Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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Morbidity

The 2001 NHS found that almost 78% of the Australian population reported having experienced one or more long-term conditions (i.e. conditions that have lasted, or are expected to last, six months or more). In most cases, respondents were asked about conditions which had been medically diagnosed.

From the range of long-term conditions covered in the 2001 NHS and NHS(I) surveys, those relating to eyesight and back problems were among the most likely to be reported for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations after adjusting for age differences in the two populations (table 9.2). For most self-reported long-term conditions, the age standardised rates for Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations were similar. The exception was diabetes, where the Indigenous rates were nearly four times higher than the non-Indigenous rates (table 9.2).

9.2 SELECTED LONG-TERM CONDITIONS, Age standardised percentages - 2001
		Males			Females			Persons
		Indigenous	Non-Indigenous		Indigenous	Non-Indigenous		Indigenous	Non-Indigenous
		%	%		%	%		%	%
Long-sightedness		21	20		25	24		23	22
Short-sightedness		15	18		20	23		17	21
Back problems		19	21		24	21		22	21
Arthritis		14	11		18	15		16	13
Asthma		14	10		20	12		17	12
Chronic sinusitis		9	9		11	12		10	11
Total/partial hearing loss		15	14		12	7		13	10
Hypertension		12	9		16	10		14	10
Diabetes/high sugar levels		9	3		12	3		11	3
Neoplasms		*1	2		**1	1		*1	2
Source: National Health Survey: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Results, Australia, 2001 (4715.0).

In general, females were more likely than males to report having experienced most of the selected long-term conditions. Females were also more likely to consult health professionals. For example, in 2001 it was estimated that 27% of females had consulted a doctor in the two weeks prior to the survey interview, compared with 21% of males. Females also have a longer life expectancy which is reflected in more females in the older age groups where long-term conditions are common. Adult males had a higher prevalence of neoplasms and hearing loss.

The proportion of people who reported having a circulatory system disease increased steadily with age (graph 9.3). For example, 1.3% of 0-4 year olds were reported to have a circulatory system disease compared to 67% of those aged 85 years and over. The types of circulatory system diseases also change with age. Young children and babies are more likely to suffer from congenital heart diseases while for older people, high blood pressure (hypertensive disease) is the most common circulatory disease.

The proportion of those reporting a mental or behavioural condition rises in the early-teen years and remains stable until their early 60s when the proportion declines. In the ages up to the mid-teens, males have a higher rate of mental disorders than females. However, during the teenage and adult years, the prevalence of mental disorders of females overtakes those of males. This is due mainly to the increase of mood disorders such as depression. Mood disorder rates start to decline for women around their early 70s, the age from which overall mental disorder rates between males and females are similar.

Age is also a determining factor for self-reported asthma rates. The prevalence rises from 8.2% for 0-4 year olds up to 18% for 15-19 year olds, before steadily declining with age.

9.4 LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH - 2001
		Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of total deaths
Cause of death (ICD-10 code)		no.	no.	no.	%
All causes		66,835	61,709	128,544	100.0
Malignant neoplasms (cancer) (C00-C97)		20,753	15,997	36,750	28.6
	Trachea, bronchus and lung (C33, C34)	4,642	2,396	7,038	5.5
Ischaemic heart diseases (I20-I25)		13,906	12,328	26,234	20.4
Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke) (I60-I69)		4,852	7,294	12,146	9.4
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (incl. asthma, emphysema and bronchitis) (J40-J47)		3,419	2,497	5,916	4.6
Accidents (V01-X59)		3,155	1,685	4,840	3.8
	Transport accidents (V01-V99)	1,495	509	2,004	1.6
Diabetes mellitus (E10-E14)		1,639	1,439	3,078	2.4
Diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries (incl. atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysm) (I70-I79)		1,381	1,244	2,625	2.0
Intentional self-harm (X60-X84)		1,935	519	2,454	1.9
Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders (F00-F09)		683	1,454	2,137	1.7
Influenza and pneumonia (J10-J18)		1,184	1,518	2,702	2.1
All other causes		13,928	15,734	29,662	23.1
Source: Causes of Death, Australia, 2001 (3303.0).

9.6 HEALTHY LIFE EXPECTANCY, Selected countries - 2001
		Healthy life expectancy
		years
Males
	Japan	71.4
	Switzerland	71.1
	Sweden	70.5
	Iceland	70.5
	Australia	70.1
	Norway	69.3
	Denmark	69.3
	Italy	69.2
	New Zealand	69.1
	France	69.0
	Greece	69.0
	Austria	68.9
	Spain	68.7
	United Kingdom	68.4
	Germany	68.3
	Canada	68.2
	Singapore	67.9
	Belgium	67.7
	Ireland	67.6
	Finland	66.7
	United States of America	66.4
	Portugal	64.3
	Poland	62.1
	Russia	51.5
	South Africa	40.0
Females
	Japan	75.8
	Switzerland	74.4
	Sweden	74.4
	France	73.5
	Australia	73.2
	Austria	73.0
	Spain	73.0
	Italy	72.9
	Finland	72.5
	Norway	72.2
	Germany	72.2
	Iceland	71.9
	Greece	71.9
	Belgium	71.8
	Canada	71.6
	New Zealand	71.5
	United Kingdom	70.9
	Denmark	70.8
	Ireland	70.4
	Singapore	69.5
	Portugal	69.4
	United States of America	68.8
	Poland	66.6
	Russia	61.9
	South Africa	42.7
Source: WHO 2002.

9.7 INTERNATIONAL INFANT MORTALITY RATES, Selected years
Country	1950-55	1960-65	1970-75	1980-85	1990-95	1995-2000	2000-05(a)
Japan	51	25	12	7	4	4	3
Sweden	20	15	10	7	5	4	3
Hong Kong (SAR of China)	79	33	17	10	5	4	4
Singapore	66	30	19	8	6	5	5
Germany	51	29	21	11	6	5	5
Australia	24	20	17	10	7	5	5
Canada	36	26	16	9	6	6	5
France	45	25	16	9	7	6	5
United Kingdom	29	22	17	11	7	6	5
Spain	62	42	21	11	7	6	5
Italy	60	40	26	13	7	6	5
New Zealand	26	21	16	12	7	7	6
Greece	60	50	34	15	9	7	6
United States of America	28	25	18	11	9	8	7
Korea, Republic of (South)	115	70	38	23	12	8	7
Malaysia	99	63	42	28	15	12	10
Vietnam	158	130	107	70	47	40	34
China (excl. SARs & Taiwan Prov.)	195	121	61	52	47	41	37
Indonesia	201	166	126	89	59	48	40
Papua New Guinea	158	134	112	91	76	69	62
Yemen	241	219	184	126	92	74	62
India	190	157	132	107	79	73	65
Somalia	207	179	155	143	165	122	113
Niger	213	191	171	156	144	136	126
Developed regions(b)	59	33	21	15	10	8	8
Less developed regions(c)	180	137	105	88	71	65	59
Least developed regions(d)	197	171	149	127	110	102	92
World	157	119	94	79	64	60	55
(a) The projected 2000-05 infant mortality rate uses the medium variant. (b) Comprising Europe, Northern America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. (c) Comprising Africa, Asia (excluding Japan), Latin America and the Caribbean, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. (d) Comprising 48 countries, as defined by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998, 33 in Africa, 9 in Asia, 1 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 5 in Oceania.
Source: UN 2000.