Background: Prior to this study there has not been any national reporting of the numbers of people using insulin pumps and their characteristics.
Aim: To provide up-to-date national information about insulin pump use by people with Type 1 diabetes and their demographic characteristics.
Method: The number and characteristics of insulin pump users were determined from de-identified data from the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS).
Results: As at June 2011, 10,500 (10%) Australians with Type 1 diabetes were using insulin pumps. Pump users were more likely to be female than all people with Type 1 diabetes (61% vs 45%, respectively) and younger (median age of 27 vs 55 years, respectively).
Male pump users tended to be younger than females, median age of 23 and 30 years, respectively.
New South Wales had the highest number of people on pumps, accounting for 32% of all Australian users. The proportion of people with Type 1 diabetes using pumps differed by jurisdiction, ranging from 15% in the Australian Capital Territory, (well above the national average of 10%) to 7% in the Northern Territory.
Seventy per cent of users lived in major cities, 21% in inner regional areas, 9% in outer regional and 1% in remote and very remote areas. The proportion of people with Type 1 diabetes using pumps in remote and very remote areas was lower (8%) than in other areas, which were all close to the national average (10%).
A shift in diabetes management approach is evidenced by the finding that approximately 18% of people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2009 started using a pump within 2 years of their diagnosis, compared with <1% among those diagnosed in 1997 or earlier.
Conclusion: This study provides a current overview of the number of people using insulin pumps in Australia, their characteristics and distribution.

Acknowledgement: National Diabetes Data Working Group which is the Advisory Committee to the National Centre for Monitoring Diabetes at AIHW.