Overviews
Self-Assessed Health Status, Indigenous Australians
An Occasional Paper by Joan Cunningham,
Beverly Sibthorpe and lan Anderson
Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No. 4707.0
Summary
Introduction
This report is about how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults describe their health. The information comes from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey (NATSIS) that was carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 1994. The survey was the first one to ask Indigenous people all across Australia what they think about their own health.
People were asked, 'In general, wouldyou say your healthisexcellent, very good, good, fair or poor?'
What did people say?
Among Indigenous people aged 15 years and over, about 17% (about 1 in 6 people) said their health was 'fair' or 'poor'. Most people said they were in 'good', 'very good' or 'excellent' health.
Self-assessed health status, Indigenous adults aged 15+
Who said their health was "poor" or "fair"?
The answers people gave depended on their age. Olderpeople were more likely than younger people to say their health was fair or poor.
In most age groups, Indigenous people were more likely to say their health was fair or poor than were people in the National Health Survey of 1995, most of whom were non-Indigenous.
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People with long-term health conditions
People were also more likely to say their health was poor or fair if they said they had a long-term health condition, such as heart problems, kidney problems or diabetes. For example, among people who said they had heart problems, about 60% of males and 46% of females said their health was poor or fair. In comparison, among people who said they didn't have any of the health conditions listed, only about 8% described their health as poor or fair.
People who took a health-related action
People who said they had taken any health-related actions in the past two weeks (such as visiting a doctor or using medication) were also more likely to say their health was poor or fair. Among people who said they had been admitted to hospital, 46% of males and 36% of females said their health was poor or fair. Among people who said they had not been admitted to hospital but had seen a doctor, nurse, or Aboriginal Health Worker or been to a hospital outpatients department in the past two weeks, 27% of males and females described their health as poor or fair.
Main language spoken
People who did not speak English as their main language (i.e. they spoke an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language, Creole, etc.) were less likely to report poor or fair health than people who used English as their main language. This does not necessarily mean they were in better health, as there could be other reasons for this difference. For example, people who speak a language other than English are more likely to live a more traditional lifestyle, often in remote areas of the country. They may have different ideas about good and bad health. Based on what they see around them, they may have different ideas of what is normal or expected for their health. They also may have difficulty getting to and using some health care services, so they may not be aware of some of the health conditions they have. It is also possible, of course, that people who don't speak English as their main language may not have understood the question or what was expected in response.
Employment
People who did not have a job were more likely to report poor or fair health than those who were employed in mainstream jobs (i.e. non-CDEP). Women who worked in CDEP scheme jobs were more likely to report poor or fair health than those in non-CDEP jobs, but there was no obvious difference between men working in CDEP and non-CDEP jobs after accounting for age differences.
Other factors related to self-assessed health
Other factors had an effect on how people described their health, but these factors were not as important as long-term health conditions, health-related actions, age, main language, and employment. More details are available in the main report.
How is this information useful?
Most of what we know about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, at least at the national and State/Territory level, comes from administrative data collections such as death registrations and hospital records. This type of information is useful, but it does not tell us about some important areas of health. It is not very sensitive to changes in health and well-being which can make an important difference in the quality of people's lives but which don't necessarily affect whether they go to hospital or when they die.
Asking people how they feel about their own health may give us a better understanding about their health and quality of life. The information may also be useful for monitoring changes in over time. This type of information is being used more and more throughout the world by people who study health, but it was not available for Australia's Indigenous peoples until the NATSIS was done.
More Information?
For more information contact the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics (NCATSIS) in Darwin on 1800 633 216. The price of the publication is $18.50 and copies can be purchased from the nearest ABS office (in all capital cities). The document can also be accessed via the ABS Statsite www.abs.gov.au Statistics are also available from NCATSIS on many other topics of interest to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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