Australians are risking their health-excessive drinking, daily
smoking, unhealthy weight, and insufficient exercise are common
problems among patients who visit their local doctor.
These facts are among the findings of the AIHW General Practice
Statistics and Classification Unit's latest report, Measures of
Health and Health Care Delivery in General Practice in
Australia, to be launched on Tuesday at the University of
Sydney. It is the first time many of the topics covered have been
studied in the general practice context.
The report describes aspects of patient self-reported health
taken from samples of 100,000 patient encounters with GPs. It
includes information about 17 main health issues, such as patient
weight, cholesterol, vaccination status, mental health, physical
activity, smoking and alcohol use. The report comes from the BEACH
(Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health) program-conducted by
the University of Sydney in collaboration with the AIHW.
According to the report, about 51% of doctor-patient encounters
were with overweight or obese patients; half the consultations were
with patients who drank excessive levels of alcohol, and almost 1
in 2 were with adults who either smoked tobacco daily or were
former smokers. More than two thirds of patients do insufficient
exercise.
One in four patients rated their own health as 'fair' or 'poor'
and these patients were more likely to have depression, anxiety and
sleeping problems managed at the consultation than patients who
rated their health as excellent.
Director of the University's General Practice Statistics and
Classification Unit, Professor Helena Britt, said GPs were in a
good position to provide education and support to their patients to
help them change their risk behaviours.
'Contrary to popular perception that doctor consultations are
all-too-brief, the average length of a doctor's consultation was
14.6 minutes. Three quarters of consultations took between 5 and 19
minutes, and only 2% were less than 5 minutes long.'
'However, at 1 in 5 consultations GPs felt they had not been
able to provide the level of preventive care, lifestyle advice or
help with psychological and social problems, in the time they had
available.'
2 May 2000
Further information: A/Professor Helena Britt,
tel. 02 9845 8150 or 04 1119 7938 (mobile).
For media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
tel. 02 6244 1032, or Sara Crowe, Media Office, University of
Sydney, tel. 02 9351 2261.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability.
Note: The report will be launched by Professor
David Siddle, Pro-Vice-chancellor (Research) at the Badham Room,
Holme Building, University of Sydney (entry via Ross Street from
Parramatta Road) on Tuesday 2 May at 10AM. A feature article is
also available from the University of Sydney Media Office.