The Victorian Population Health Survey is an important component of the Department of Health and Human Services’ population health surveillance work. The annual survey series is an ongoing source of quality information on the health of adult Victorians.
The Victorian Population Health Survey has been conducted each year since 2001 and is based on a sample of 7,500 people aged 18 years or older who are randomly selected from households from each of the eight departmental regions. In 2008, and again in 2011–12, the sample size for the survey was expanded to include Victoria’s 79 local government areas (LGAs).
The aim of the survey is to provide quality, timely indicators of population health that directly apply to evidence-based policy development and strategic planning across the department and the wider community.
The survey is based on core question modules to report on trends over time and to inform decisions about public health priorities. The survey findings fill a gap in population health data and provide information to ensure that public health programs remain relevant and responsive to current and emerging health issues.
The impact of the use of data from the Victorian Population Health Survey is extensive across the government and non-government sectors of Victoria. The survey provides quality data for a range of indicators of public health importance at the state and departmental region levels.
Department of Health & Human Services
Summary of findings
The following is a summary of results from the Victorian Population Health Survey 2012, not adjusted for age.
Smoking
Overall, 15.6 per cent of people aged 18 years or older were current smokers. This proportion was significantly higher in men (18.6 per cent) than women (12.7 per cent).
Alcohol intake
Based on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC 2009) alcohol consumption guidelines, 41.2 per cent of people consumed enough alcohol on at least one occasion each year to put them at increased risk of alcohol-related injury. The proportion was significantly higher in men (54.2 per cent) than women (28.7 per cent).
Overall, 60.2 per cent of people consumed alcohol that put them at an increased lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury. The prevalence of increased risk was significantly higher in men (71.9 per cent) compared with women (49.2 per cent) overall, and was significantly higher in every age group except 18–24 years age group.
Vegetable intake
Overall, 6.7 per cent of people met the recommended minimum daily intake for vegetables of four or more serves for those aged 18 years or younger (NHMRC 2003b) and five or more serves for those aged 19 years or older (NHMRC 2003a). The proportion meeting the guidelines was significantly higher in women (9.1 per cent) compared with men (4.2 per cent).
Fruit intake
The proportion of people who consumed the recommended two or more serves of fruit daily was 45.4 per cent, among all people, and was signifi cantly higher in women (51.0 per cent) compared with men (39.6 per cent) (NHMRC 2003a).
Consumption of potato-based snacks
Overall, 4.7 per cent of people reported consuming potato-based snacks more than three times a week, the proportion being signifi cantly higher in men (6.2 per cent) compared with women (3.3 per cent).
Consumption of ‘take-away’ meals or snacks
The proportion of people who consumed ‘take-away’ meals or snacks more than three times each week was 1.6 per cent; the proportion was similar in men and women.
Sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption
Overall, 12.9 per cent of people reported consuming sugar-sweetened soft drinks every day. The proportion who reported consuming these drinks daily was significantly higher in men (18.1 per cent) compared with women (7.9 per cent).
Physical activity
The proportion of people undertaking adequate physical activity (measured in both sufficient time and sessions) to meet the national guidelines was 61.5 per cent. The proportion was similar in men (62.6 per cent) and women (60.5 per cent).
Body weight
The proportion of people categorised as overweight according to their body mass index (BMI) was 34.8 per cent; the proportion was significantly higher in men (43.1 per cent) compared with women (26.9 per cent). The proportion of people categorised as obese according to their BMI was 18.0 per cent; the proportion was not significantly different in men (18.5 per cent) compared with women (17.4 per cent).
Psychological distress
The proportion of people with high or very high levels of psychological distress, as determined by the Kessler 10 scale, was 10.7 per cent; the proportion was similar in men (9.1 per cent) and women (12.2 per cent).
Hypertension
Overall, the prevalence of hypertension was 25.8 per cent and was not signifi cantly different in men (25.6 per cent) and women (25.9 per cent).
Health checks and screening
Overall, 81.6 per cent of people reported having had their blood pressure checked, 62.1 per cent reported having had a blood cholesterol test and 57.6 per cent reported having had a blood glucose test in the past two years.
Self-reported dental health
Overall, 44.4 per cent of people rated their dental health as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’, while 30.5 per cent rated their dental health as ‘good’. A further 19.5 per cent rated it as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’. The proportion of people who reported having no natural teeth was 5.3 per cent.
Self-reported health
Overall, 48.4 per cent of people reported their health status as being ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’, 36.0 per cent reported their health status as ‘good’, while 15.3 per cent reported their health status as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’. There were no signifi cant differences between the sexes.
Asthma
Overall, 11.2 per cent of people had experienced symptoms of asthma or taken treatment for asthma in the preceding 12 months. The prevalence of current asthma was similar in women (11.9 per cent) compared with men (10.5 per cent).
Diabetes
Overall, 0.6 per cent of people reported having been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes; there was no significant difference in prevalence between the sexes. In contrast, the overall prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 5.4 per cent, with the prevalence significantly higher in men (6.5 per cent) compared with women (4.3 per cent).
Mental health
Overall, 11.6 per cent of people had sought professional help for a mental health problem in the year prior to the survey. The proportion was signifi cantly higher among women (14.4 per cent) compared with men (8.6 per cent). Of those seeking help, 68.0 per cent reported seeking help from a general practitioner, 39.5 per cent obtained help from a private counselling service or psychologist and 18.5 per cent reported seeking help from a private psychiatrist.
Social capital
Overall, 23.6 per cent of people reported helping out a local group by volunteering; this proportion was not significantly different between the sexes. In contrast, 64.5 per cent of people rarely or never volunteered.
Overall, 55.0 per cent of people had attended a local community event; this proportion was similar in women (55.3 per cent) and men (54.7 per cent).
Most people could get help from friends, family or neighbours when needed.
Most people (89.4 per cent) reported having someone outside their household who could provide care in the event of an emergency. By contrast, 8.3 per cent of people reported that they would not be able to get such care in an emergency. There was no difference between the sexes.
Overall, 4.1 per cent of people were receiving help from a volunteer-based organisation; this proportion was similar in men and women.
Almost half (49.4 per cent) of the people surveyed thought multiculturalism ‘made life in their area better’, and a further 27.9 per cent thought it ‘sometimes made life in their area better’.
Overall, 9.0 per cent of people reported having attended a support group meeting in the previous two years. The proportion of women who had attended a support group meeting (11.2 per cent) was signifi cantly higher compared with the proportion of men (6.7 per cent).
More than half of all people (54.0 per cent) definitely felt valued by society. A further 29.6 per cent only sometimes felt they were valued by society, while 11.5 per cent did not feel valued by society.
Overall, 38.8 per cent of people believed there were ‘definitely’ opportunities to have a real say on issues that were important to them.
However, 22.9 per cent believed that they did not, or did not often, have such opportunities; this proportion was significantly higher in men (25.9 per cent) than women (20.0 per cent).
The majority of people (59.4 per cent) felt safe walking alone down their street after dark. However, there was a substantial difference between the sexes, with 75.7 per cent of men compared with 43.8 per cent of women reporting feeling safe.
Overall, 39.5 per cent of people agreed that most people could be trusted; this was signifi cantly higher in men (42.7 per cent) than women (36.5 per cent).
Food security
Overall, 3.4 per cent of people reported that they had run out of food in the previous 12 months and had been unable to afford to buy more.
This proportion was similar in men (3.1 per cent) and women (3.7 per cent).