Foreword
I am pleased to present the 2006 Report on Adult Health from the New South Wales Population Health Survey, which provides information on health behaviours, health status, access to health services, and social capital, for adults aged 16 years and over.
In 2006, data for the New South Wales Population Health Survey were collected from February to December.
After describing the survey methods, this report presents information on health behaviours including: alcohol, cancer screening (breast and cervical), environmental health (water quality and home heating), food handling, immunisation (influenza, pneumococcal, and meningococcal), injury prevention (fire safety in the home and swimming ability), nutrition, physical activity, and smoking. This is followed by a chapter on health status including: asthma, diabetes or high blood glucose, incontinence, mental health (psychological distress), injury (falls), oral health, overweight and obesity, and self-rated health. Next there is a chapter on health services including: health service use and access, emergency department presentations, hospital admissions, community health centres, and public dental services. Finally, there is a chapter on social capital.
In the PDF version of the report, indicators are presented for males and females by age, socioeconomic disadvantage and geographic location. Further information is presented in the HTML version. In the PDF version, indicators are compared to previous years wherever possible in the concluding tables. In the HTML version these trends are reported as separate graphs within each indicator. Both the PDF and HTML versions can be obtained from the New South Wales Population Health Survey website at www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/survey/hsurvey.html.
This is a descriptive report and there is a wealth of other information in the survey dataset that may be of specific interest. For these reasons we encourage as many people as possible to analyse the data further. For further analysis within a health area, data can be accessed through the Health Outcomes Information Statistical Toolkit (HOIST). For further analysis among health areas or at a statewide level, a data request needs to be lodged with the NSW Department of Health.
Comments on the New South Wales Population Health Survey are welcome.
I thank all the individuals and organisations who contributed their time and expertise to assist in the development and conduct of the Survey in 2006.
Denise Robinson
Chief Health Officer and Deputy Director-General, Population Health
August 2007
| Source: | New South Wales Population Health Survey 2006 (HOIST). Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health. |
| Print version: | Although this page can be printed directly from your web browser, a higher quality version is available as a PDF file that can be printed or viewed on screen. |
| Produced by: | Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Population Health Division, NSW Department of Health. |
| Last updated on: | 1 July 2007 |