The Victorian Population Health Survey is an important component of the population health surveillance capacity of the Department of Human Services. The annual survey series is an ongoing source of high quality information on the health of Victorians. Information in the report is presented on health and lifestyle, including physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, intake of fruit and vegetables, selected health screening, adult obesity, asthma and diabetes prevalence, psychological distress and social networks.
The aim of this report is to provide high quality, timely indicators of population health that are intended to have direct application to evidence-based policy development and strategic planning across the department and the wider community. The Victorian Population Health Survey is based on a core set of question modules that are critical to informing decisions about public health priorities. It fills a significant void in the accessible data that are required to ensure public health programs are relevant and responsive to current and emerging health issues.
Department of Health and Human Services
Previous reports of the Victorian Population Health Survey, presenting high quality information on the health of Victorians. Information in each report is presented on health and lifestyle, including physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, intake of fruit and vegetables, selected health screening, adult obesity, asthma and diabetes prevalence, psychological distress and social networks.
About the survey
The Victorian Population Health Survey is an important component of the population health surveillance capacity of the Department of Human Services. The annual survey series is an ongoing source of high quality information on the health of Victorians. Information in the report is presented on health and lifestyle, including physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, intake of fruit and vegetables, selected health screening, adult obesity, asthma and diabetes prevalence, psychological distress and social networks.
The aim of this report is to provide high quality, timely indicators of population health that are intended to have direct application to evidence-based policy development and strategic planning across the department and the wider community. The Victorian Population Health Survey is based on a core set of question modules that are critical to informing decisions about public health priorities. It fills a significant void in the accessible data that are required to ensure public health programs are relevant and responsive to current and emerging health issues.
Methods
Computer-assisted telephone interviewing was undertaken between July and October 2007. A representative statewide sample of adults aged 18 years or over was randomly selected from households in each of the eight departmental health regions. Approximately 7500 interviews were completed during the fieldwork period. The department determined the content of the survey after reviewing the determinants of chronic disease states that are most likely to have an impact on Victorians. Priority has been given to areas in which a public health response is likely to be effective in improving health and, importantly, reducing inequalities in health for all Victorians.
About this report
This report presents information on selected data items from the survey undertaken in 2007. In the section on health and lifestyle, the report contains information on the prevalence of major risk-taking behaviours across the Victorian population – for example, the prevalence of smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol consumption and levels of physical activity. Data on self-reported height and weight are collected as core items. These data are vital for targeting public health interventions and evaluating outcomes.
The report includes a section on selected chronic diseases, as well as separate sections on asthma and diabetes, which are the subject of public health programs in Victoria and nationwide. These data complement the department’s Victorian Burden of Disease Study and Victorian Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions Study, and they describe aspects of clinical management and prevention that are amenable to public health interventions.
The Victorian Population Health Survey 2007 collected a wide range of information relating to the health of the adult Victorian population and the determinants of that health.
The main lifestyle related variables include fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol consumption, smoking and physical activity.
Health status variables described include self-rated health, body mass index, national health priority area chronic diseases and levels of psychological distress. Screening information collected includes blood pressure, cholesterol, bowel cancer and blood sugar levels.
Social network and participation information includes attendance at community events, group membership, volunteering, help from friends/family/neighbours, attitudes towards multiculturalism and feeling valued by society.
Fruit intake
The proportion of adults in 2007 meeting the recommended daily intake levels of fruit (two serves) was 45.7 per cent, down from a high of 56.4 per cent in 2001, at the commencement of the Victorian Population Health Survey data collection.
Vegetable intake
Less than one in ten adults in 2007 (7.7 per cent) were meeting the recommended daily intake for vegetables (five serves), down from a high of 12.2 per cent in 2002.
Alcohol intake
The proportion of males and females drinking alcohol weekly at levels for short term risk did not vary significantly over the period 2002–2007. In 2007, approximately 14 per cent of males and 7 per cent of females reported drinking alcohol weekly at levels for short term risk.
Smoking
In 2007, approximately one in five adults aged 18 years or over (19.9 per cent) were current smokers, down from a high of 24.5 per cent in 2001.
Physical activity
The proportion of persons undertaking adequate physical activity (measured in both sufficient time and sessions) was 62.7 per cent in 2007, an increase from 57.0 per cent in 2002.
Self-reported health
The proportion of persons reporting their health as either excellent, very good or good has remained relatively constant over the period 2001–2007, at between 81 and 84 per cent.
Overweight and obesity
Measures of height and weight were collected for the first time in 2002 in order to calculate body mass index. The proportion of persons categorised as overweight or obese according to the body mass index has increased overtime from 45.5 per cent in 2002 to 48.7 per cent in 2007.
Asthma
The prevalence of current asthma amongst adults in 2007 was 10.5 per cent, which is similar to the rate in recent years.
Diabetes
Diabetes prevalence amongst adults has remained steady at between 4 and 6 per cent over the period 2002–2007.
Psychological distress
The proportion of persons having high levels on the Kessler 10 measure of psychological distress has decreased over time from 4.0 per cent in 2001 to 2.4 per cent in 2007.
Screening
Blood pressure checks have remained constant over the period 2001–2007, with 78.7 per cent of persons undertaking the test in 2007.
The proportion of persons having cholesterol checks has risen from 45.8 per cent in 2001 to 53.0 per cent in 2007, and for blood sugar tests the proportion rose from 44.8 per cent in 2001 to 49.2 per cent in 2007.
Social networks and participation
Information presented in the report is based on measures of the extent and diversity of social networks in the Victorian population and the extent to which they are associated with health. The determinants of social health include social support, community participation and attitudes. Policy makers now have Victorian data that link preventable risk-taking behaviours, their ‘upstream’ determinants (such as levels of social networks) and health status.
In 2007, more than one in three persons aged 18 years and over (35.5 per cent) reported that they helped out a local group as a volunteer.
Most persons could get help from friends, family or neighbours when needed.
More than three out of four persons (76.3 per cent) felt multiculturalism made life in their area better, 82.9 per cent felt valued by society and 73.5 per cent felt they had an opportunity to have a say on issues that were important to them.
Chronic disease
Just over half (52.8%) of all adults surveyed in Victoria, between 2005 and 2007, reported having been diagnosed by a doctor with at least one of the following: heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, depression, asthma or diabetes.
After adjusting for age, the prevalence of chronic disease was higher in non-Metropolitan areas of the state, compared to Metropolitan areas and the prevalence of chronic diseases was higher for disadvantaged groups in the population.
Social inequalities in health
Socioeconomic conditions and lifestyle factors have been found to be related to self-rated health status, which is an established predictor of morbidity and mortality. Among individuals with no chronic disease approximately nine per cent rated their health as fair or poor, compared with 15.7 per cent of those with one chronic disease and 35.3 per cent of those with two or more chronic diseases. Similarly, among those who rated their health status as excellent or very good, more than half (54.9 per cent) had no chronic disease, 45.2 per cent had one chronic disease and 28.1 per cent had two or more chronic diseases.
Self-rated mental health has been the focus of attention less often but is important in its own right. A significantly higher proportion of individuals living in households with incomes greater than $60,000 per year (70.2 per cent) had Kessler 10 scores in the range (< 16) associated with low levels of psychological distress, compared with those living in households with incomes of less than $20,000 per annum (54.2 per cent). Conversely, the proportion of individuals with scores in the ranges indicative of high or very high levels of psychological distress was significantly greater among those with low household incomes ($20,000 or less per year) compared with those with higher household incomes ($60,000 or more per annum).