Table 2.
Healthcare expenditure savings for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (AUD $m).
| Scenario for Increased Intake of Fibre | Socio-Economic Status | Dietary Fibre Intake | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Quintile 1 (Lowest SES) | Quintile 2 | Quintile 3 | Quintile 4 | Quintile 5 (Highest SES) | Total | Quartile 1 (Lowest) | Quartile 2 | Quartile 3 | Quartile 4 (Highest) † | |
| Cardiovascular Disease | |||||||||||
| Persons | |||||||||||
| 10% higher | 221.5 | 55.6 | 47.6 | 43.8 | 35.8 | 38.6 | 127.9 | 25.1 | 43.0 | 59.8 | - |
| Adequate | 467.3 | 148.9 | 112.4 | 88.6 | 65.7 | 51.8 | 737.9 | 421.4 | 242.3 | 74.2 | - |
| Target | 1026.5 | 295.8 | 235.1 | 198.4 | 154.1 | 143.2 | 1120.2 | 523.2 | 382.5 | 214.5 | - |
| Males | |||||||||||
| 10% higher | 132.8 | 33.6 | 28.5 | 26.2 | 21.6 | 22.8 | 76.4 | 15.0 | 25.6 | 35.8 | - |
| Adequate | 290.2 | 89.0 | 69.5 | 56.0 | 39.4 | 36.3 | 455.0 | 256.0 | 150.6 | 48.4 | - |
| Target | 721.7 | 202.4 | 164.2 | 140.7 | 107.6 | 106.8 | 780.0 | 364.3 | 258.9 | 156.7 | - |
| Females | |||||||||||
| 10% higher | 88.7 | 22.0 | 19.1 | 17.6 | 14.2 | 15.8 | 51.5 | 10.1 | 17.4 | 24.0 | - |
| Adequate | 177.1 | 59.9 | 42.9 | 32.5 | 26.3 | 15.5 | 282.9 | 165.4 | 91.7 | 25.8 | - |
| Target | 304.8 | 93.4 | 70.9 | 57.6 | 46.4 | 36.4 | 378.7 | 197.4 | 123.6 | 57.7 | - |
| Type 2 Diabetes | |||||||||||
| Persons | |||||||||||
| 10% higher | 60.7 | 17.7 | 11.5 | 13.1 | 10.4 | 7.9 | 35.1 | 6.9 | 11.8 | 16.4 | - |
| Adequate | 131.0 | 47.4 | 27.2 | 26.6 | 19.1 | 10.6 | 202.6 | 115.7 | 66.5 | 20.4 | - |
| Target | 285.9 | 94.5 | 57.0 | 59.8 | 45.1 | 29.5 | 318.8 | 154.4 | 105.3 | 59.1 | - |
| Males | |||||||||||
| 10% higher | 37.0 | 10.9 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 6.4 | 4.7 | 21.3 | 4.2 | 7.1 | 10.0 | - |
| Adequate | 82.2 | 28.8 | 17.1 | 17.1 | 11.7 | 7.5 | 126.6 | 71.3 | 41.9 | 13.5 | - |
| Target | 202.8 | 65.5 | 40.3 | 42.9 | 31.9 | 22.2 | 217.1 | 101.4 | 72.1 | 43.6 | - |
| Females | |||||||||||
| 10% higher | 23.7 | 6.8 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 13.8 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 6.5 | - |
| Adequate | 48.8 | 18.6 | 10.1 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 3.1 | 76.0 | 44.4 | 24.6 | 6.9 | - |
| Target | 83.1 | 29.0 | 16.7 | 16.9 | 13.2 | 7.3 | 101.7 | 53.0 | 33.2 | 15.5 | - |
Abbreviations: SES, socioeconomic status. ‘10% higher’ is a 10% increase in current fibre intakes and is equivalent to an increase of between 2.1–2.5 g per day; ‘adequate intake’ is an increase in current dietary fibre intake to 30 g per day for males and 25 g per day for females and is equivalent to an increase of 3.9–5.2 g per day; and ‘target intake’ is an increase in current dietary intake to 38 g per day for males and 28 g per day for females and is equivalent to an increase of 6.9–13.2 g per day. All scenarios increase fibre intake using cereal fibre. † People in quartile 4 consumed in excess of the adequate and target levels of dietary fibre, and hence healthcare expenditure savings are not expected from this group. When analysed by quartiles of dietary fibre intake, the potential healthcare expenditure savings for CVD ranged from $127.9 million for 10% higher intake and up to $1.1 billion for the target intake. For T2D, the potential healthcare expenditure savings ranged from $35.1 million for 10% higher intake and up to $318.8 million for the target intake. The highest quartile of dietary fibre intake was not considered to contribute to any savings in healthcare expenditure given that both men and women in the highest quartile of intake consumed, on average, higher than the target intake.