Recent trends in health assessments for older Australians

Non-Indigenous older Australians (aged 75+ years) are encouraged to undertake an annual health assessment (75+HA) to identify overlooked medical conditions, holistically assess the management of current chronic conditions and highlight potential risk factors for poor health. Uptake in the 2000s has been previously reported to be slowly increasing, but still very low. This study aimed to identify the uptake of 75+HA between 2011 and 2019, comparing State and National trends over a 9-year period. The uptake of Medicare Items 701, 703, 705 and 707 between 2011 and 2019 was analysed. These results were incorporated with Australian Demographics data to present rate ratios by State and age groups. An increasing number of 75+HAs were performed between 2011 and 2019, and the 75+HAs performed were increasing in duration. Overall, the 75+HA uptake was still generally low, at approximately one-third of the eligible population; however, despite the low uptake, age-standardised figures showed upward trends. The 75+HA rate in the 85+ year group has now overtaken their younger (aged 75-84 years) counterparts. There were also clear variations between States. Given the low rates, strategies to improve uptake should be targeted so all eligible Australians receive an annual Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)-funded 75+HA.