The Fremantle Diabetes Study
The Fremantle Diabetes Study (FDS) is a unique and internationally recognised longitudinal community-based diabetes natural history study.
About us
When the Fremantle Diabetes Study (FDS) was conceived in 1991 by its chief investigator Professor Tim Davis, there were few published longitudinal community-based diabetes natural history studies.
Additionally, Australia-specific aspects had not been well characterised including the disproportionately large number of people with diabetes from a migrant background and the important question of diabetes in indigenous groups.
Phase I (FDS1) started in 1993, recruiting people with known diabetes living in a stable multi-ethnic community forming the Fremantle Hospital primary catchment area.
This is a postcode-defined population (currently approximately 180,000) living in and around the port of Fremantle, Western Australia. FDS1 aimed to examine clinically relevant aspects of diabetes including usual care, metabolic control, complications and cost. Since FDS1, there have been a number of changes in diabetes epidemiology and management, justifying further study.
Phase II (FDS2) is an extension of the initial research, collecting parallel data from the same geographical area starting in 2008. The >3,000 participants in both Phases are still being followed through linked health databases. FDS findings have appeared in >160 publications over the last 25 years.
Our Goals
- To determine the multi-faceted nature of diabetes in a representative urban Australian setting
- To obtain data that help patients with diabetes to better understand their condition, that assist clinicians in managing people with diabetes, and which can be used in planning diabetes services in the community
Research Paper Highlights
- 1. A prospective study of depression and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study
- Depression is associated with excess mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. We investigated the impact, and possible causal mechanisms, of depression on all-cause and cardiac mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. Read more
- 2. Effect of a pharmaceutical care program on vascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study
- The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a 12-month pharmaceutical care (PC) program on vascular risk in type 2 diabetes. After discussing the results, they learn that a 12-month PC program in type 2 diabetes reduced glycemia and blood pressure and could prove a valuable component of community-based multidisciplinary diabetes care. Read more
- 3. Glycemic exposure is associated with reduced pulmonary function in type 2 diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study
- The objective was to examine prospectively the relationship between diabetes, glycemic control, and spirometric measures. We concluded that reduced lung volumes and airflow limitation are likely to be chronic complications of type 2 diabetes, the severity of which relates to glycemic exposure. Airflow limitation is a predictor of death in type 2 diabetes after adjusting for other recognized risk factors. Read more
- 4. Identification of novel circulating biomarkers predicting rapid decline in renal function in type 2 diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase II
- The objective was to assess the ability of plasma apolipoprotein (apo) A-IV (apoA4), apo C-III, CD5 antigen-like (CD5L), complement C1q subcomponent subunit B (C1QB), complement factor H–related protein 2, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IBP3) to predict rapid decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in type 2 diabetes. Read more
- 5. Severe hypoglycaemia and cognitive impairment in older patients with diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study
- The aim was to investigate the relationship between severe hypoglycaemia (HSH) and cognitive impairment in older patients with diabetes. Our data suggest that severe hypoglycaemia does not cause or contribute to cognitive impairment and dementia in diabetes but that older diabetic patients with dementia are at substantially increased risk of HSH. Read more
- More Research and Publications
- Read more Fremantle Diabetes Study Research and Publications here.
Collaborations
Significant Funding
News
Study finds decline in heart attack and stroke in Type 2 diabetics
A study by The University of Western Australian and Fremantle Hospital with support from the Raine Foundation and NHMRC has found the rate of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular complications has improved in people with diabetes over the past 20 years.
Read moreDiabetes-Related Foot Ulcer Incidence Rose From Early 1990s Through 2013
Incident diabetes-related foot ulcer (DFU) hospitalizations related to type 2 diabetes (T2D) increased from the early 1990s to the late 2010s, especially in younger patients and those with peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN), according to the results of a study published in Diabetes Care.
Read moreType 1 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease
At the virtual 56th European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting, researchers stated the statistical fact that Australian adults who are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes most commonly die seven years earlier than patients without diabetes.
Read moreDiabetic foot 'now more common in younger patients'
A comparison of data on diabetic foot ulcers suggests more younger people have been developing the condition in recent decades.
Read moreLifetime achievement award for diabetes trailblazer
He’s a general physician, endocrinologist and tropical medicine specialist and Professor of Medicine at The University of Western Australia but it is his 40-plus years of research into diabetes that has seen Professor Tim Davis presented with a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the Australian Diabetes Society.
Read morePulmonary hypertension found in 1 in 8 people with type 2 diabetes
Clinically significant pulmonary hypertension (PH) is relatively common in type 2 diabetes according to a WA study – strengthening the case for consideration of PH in the routine assessment of people with type 2 diabetes.
Read more