Table 1.
ILI consultation rates (per 1000 consultations) according to practices and patients’ characteristics. Australia, 2015–2017
| Variables | ILI consultation rates (per 1000 consultations)* | |||
| Total | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Practices’ characteristics | ||||
| State † | ||||
| New South Wales | 3.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 5.8 |
| Victoria | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 4.1 |
| Queensland | 3.5 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 4.8 |
| Western Australia | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.7 |
| Tasmania | 3.1 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 4.7 |
| South Australia | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 4.4 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.4 |
| Northern Territory | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 6.4 |
| Rurality † | ||||
| Major cities | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 4.9 |
| Inner regional | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 3.7 |
| Outer regional/remote/very remote | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 3.3 |
| IRSAD quintile† | ||||
| Very high | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 6.0 |
| High | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| Middle | 3.0 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 4.6 |
| Low | 2.3 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.5 |
| Very low | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 3.6 |
| Patients’ characteristics | ||||
| Gender† | ||||
| Male | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 4.6 |
| Female | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 4.3 |
| Age † | ||||
| <5 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 3.7 |
| 5–17 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 7.7 |
| 18–44 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 5.5 |
| 45–64 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 4.9 |
| ≥65 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 2.4 |
| Ethnicity† | ||||
| Non Aboriginal/Torres Strait lslander | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 4.4 |
| Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 3.4 |
| Not recorded | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 4.8 |
| IRSAD quintile† | ||||
| Very high | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 4.7 |
| High | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 4.0 |
| Middle | 3.0 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 4.4 |
| Low | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 4.3 |
| Very low | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 4.7 |
| Comorbidities†‡ | ||||
| No | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 4.8 |
| Yes | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 3.7 |
| Depression/anxiety† | ||||
| No | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 4.7 |
| Yes | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 3.9 |
| Total number of ILI cases | 98 086 | 31 882 | 27 957 | 38 306 |
| Total | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 4.4 |
*Logistic regression models with practices’ characteristics are adjusted for each other; logistic regression models with patients’ characteristics are adjusted for age, gender and practices’ characteristics. Numbers in bold indicate p value ≤0.05 for analyses between the first (reference) category of each variable and the other categories in the same year.
†P value≤0.05 for longitudinal analysis (difference between years in the same category).
‡Comorbidities include cardiac disease, chronic neurological disease, chronic respiratory disease, chronic liver disease, immunocompromising conditions and other chronic diseases (including chronic renal failure, diabetes mellitus and haemoglobinopathies).
ILI, influenza-like illness; IRSAD, Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage.