Health risk factors
Many serious health issues, including some chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure) are related to lifestyle factors—such as insufficient physical activity, poor nutrition, obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and psychological distress.
Older Australians fare better than younger Australians on some behavioural risk factors—for example, they are half as likely to smoke and are much less likely to exceed the single occasion alcohol consumption risk guideline—but they are more likely to be overweight or obese and insufficiently physically active (Table 1).
(a) National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol (2009): Guideline 1 (lifetime risk) recommends drinking no more than 2 standard drinks per day. Guideline 2 (single occasion risk) recommends drinking no more than 4 standard drinks on a single occasion.
(b) For 18–64 year olds, insufficient physical activity is captured here as not completing 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity (where time spent on vigorous activity is multiplied by 2) across 5 or more days a week. For adults aged 65 and over, insufficient physical activity is captured here as not completing 30 minutes or more of physical activity on at least 5 days each week.
Source: ABS 2019e; AIHW 2019d.
There are multiple data sources for information on tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption among older people. The latest results from the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) estimated that between 2001 and 2019, the proportion of older people exceeding the single occasion risk guidelines has increased (13.8% in 2001 and 15.6% in 2019) and there has been little improvement in daily smoking rates (7.1% in 2001 and 6.0% in 2019) (Table 2).
Table 2: Selected behavioural risk factors, by age group, 2019
Behavioural risk factor
|
2001
Aged 65 and over (%)
|
2019
Aged 65 and over (%)
|
2001
Aged 18–24 (%)
|
2019
Aged 18–24 (%)
|
Exceeded single occasion risk guideline for alcohol consumption(a)
|
13.8
|
15.6
|
71.6
|
55.8
|
Exceeded lifetime risk guideline for alcohol consumption(a)
|
13.6
|
13.4
|
31.0
|
18.8
|
Current daily smoker
|
7.1
|
6.0
|
24.0
|
9.2
|
(a) National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol (2009): Guideline 1 (lifetime risk) recommends drinking no more than 2 standard drinks per day. Guideline 2 (single occasion risk) recommends drinking no more than 4 standard drinks on a single occasion.
Source: AIHW 2020.
Australia’s health and aged care systems are complex. There are many types of service providers and a variety of funding mechanisms (see also Health system overview for more information). Health and aged care services include those provided by medical practitioners, specialists, other health professionals, hospitals and clinics; and community‑based and residential aged care services (including respite).
Aged care
Aged care is personal and/or nursing care that supports older people to stay as independent and healthy as they can. This care is usually delivered in residential facilities or through care visits to the home. Government-funded programs offer 3 types of mainstream aged care:
- Residential aged care, which offers long-term stays in an aged care facility on either a permanent or respite care basis.
- Home care (Home Care Packages Program), which provides different levels of aged care services for people in their own homes. It is considered to be community-based aged care.
- Home support (Commonwealth Home Support Programme), which provides entry-level support at home. It is also considered to be community-based aged care.
At 30 June 2018, people aged 65 and over were more likely (70%) to have seen a medical specialist for their own health in the last 12 months than people aged under 65 (59%) (ABS 2019c). Conversely, people aged under 65 were more likely (51%) to have seen a dentist, dental hygienist, or dental specialist for their own health in the last 12 months than people aged 65 and over (48%) (Table 3).
Table 3: Use of medical services in last 12 months, by age group, 2018
Medical service use in last 12 month
|
Aged under 65 (%)
|
Aged 65 and over (%)
|
Has seen a GP
|
90.1
|
97.5
|
Has been admitted to hospital
|
21.2
|
28.1
|
Has seen a dental professional
|
50.9
|
48.3
|
Has seen a medical specialist
|
58.7
|
69.8
|
Note: Excludes not applicables
Source: ABS 2019c.
In 2018–19, more than 826,300 older clients (aged 65 and over and Indigenous Australians aged 50–64) used home support (Department of Health 2019). This includes more than 8,600 people aged 50–64 who identified as Indigenous.
At 30 June 2019 almost 183,400 older clients were living in residential aged care and 105,200 were using home care. This includes:
- almost 104,200 people aged 65 and over, and 900 people aged 50–64 who identified as Indigenous, using home care
- around 177,000 people aged 65 and over, and around 360 people aged 50–64 who identified as Indigenous, living in permanent residential care
- around 5,900 people aged 65 and over, and almost 20 people aged 50–64 who identified as Indigenous, living in respite residential care.
Not included above are people using aged care who do not have an Indigenous identification recorded.
In addition to the programs shown here, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program provides culturally appropriate care for Indigenous people in locations close to their communities.
Medicare claims
In 2018–19, there were just over 36 million Medicare claims for general practitioner (GP) attendances for people aged 65 and over—29% of the total 124 million claims for GP attendances (DHS 2019). There were more than twice as many claims per person for those aged 65 and over than for those aged under 65 (9.3 compared with 4.2 claims) (DHS 2019; ABS 2019a).
For more information on health of older people, see:
Visit Older people for more on this topic.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2018. Population projections, Australia, 2017 (base)–2066. ABS cat. no. 3222.0. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019a. Australian demographic statistics, March 2019. ABS cat. no. 3101.0. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019b. Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: summary of findings, 2018. October 2019. ABS cat. no. 4430.0. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019c. Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: summary of findings, 2018. October 2019. ABS cat. no. 4430.0. Findings based on TableBuilder analysis. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019d. Life tables, states, territories and Australia, 2016–18. cat. no. 3302.0.55.001. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019e. National Health Survey: first results, 2017–18. ABS cat. no. 4364.0. Canberra: ABS.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2017. Life expectancy and disability in Australia: expected years living with and without disability. Cat. no. DIS 66. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019a. Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2015. Cat. no. BOD 22. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019b. Deaths in Australia. Cat. no. PHE 229. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019c. Rural & remote health. Cat. no. PHE 255. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019d. Insufficient physical activity. Cat. no. PHE 248. Canberra: AIHW
AIHW 2020. National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019. Drug Statistics series no. 32. Cat. no. PHE 270. Canberra: AIHW.
Department of Health 2019. Aged care data snapshot 2019—fourth release. Canberra: Department of Health. Viewed 04 February 2020.
DHS (Department of Human Services) 2019. Medicare Australia statistics, MBS group by patient demographics reports. Canberra: DHS. Viewed 04 September 2019.