equations in Indigenous Australians.

Objective: To assess the performance of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk equations in Indigenous Australians.

Methods: We conducted an individual participant meta-analysis using longitudinal data of 3618 Indigenous Australians (55% women) aged 30-74 years without CVD from population-based cohorts of the Cardiovascular Risk in IndigenouS People(CRISP) consortium. Predicted risk was calculated using: 1991 and 2008 Framingham Heart Study (FHS), the Pooled Cohorts (PC), GloboRisk and the Central Australian Rural Practitioners Association (CARPA) modification of the FHS equation.

Association of retinal vessel calibre with diabetic retinopathy in an urban Australian indigenous population.

Purpose: To assess the relationship of retinal vessel diameter and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a subgroup of participants recruited through the Darwin Region Urban Indigenous Diabetes study.

Methods: Participants were examined as part of the Darwin Region Urban Indigenous Diabetes study. All participants with gradable fundus photographs were included in the current analysis.

Complications of diabetes in urban Indigenous Australians: the DRUID study.

Aims: To accurately assess the management and complications of type 2 diabetes in urban Indigenous Australians and compare the risk of complications with a general Australian population (AusDiab Study).

Methods: The Darwin Region Urban Indigenous Diabetes (DRUID) Study included 1004 volunteers aged >/=15 years; diabetes status was classifiable for 866. The assessment of diabetic complications and metabolic control was performed in participants with known diabetes (KDM) and diabetes newly diagnosed by the study (NDM) using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and clinical examination.