Most New Zealanders believe they are healthy
Most New Zealanders aged 15 years and over believe themselves to be in good health. This is one of the findings released today from the 1996/97 New Zealand Health Survey, conducted by Statistics New Zealand on behalf of the Ministry of Health.
This media release contains a selection of first results from the survey. More detailed analysis will be published later in the year.
The survey, covering a one-year period from October 1996 to September 1997, asked over 8,800 adults and children a series of questions relating to their physical and mental health status, health risk behaviours and use of health services.
More than half (58 per cent) of all adults assessed their personal health as excellent or very good and a further 29 per cent said it was good. Only 12 per cent said their health was fair or poor, with people aged 65 years or older more likely to give a negative assessment of their health. A total of 20 per cent of this older age group believed that they were in fair health and a further 4 per cent (approximately 15,900 people) described their health as poor.
Smokers were less likely to assess their health as excellent - 14 per cent compared with 23 per cent of their non-smoking counterparts. In total, 25 per cent of New Zealand adults described themselves as current smokers and a further 25 per cent said they used to smoke but no longer did.
Those who described their health as excellent or very good were less likely to have seen a doctor in the year prior to the survey. Seventy-four per cent of adults with excellent or very good health had seen a GP in the previous 12 months compared with 84 per cent of people in good health and 92 per cent of those who considered their health to be fair or poor.
GP Use
Overall, 79 per cent of all New Zealand adults had visited a GP in the previous year. The majority (60 per cent) of these adults had seen a doctor between two and five times, and a further 19 per cent had visited a GP six or more times in the last year. While 38 per cent of adults who had been to a doctor said that their last visit related to a short-term or temporary condition, 27 per cent said they had sought professional care because of a disability or long-term illness.
A further 11 per cent of the total population (approximately 405,000 people) had needed to see a doctor but had not in the last year, with almost half citing cost as the reason why they or their children had not sought professional care. In total, 80 per cent of all children under 15 years of age had visited a GP in the last 12 months.
Thirty-eight per cent of all New Zealanders were covered by a health or medical insurance scheme with people aged between 45 and 64 years of age the most likely to be covered (55 per cent). In comparison, a third of 15 - 24 year-olds, 40 per cent of 25 - 44 year-olds and 27 per cent of those aged 65 years and over had, or were covered by, health insurance. Thirty-one per cent of all children were covered by such schemes.
Exercise
Eighty-five per cent of people aged 15 years and over said they had engaged in some form of physical exercise in the seven days prior to completing the survey. Walking was the most common form of activity - 61 per cent of adults said they had walked as a form of exercise or enjoyment in the previous week. The next most common form of physical activity was gardening (36 per cent), followed by exercising at home, running, going to the gym, cycling and swimming.
Nearly half (47 per cent) of all adults said that they had done vigorous physical activity - that is, exercise that made them breathe hard or sweat. Younger people were more likely to have performed vigorous activities. A total of 64 per cent of 15 - 24 year-olds had participated in at least one form of vigorous exercise. In comparison half of all 25 - 44 year-olds, 43 per cent of 45 - 64 year-olds and a quarter of those aged 65 years or older had done exercise that made them breathe hard or sweat in the week prior to the survey.
Alcohol Consumption
The majority (82 per cent) of New Zealand adults said that they had consumed at least one drink containing alcohol in the year prior to the survey. Of these, 18 per cent generally consumed alcohol four or more times in a seven-day period. Over half (57 per cent) of all drinkers said that they typically had one or two drinks when drinking. A further 21 per cent had three or four drinks, and 7 per cent of all drinkers averaged 10 or more drinks. People who drank on four or more occasions per week were more likely to drink moderately (64 per cent said they generally consumed one or two drinks on a typical day when drinking).
Older people, although less likely to have had a drink, were more likely to be drinking more often. Sixty-eight per cent of all New Zealanders aged 65 years or older said they had drunk alcohol in the last year. A third of these said they generally drank four or more times per week compared with 27 per cent of 45 - 64 year-olds, 13 per cent of 25 - 44-year-olds and 5 per cent of 15 - 24-year-olds.
New Zealand men were more likely to be drinking four or more times a week than their female counterparts (22 per cent compared with 13 per cent). Additionally, they were more likely to be drinking 10 or more drinks on a typical drinking day (10 per cent compared with 4 per cent of women) and less likely to consume only one or two drinks (48 per cent compared with 67 per cent).
Health Conditions
Sixteen per cent of all people aged 15 years or older have been diagnosed or had symptoms consistent with asthma. This is particularly common amongst 15 - 24 -year-olds (19 per cent). Another common health complaint was high blood pressure, for which 331,500 people (or 12 per cent of all New Zealand adults) were taking, or had previously been prescribed, regular medication. The occurrence of this ailment increased with age with 41 per cent of people aged 65 years or older taking, or had previously taken, regular medication for high blood pressure.
Other findings from the survey:
An estimated 4 per cent of all New Zealand adults, including 8 per cent of those aged 65 years or older, have been told by a doctor that they have diabetes.
- Sixty-nine per cent of all New Zealanders had received at least one prescription item from a chemist or pharmacy in the last year. People aged 65 years or older were more likely to have had prescription items (83 per cent). Twenty-nine per cent of adults and 19 per cent of all children had seen a specialist in the 12 months prior to the survey. Adults who had been to a specialist were less likely to describe their health as excellent or very good (45 per cent compared with 58 per cent of the total adult population) and more likely to say it was fair or poor (21 per cent compared with 12 per cent).
- One in every 10 New Zealand children had been admitted to a public hospital in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Dianne Macaskill
DEPUTY GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN
20 July 1998
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