Introduction
This is the first report on the health of Aboriginal adults from the New South Wales Population Health Survey. The report uses data collected between 2002 and 2005. It will assist the monitoring of health, and policy development and service planning, at th e statewide and area health service level.
The only other sources of information on the health of Aboriginal people in New South Wales are the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, conducted by the Austral ian Bureau of Statistics.[1,2]
In 2001, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised just over 2 per cent of the New South Wales population, of which 6.4 per cent were Torres Strait Islanders. In this report, the term Aboriginal means either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, to recognise Aboriginal people as the original inhabitants of New South Wales.
New South Wales Population Health Survey
The New South Wales Population Health Survey is a continuous survey using computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) that began in 2002. It is conducted between February and December each year. The target population is all state residents living in ho useholds with private telephones. The target sample is approximately 1,500 people in each area health service each year (a total annual sample of 12,000).
Households are contacted using list assisted random digit dialling. Up to 7 calls are made to establish initial contact with a household and up to 5 calls are made to contact a selected respondent. One person from the household is randomly selected for inc lusion in the survey. Carers or parents of children aged 0–15 years are interviewed on their behalf.
The sample is weighted to adjust for differences in the probabilities of selection among subjects and to adjust for differences between the age and sex structure of the sample and Australian Bureau of Statistics mid-year population estimates for New South Wales. This enables the calculation of prevalence estimates for the state population rather than for the respondents selected.
Sample size
Based on an Aboriginal population of about 150,000 in New South Wales,[3], using simple random sampling it is estimated a sample 400 Aboriginal people are required to detect differences of + or - 5 per cent in prevalence estimates. Because t he survey has a complex design, it needs twice this number to detect differences of + or - 5 per cent in prevalence estimates (that is, an Aboriginal sample of at least 800).
Representativeness of the sample
Telephone surveys are a well accepted survey method in the general population because of a high telephone ownership currently estimated to be over 95 per cent.[4] Approximately 82 per cent of Aboriginal households in non-remote areas, and 43 per cent of Aboriginal households in remote areas, have a working telephone at home.[2]
The median age of Aboriginal people is 20.5 years compared with 36.1 years for the overall population.[2] As recommended by the Australian Bureau of Statistics,[1] when producing estimates for sub-populations that have differe nt age structures than the overall population, the sample was re-weighted to adjust for differences between the age and sex structure of the sample and the Australian Bureau of Statistics mid-year estimates for the Aboriginal population of New South Wales. [3] Once the sample was re-weighted by age and sex, the survey population represented the Aboriginal population of New South Wales.[5]
The Aboriginal respondents of the survey were more likely to be female, come from a rural area—in particular the Greater Western Area Health Service—and have an income less than $20,000 per annum, compared to the overall Aboriginal population o f New South Wales.[5]
| Demographic | Sample | Weighted sample | NSW Aboriginal and TSI Population *2001 Census | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Male | 38.7% | 48.6% | 48.6% |
| Female | 61.3% | 51.4% | 51.4% | |
| Age | 16-24 | 15.6% | 16.2% | 16.2% |
| 25-34 | 18.7% | 28.6% | 28.6% | |
| 35-44 | 19.5% | 24.9% | 24.9% | |
| 45-54 | 19.5% | 16.9% | 16.9% | |
| 55-64 | 15.0% | 9.3% | 9.3% | |
| 65-74 | 8.6% | 3.3% | 3.3% | |
| 75+ | 3.2% | 0.7% | 0.7% | |
| Income | Income less than $20,000 | 44.4% | 31.9% | 30.9% |
| $20,000-$40,000 | 24.9% | 25.6% | 32.3% | |
| $40,000-$60,000 | 13.7% | 16.4% | 17.5% | |
| $60,000 - $80,000 | 8.5% | 9.5% | 9.1% | |
| Over $80,000 | 11.5% | 16.5% | 10.1% | |
| Housing arrangement | Paying rent | 48.0% | 51.7% | 60.2% |
| Paying off dwelling | 19.7% | 25.2% | 20.5% | |
| Fully owned | 24.7% | 18.9% | 16.5% | |
| Rent free tenure | 7.6% | 4.2% | 2.9% | |
| Area | Sydney South West | 6.0% | 10.7% | 12.8% |
| South Estern Sydney & Illawarra | 6.9% | 8.8% | 10.2% | |
| Sydney West | 9.7% | 12.7% | 12.3% | |
| Northern Sydney & Central Coast | 6.9% | 6.2% | 5.0% | |
| Hunter & New England | 15.4% | 20.8% | 20.9% | |
| North Coast | 11.1% | 12.7% | 11.1% | |
| Greater Southern | 9.9% | 9.8% | 9.1% | |
| Greater Western | 34.1% | 18.4% | 18.6% | |
| Location | Rural | 65.6% | 53.9% | 51.9% |
| Urban | 34.4% | 46.1% | 48.1% |
Health indicators
The report describes 23 health indicators, which are:
Health behaviours
Alcohol risk drinking, fruit intake, vegetable intake, food security, physical activity, smoking status, smoke-free households, influenza immunisation, and pneumococcal immunisation.
Health status
Self-rated health, current asthma, diabetes or high blood glucose, oral health (all natural teeth missing), overweight and obesity, and psychological distress.
Health services
Difficulties getting health care, emergency department attendance, hospital admissions, community health service attendance, and public dental service attendance.
Social capital
Attended a community event, trust most people, and visit neighbours.
These indicators are presented in graphical and tabular form. For each indicator the report includes 2 bar charts of the indicator, one by age group and sex and the other by health area and sex.
The tables below the charts present the indicator estimates for males, females and persons and includes the 95 per cent confidence intervals (CI). The 95 per cent confidence interval provides a range of values that should contain the actual value 95 per ce nt of the time. In general, a wider confidence interval reflects less certainty in the indicator estimate. If confidence intervals do not overlap then the observed estimates are significantly different.
Further information
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2005. For further information visit www.abs.gov.au.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 2002. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003. For further information visit www.abs.gov.au.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian Bureau of Statistics Population Data (HOIST). Sydney: Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health, 2005. For further information visit www.health.nsw.gov.au.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Population Survey Monitor: Phone Usage. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996. For further information visit www.abs.gov.au.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2001. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003. For further information visit www.abs.gov.au.
| 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 |