GLOSSARY

The definitions used in this survey are not necessarily identical to those used for similar items in other collections. Additional information about the items is contained in the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Users' Guide, 2012-13 (cat. no. 4727.0.55.002).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander household

A household in an occupied private dwelling with at least one resident who has been identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin. Other residents of the household may have been identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, non-Indigenous, or have Indigenous status unknown.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Refers to people who identified themselves, or were identified by another household member, as being of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.

Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia

Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) was developed by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and the National Key Centre for Social Applications of GIS (GISCA). ARIA measures the remoteness of a point based on the physical road distance to the nearest Urban Centre in each of five size classes. For more information on how ARIA is defined see Information Paper: ABS Views on Remoteness, 2001 (cat. no. 1244.0) and Information Paper: Outcomes of ABS Views on Remoteness Consultation, Australia, Jun 2001 (cat. no. 1244.0.00.001). Also refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 5 - Remoteness Structure, July 2011 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.005) available from the ABS web site.

Adult

A respondent aged 18 years or over.

Age standardisation

Age standardisation is a way of allowing comparisons between two or more populations with different age structures, in order to remove age as a factor when examining relationships between variables. For example, the age structure of the population of Australia is changing over time. As the prevalence of a particular health condition (for example, arthritis) may be related to age, any increase in the proportion of people with that health condition over time may be due to real increases in prevalence or to changes in the age structure of the population over time or to both. Age standardising removes the effect of age in assessing change over time or between different populations.

Note that proportions quoted in commentary in this publication are not age-standardised. However, datacubes including comparisons between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people contain age standardised rates and non-age standardised rates. Data are age standardised to the 2001 Australian population.

Alcohol consumption risk level

Alcohol consumption risk levels in this publication have been assessed using the 2001 and 2009 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines for the consumption of alcohol.

Risk in the longer term (2001 guidelines) and lifetime risk (2009 guidelines) was assessed using average daily consumption of alcohol for persons aged 15 years and over, derived from the type, brand, number and serving sizes of beverages consumed on the three most recent days of the week prior to interview, in conjunction with the total number of days alcohol was consumed in the week prior to interview.

Risk in the short term (2001 guidelines) and single occasion risk (2009 guidelines) was assessed using questions on the number of times in the last 12 months a person's consumption exceeded specified levels.

	Level of risk
	Low risk	Risky	High risk
Minimising risk in the longer term
Males	up to 4 standard drinks	5–6 standard drinks	7 or more standard drinks
Females	up to 2 standard drinks	3–4 standard drinks	5 or more standard drinks
Minimising risk in the short term
Males	up to 6 standard drinks	7–10 standard drinks(b)	11 or more standard drinks(b)
Females	up to 4 standard drinks	5–6 standard drinks(b)	7 or more standard drinks(b)
(a) One standard drink contains 12.5 mLs of alcohol.
(b) On at least one occasion in the last 12 months.

	Level of risk
	Does not exceed guideline	Exceeds guideline
Guideline 1 - Lifetime risk	up to and including 2 standard drinks	more than 2 standard drinks
Guideline 2 - Single occasion risk	up to and including 4 standard drinks	more than 4 standard drinks(c)
(a) One standard drink contains 12.5 mLs of alcohol.
(b) Guidelines relate to both males and females.
(c) On at least one occasion in the last 12 months.

• Last consumed more than one week to less than 12 months ago;
• Last consumed 12 months or more ago; and
• Never consumed.

Category	Range
Underweight	Less than 18.50
Normal range	18.50 —19.99
	20.00 — 24.99
Overweight	25.00 — 29.99
Obese	30.00 or more

• Serious illness;
• Serious accident;
• Mental illness;
• Serious disability;
• Getting married/marriage;
• Pregnancy;
• New family member;
• Overcrowding at home;
• Getting back together with a spouse;
• Divorce or separation;
• Death of a family member or close friend;
• Not able to get a job;
• Involuntary loss of a job;
• Started a new job/changed job;
• Pressure to fulfill cultural responsibilities;
• Alcohol or drug related problems;
• Gambling problems;
• Witness to violence;
• Abuse or violent crime;
• Spent time in jail;
• Trouble with the police;
• Treated badly because they are an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person;
• Unwelcome at child's school;
• Feeling unsafe; or
• Other.

• Whole/full cream (3% fat or more);
• Reduced fat (around 1 or 2%);
• Skim (less than 1%);
• Does not drink milk; and
• Does not know fat content.

• Admitted to hospital;
• Visits to outpatient clinic or casualty/emergency or day clinic;
• Consultation with general practitioner (GP) and/or specialist;
• Consultation with dental professional;
• Consultations with other health professionals (OHP): see separate reference;
• Days away from work or study; see separate reference; and
• Other days of reduced activity (days other than days away from work or school/study) due to own illness or injury.

• Tobacco smoking;
• Alcohol consumption;
• Exercise;
• Body mass;
• Dietary behaviour; and
• Blood pressure.

• Angina and other ischaemic heart disease;
• Cerebrovascular disease;
• Heart failure;
• Oedema; and
• Diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries.

• whether exercised for 150 minutes per week
• whether exercised for 150 minutes per week over 5 or more sessions

• Are retired;
• No longer work;
• Do not intend to work in the future;
• Are permanently unable to work; or
• Have never worked and never intend to work.

• Aboriginal health worker;
• Accredited counsellor;
• Acupuncturist;
• Alcohol and drug worker;
• Audiologist/audiometrist;
• Chemist;
• Chiropodist/podiatrist;
• Chiropractor;
• Dietitian/nutritionist;
• Herbalist;
• Hypnotherapist;
• Naturopath;
• Nurse;
• Occupational therapist;
• Optician/optometrist;
• Osteopath;
• Physiotherapist/hydrotherapist;
• Psychologist;
• Social worker/welfare officer;
• Speech therapist/pathologist;
• Traditional healer.

• Current daily smoker - a respondent who reported at the time of interview that they regularly smoked one or more cigarettes, cigars or pipes per day;
• Current smoker - Other - a respondent who reported at the time of interview that they smoked cigarettes, cigars or pipes, less frequently than daily;
• Ex-smoker - a respondent who reported that they did not currently smoke, but had regularly smoked daily, or had smoked at least 100 cigarettes, or smoked pipes, cigars, etc at least 20 times in their lifetime; and
• Never smoked - a respondent who reported they had never regularly smoked daily, and had smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and had smoked pipes, cigars, etc less than 20 times.

	Men	Women
Not at risk	Waist circumference less than 94 cm	Waist circumference less than 80 cm
Increased risk	Waist circumference more than or equal to 94 cm	Waist circumference more than or equal to 80 cm
Greatly increased risk	Waist circumference more than or equal to 102 cm	Waist circumference more than or equal to 88 cm