NATIONAL HEALTH SURVEY
PURPOSE
To obtain national benchmark information on a wide range of health issues and to enable trends in health to be monitored over time. The survey includes questions about the amount of exercise undertaken, and whether a recent injury occurred while participating in sport. A further purpose is to obtain information about the health of Indigenous Australians so that this can be monitored over time and compared with the health of non-Indigenous Australians.
DESCRIPTION
The 2004-05 National Health Survey (NHS) covered urban and rural areas across all states and territories of Australia, but sparsely settled areas of Australia were excluded. Non-private dwellings such as hotels, motels, hostels, hospitals, nursing homes and short-stay caravan parks were not included in the survey. The NHS was conducted in a sample of 19,501 private dwellings across Australia. Trained ABS interviewers conducted personal interviews with selected residents of sampled dwellings. One person aged 18 years and over in each dwelling was selected and interviewed about their own health characteristics. An adult resident, nominated by the household, was interviewed about one selected child aged 0-17 years residing in the dwelling. There were 25,906 persons in the sample. To take account of possible seasonal effects on health characteristics, the sample was spread throughout an 11-month enumeration period from August 2004 to June 2005.
There were 395 Indigenous Australians enumerated in the 2004-05 NHS. However, in order to produce meaningful statistics about their health, it was necessary to conduct a separate survey targeted specifically at Indigenous Australians – the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS). The sample for this was 10,044, much larger than the corresponding samples for previous surveys of Indigenous health. The combined sample of 10,439 was about one in 45 of the total Indigenous population. Unlike the NHS, the NATSIHS included Indigenous Australians in sparsely settled areas. However, these people were asked only about 80% of the questions asked of Indigenous Australians in non-sparsely settled areas.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Approximately every six years to 2001. Three-yearly thereafter.
DATA ITEMS
Exercise undertaken in the last two weeks
For all persons aged 15 years or more in scope of the survey the following information was collected in respect of the two weeks prior to interview:
Whether walked for sport, recreation or fitness
Number of times walked
Total time spent walking
Average length of walking session
Whether did any moderate exercise (defined as exercise or other activities (undertaken for recreation, sport or fitness) that caused a moderate increase in the heart rate or breathing of the respondent)
Number of times moderate exercise undertaken
Total time spent in moderate exercise
Average length of moderate session
Number of times vigorous exercise undertaken (defined as exercise or other activities (as above) that caused the respondent to perspire and/or resulted in a large increase in the respondent's heart rate or breathing)
Total time spent in vigorous exercise
Average length of vigorous session
Total time spent exercising
Exercise level
A data item derived using the exercise data items listed above and intensity values reflecting contemporary developments in the field of exercise statistics, resulting in the categories:
Sedentary
Low exercise level
Moderate exercise level
High exercise level
Three most recent injury events in the last 4 weeks
For each of the three most recent injury events:
Type of injury event
Type(s) of injury
Part of body injured
Whether injury/ies received while working for income/working as a volunteer/in other circumstances
Place of occurrence
Whether attended hospital or other medical practice for the injury/ies
Whether had time off work/school/place of study resulting from injury/ies
Whether cut down on usual activities as a result of injury/ies
Type of injury event
For each of the three most recent injury events in the last 4 weeks, respondents were asked what type of event occurred, from the following categories:
Vehicle accident
Low fall (one metre or less)
High fall (more than one metre)
Hitting or being hit by something
Attack by another person
Near drowning
Exposure to fire
Exposure to chemicals
Bite or sting
Other event requiring action
Type of injury
For each of the three most recent injury events in the last 4 weeks, respondents were asked what type of injury was sustained, from the following categories:
Fractures
Internal injury
Dislocations, sprains, strains, torn muscles/ligaments
Open wounds
Bruising
Burns and scalds
Concussion
Choking
Poisoning
Other
Other circumstances in which injury/ies were received
For each of the three most recent injury events in the last 4 weeks, where the injury did not occur while working for income or working as a volunteer, respondents were asked for the best description of the activities they were doing at the time, from the following categories:
Sports activities*
Leisure activities*
Resting, sleeping, eating or other personal activities
Being nursed or cared for
Attending school/college/university
Domestic activities
Other
* Sports activities included training for or competing in organised team or individual sport such as football, running, cycling, skating. Sports activities that are undertaken as leisure activities such as non-competitive swimming, walking darts, or non-organised team sport, such as backyard cricket were excluded.
Leisure activities included activities such as swimming for leisure, reading, watching movies or videos, playing games, and non-organised sport such as backyard cricket. Sports activities undertaken for competition or as part of an organised routine were excluded.
Place of occurrence of injury
For each of the three most recent injury events in the last 4 weeks, respondents were asked where they were at the time, from the following categories:
Inside own/someone else's home
Outside own/someone else's home
At school/college/university
Residential institution
Health care facility
Sports facility/athletics field/park
Street/highway
Commercial place
Industrial place
Farm
Other
Height and weight
Height in centimetres
Weight in kilograms
Self perceived body mass (acceptable weight, underweight, overweight)
Derived body mass index (BMI) group (calculated from self-reported height and weight information, using the formula weight (kg) divided by the square of the height (m), and grouping the resulting values into ranges denoted as underweight, normal range (18.5 to less than 20.0), normal range (20.0 to less than 25.0), overweight and obese)
Smoking
Smoking status (current smoker/daily, current smoker/other, ex-smoker, never smoked regularly)
Current smoker frequency (occasional or regular)
Number of regular smokers in the household
Alcohol consumption
Whether consumed any drinks containing alcohol in the last seven days
Days of the preceding week on which alcohol consumed
Type of alcoholic beverage and quantity of alcohol consumed on each of the (up to) last three days on which alcohol was consumed
Whether consumption in the reference week was more, less or the same as usual
Derived total quantity of alcohol consumed in reference week
Derived average daily consumption
Derived alcohol risk level (none, low risk, risky, high risk)
Health status
Long-term conditions
Self assessed health status (excellent, very good, good, fair, poor)
Health-related actions
Covers a dozen different health-related actions including:
Hospital admissions
Doctor consultations
Consultations with other health professionals
Use of vitamins/minerals
Use of other medications
Days away from work or school
Women's health supplementary items
Breast and cervical cancer screening
Hysterectomy
Contraception
Breastfeeding
Hormone replacement therapy
Intentional intake of folate
Health insurance and health cards
Type of private insurance
Whether has a government health concession card
Geographic area
Australia, States and Territories
Capital city/remainder of State
Statistical Division
Health region, as defined by each State health authority
Section of State (major urban, other urban, rural/remote)
Housing
Type of dwelling structure
Number of bedrooms
Demographic characteristics
These characteristics include:
Age
Sex
Marital status
Indigenous status
Country of birth
Year of arrival in Australia
Language spoken at home
Socioeconomic characteristics of individuals
These characteristics include:
Whether attending school
Age left school
Post-school educational qualifications
Current post-school study
Labour force status
Full-time/part-time status
Status in employment
Hours worked per week
Occupation, coded to the 4-digit level of ASCO, refer to ASCO codes related to culture and leisure
Industry, coded to 3-digit level of ANZSIC, refer to ANZSIC codes related to culture and leisure (link to appendix in this directory)
Duration of unemployment
Income
Sources of income
Type of pension/benefit
HISTORICAL DATA
Data are available for 1977-78, 1983, 1989-90, 1995, 2001 and 2004-05. While the broad topics covered in the last four surveys were the same, in some cases there were significant differences in the details. Detailed information on comparability between surveys, for each group of data items, is provided in the 2004-05 National Health Survey Users' Guide.
Data about the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are available for 1995, 2001 and 2004-05. Much of the data are comparable, but comparability has been restricted by changes in methodology, sample design and survey content. For example, no remote area data are available for 1995 while, for 2001, Indigenous children living in households without any Indigenous adults were out of scope of the survey. Further information about the comparability of 1995, 2001 and 2004-05 data is provided in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05, Users' Guide.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05, Users' Guide, Cat. no. 4715.0.55.004. ABS, Canberra. Free of charge.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05, Cat. no. 4715.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $37.00 Also available for 2001 as National Health Survey, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Results, Australia.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, National Health Survey: Summary of Results, 2004-05, Cat. no. 4364.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $34.00. Also available for 1989-90, 1995 and 2001.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, National Health Survey: Users’ Guide - Electronic Publication, 2004-05, Cat. no. 4363.0.55.001. ABS, Canberra. Free of charge. Also available for 2001.
Australian Bureau of Staistics 2003, Health Risk Factors, Australia, 2001, Cat. no. 4812.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $27.00.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, National Health Survey, Injuries, Australia, 2001, Cat. no. 4384.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $23.00. Also available for 1989-90 and 1995.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999, National Health Survey, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Results, Australia, 1995, Cat. no. 4806.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $21.00.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1997, National Health Survey, Summary Results, Australian States and Territories, 1995, Cat. no. 4368.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $21.00. Also available for 1989-90.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1992, National Health Survey: Exercise, Australia, 1989-90, Cat. no. 4383.0. ABS, Canberra. Price $5.00.
Other
National Sport and Recreation Industry Database and Directory (NSRIDD).
CONTACT
In the first instance, refer to To obtain data or further information in the Introduction to this directory.
Health Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
Telephone: Canberra 02 6252 6958
Facsimile: Canberra 02 6252 8007
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
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