Health Issues, Tasmania

NAME OF ORGANISATION
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

OVERVIEW
This once-only survey was conducted to obtain information on attitudes about health and factors that affect an individual's health.

Data was collected for the usually resident civilian population aged 15 and over. (Special dwellings and visitors to private dwellings were excluded.)

It was conducted as a supplementary to the October 1996 Monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Information collected comprised:

• Attitudes to the immunisation of children.
• Tetanus immunisation status.
• Attitudes about the provision of immunisation services.
• Smoking status including passive smoking in the selected dwelling and in the workplace.
• Whether the household has smokers present.
• Whether children are present in household (from LFS schedule).
• Injury occurrence in the last 3 months including type of injury, body part affected, where injury occurred and cause of injury.
• An assessment of the exposure to risk of injury and the situation most likely to cause injury.
• Attitudes about exposure to the sun.
• Whether a respondent has or is likely to have skin cancer.
• Factors affecting individual health.
  

• for service planning;
• to review and redevelop State Health Goals and Targets;
• to identify priority intervention areas (e.g. health promotions or legislative change); and
• to support the need for new initiatives funds.

• identify priority intervention areas;
• monitor the incidence of injury in the population; and
• evaluate interventions.

• developing policy;
• identifying priority intervention areas;
• monitoring and evaluating intervention programs;
• lobbying relevant State agencies and the Government for a commitment of funds or legislative changes; and
• educational campaigns.

• project planning, implementation and evaluation;
• educational campaigns; and
• feeding into national data.

• project planning;
• educational campaigns; and
• lobbying the Government for funding or legislative change.

• plan occupational health and safety;
• identify priority intervention areas; and
• develop policy.

• aid in policy development;
• identify priority intervention areas; and
• monitor and evaluate intervention programs.

• policy development
• identification of priority intervention areas; and
• monitoring and evaluating intervention programs.

• aid in policy development;
• identify priority intervention areas;
• monitor and evaluate intervention programs;
• redevelop National Health Goals and Targets; and
• identify the need for state based action.
  

• contribute to national data base;
• identify priority intervention areas;
• monitor and evaluate intervention programs; and
• simulate action.

• policy development;
• identifying priority intervention areas;
• monitoring and evaluating intervention programs; and
• providing information for local government by-laws.

• educational campaigns;
• stimulating action and community involvement; and
• lobbying relevant State Agencies and the government for funds or legislative changes.

• policy development;
• identifying priority intervention areas;
• monitoring and evaluating intervention programs; and
• lobbying relevant State Agencies and the government for a commitment of funds or legislative changes.

• lobbying relevant State agencies and the Government for a commitment of funds or legislative changes; and
• educational and community projects.

• assess product safety; and
• lobby relevant State agencies and the Government for policy or legislative changes.

• aid in policy development;
• identify priority intervention areas;
• monitor and evaluate intervention programs;
• lobby relevant State agencies and the Government for a commitment of funds or legislative changes; and
• educational campaigns.

• project planning, educational campaigns; and
• lobbying the government for funding or legislative change.

• project planning, educational campaigns; and
• lobbying the government for funding or legislative change.

• educational campaigns; and
• identification of priority intervention areas.

• members of the permanent defence forces;
• certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and estimated populations;
• overseas residents in Australia;
• members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia; and
• Jervis Bay Territory.

Conceptual framework
As the data were collected as supplementary to the Monthly Labour Force Survey, some data can be cross-classified with data from that Labour Force Survey. For example:

• Age;
• Sex;
• Statistical regions; and,
• Number of children present in household.

• Tetanus immunisation status
• An assessment of the exposure to risk of injury and the situation most likely to cause injury
• Factors affecting individual health

Classifications
A. Classifications from the Monthly Labour Force Survey

Personal characteristics: age, sex
Geography: Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC)
Households with children present

B. Main classifications from the Health Issues Survey

The Australian and New Zealand Industry Classification (ANZIC)
International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
Causes of Injury

External causes were categorised using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) External Causes codes (E-codes).

Other concepts (summary)
Glossary

Health issues:
Term used to describe topics covered by the October 1995 survey.
Main factor affecting personal health: Survey respondents were asked, 'What is the main thing, if anything, that you think affects your health?' Responses were classified in the office after interview.

Home smoking status:
Two items are presented. Household smoking status describes whether smoking occurs in households or not. Smoking status in home describes whether smokers smoke inside their home and whether non-smoking householders are subject to smoke from other householders smoking in their home.
Workplace smoking status: Passive smoking status has been estimated for employed persons who are not smokers and who work inside where smoking is allowed. Inside is any confined space, including a vehicle or building.

Passive smoking:
Persons who are smokers are not classified as passive smokers even if they refrain from smoking in confined air locations where others are smoking. No measure of the degree of passive exposure to cigarette smoke was undertaken in this survey. Industry of employment: There may be some minor variations between the estimates of employed persons by industry produced from the Health Issues Survey and those produced from the Labour Force Survey, because of differences in data capture methodology. The Australian and New Zealand Industry Classification (ANZIC) was used to classify employed persons.Skin reaction to summer sun: Survey respondents were shown a prompt card with various skin reaction categories and asked how they would describe their skin's reaction to the summer sun (e.g. always burns, never tans; usually burns, sometimes tans)

Skin protection actions:
Survey respondents were asked about the frequency of various skin protection actions. Skin cancer history and risk assessment: Survey respondents were asked if they had ever had skin cancer. Those who had not were asked about the likelihood of developing skin cancer.

Injuries:
Respondents were asked if they had suffered an injury in the three months before the survey. Only those persons who further reported that the injury prevented them from undertaking a usual activity for a day or more were included in the estimates of persons injured.Injury type: Survey respondents were asked, 'What was the main injury you received?' Responses were categorised in the field. Not all categories are presented in Table 9, since for some categories no response was recorded. Categories for which there were no responses included concussion or other head injury, abrasion, penetrating wound, foreign object entering the body, burn and poisoning.

Fracture - The breaking of a bone, cartilage etc, or the resulting condition.
Dislocation - Is the act of dislocation. Normally it involves a joint of bone moving out of place.
Sprain - To overstrain or wrench (the ankle writs, or other part of the body at a joint) so as to injure without fracture or dislocation. A violent straining or wrenching of the parts around a joint, without dislocation.
Strain - to impair, injure, or weaken by stretching or over exertion, as a muscle.
to exert to the utmost.
Concussion - the act of shaking or shocking as by a blow. Jarring of the brain, spinal cord etc.
Bruising - To injure by striking or pressing, without breaking the skin or drawing blood. To develop a discoloured spot on the skin as a result of a blow, fall etc.
Abrasion - The result of rubbing or abrading; usually associated with the skin.
Cut - to penetrate with, or as with, a sharp-edged instrument.
Laceration - the act of lacerating, to tear roughly; mangle; to hurt.
Puncture - The act of pricking or perforating as with a pointed instrument or object.
Penetrating wound - that penetrates; piercing; sharp. A wound produced by an agent or missile such that depth is its salient feature, as a wound entering a member.
Foreign object entering the body - A substance/object found in but not belonging to the human body. Note the difference between this and a penetrating wound. A foreign object remains in the body, whereas with a wound it is removed.
Burn - an injury produced by heat or by abnormal cold, chemicals, poison gas, electricity or lightening.
Poisoning - any substance (liquid, solid or gaseous) that because of an inherent deleterious property tends to destroy life or impair health.

Injury causes:
Responses to the question 'What caused the injury?' were classified to either internal or external causes. An internal injury cause is one where the injury condition arises following events where there is either no external agent or no proven causation between an external agent and the advent of the condition (e.g. 'loose cartilage catching on knee joint' and 'hurt back lifting small child out of car restraint'). External causes were further categorised using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) External Causes codes (E-codes).

Body region of injury
Head/neck/face
Back - May be muscular as well as spinal, but should be separately identified from trunk injuries.
Trunk - the body of a human being excluding the head and limbs with the exception of the back which has its own category. Note: that this includes
internal organs.
Arm/hand
Leg/foot
Not Specified - were the respondent does not wish to tell you the body part affected.

Injury risk assessment:
All respondents to the survey were asked whether their work or lifestyle placed them at risk of having an injury in the following twelve months. Those who responded positively were asked what particular situation placed them at risk. Field responses were classified according to the 'type of activity' classification in ICD 10 except that for each activity a distinction was made between the general activity (e.g. general employment activities) transport-related activities (e.g. transport-related employment activities).

Immunisation effectiveness:
Respondents were asked, 'How effective do you think immunisation is at preventing childhood diseases?'
Immunisation side effects: Respondents were asked, 'How often do you think children have side effects from immunisation?'

Exclusion from school of unimmunised children:
Respondents were asked, 'Do you think children who are not immunised should be kept away from schools during outbreaks of infectious diseases?'

Immunisation services:
Respondents were asked, 'How important is it that councils/GPs provide immunisation services for childhood diseases?'

Illness definitions
(childhood) diseases - a morbid condition of the body, or of some organ or part; illness; sickness; ailment.
injury - a disruption to the structure or functioning of the human organism, resulting from acute exposure to physical or chemical energy. It is widely accepted by health professionals in Australia that the use of the descriptor 'accident' is not desirable as it implies an unavoidable event.
(skin) cancer - a malignant and invasive growth or tumour.
infectious - contagious. capable of being caught.
immunisation - exemption from organisms which can infect the body.
tetanus - particular disease that affects the nerves.
inside - refers to any confined space whether this be a car or building.

Where the respondent was at the time the injury occurred

At work - is only the respondent's place of work.
At your house - is any property owned by the respondent. i.e. land, shack, home (with the exception of business). If the respondents work is at home determine whether they were working or just at home when the injury occurred. If the respondent is a homeworker and they injured themselves working then the injury did occur at home.
At another person's house - This is not just associated with somebody the respondent knows.
Public footpath, road - This category covers motor vehicle accidents and any accidents that results on the footpath etc.
Public building - can be anything other then a sporting arena (e.g. shopping centre, town hall, bar)
Sporting event - Involves not only participation but also if spectating.
Other - will incorporate those factors not included in the above categories.
Sun Sunbaking - is lying in the sun with the primary intention of exposing the skin to the sun to get a tan. Note: that if the respondent is gardening without a shirt this is not sunbaking unless they have the intention to try and tan.

GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
Tasmania
Statistical Division

Comments and/or Other Regions
not applicable

COLLECTION FREQUENCY
Once Only

Frequency comments
not applicable

COLLECTION HISTORY
Not applicable. This is a once-only survey.

DATA AVAILABILITY
Yes