IMAGING AND PATHOLOGY TESTS
Almost half of people aged 15 years and over had a pathology test sometime in the year prior to the survey (49% or 8.4 million people). Across the States and Territories, the pathology testing rate was highest in Tasmania (53%) and lowest in the NT at 44%.
Nearly a third of Australians aged 15 years or more had an imaging test in the last 12 months (31% or 5.4 million people). This was significantly less for people in NT at 19% (see Table 1.3 for more detail).
Women were more likely to have had diagnostic testing than men (55% of women compared with 42% of men for pathology tests, and 37% of women compared with 25% of men for imaging tests). Up to the age of 55 for pathology tests and 65 for imaging tests, women were much more likely to have had these tests.
1.6 Pathology tests in last 12 months (a), by Age and Sex
1.7 Imaging tests in last 12 months (a), by Age and Sex
(See Table 1.2 for more detail)
As with other health services, more people who rated their health as fair or poor had diagnostic tests than people who rated their health as good or better; and more people who were born in Australia had these tests than people born overseas. Relative disadvantage and remoteness made no significant difference to rates of having diagnostic tests.
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