Health of people with disability
Some people with disability experience poor health, engage in behaviours that increase their risk of poor health, or experience barriers (such as cost) in accessing or using health services.
General and mental health
Based on self-reported data, people with disability are more likely to have poor general and mental health than people without disability.
|
Self-assessed general health |
Adults with disability(a) |
Adults without disability(a) |
|---|---|---|
|
Excellent or very good |
24% |
65% |
|
Good |
34% |
28% |
|
Fair or poor |
42% |
7.0% |
(a) Living in households (2017–18).
Self-reported level of psychological distress (K10)  |
Adults with disability(b) | Adults without disability(b) |
|---|---|---|
|
Low or moderate |
68% |
92% |
|
High or very high |
32% |
8.0% |
(a) K10 is a survey device used to measure non-specific psychological distress in people.
(b) Living in households (2017–18), excluding proxy interviews.
For more information, including breakdowns by sex, age, and disability group, and lists of data sources, see the full web report.
Health risk behaviours
Health risk factors and behaviours (such as poor diet, physical inactivity, and smoking) can have a detrimental effect on a person’s health. In general, people with disability are more likely to engage in some risky health behaviours than people without disability.
| Selected health risk factor and behaviour | With disability(a) | Without disability(a) |
|---|---|---|
|
Do not eat enough fruit and vegetables each day (aged 2+) |
47% |
41% |
|
Drink sugar-sweetened drinks daily (aged 2+) |
12% |
7.8% |
|
|
72% |
55% |
|
|
76% |
59% |
|
|
72% |
52% |
|
Have hypertension (aged 18+) |
54% |
27% |
|
Smoke daily (aged 15+) |
18% |
12% |
|
|
14% |
16% |
|
|
31% |
44% |
Are overweight or obese based on measured body mass index (aged 2+)
Have an increased risk of poor health based on measured waist circumference (aged 18+)
Do not do enough physical activity for their age (including at work) (aged 15+)
Exceed the guidelines for lifetime risk for alcohol consumption(aged 15+)(b)(a) Living in households (2017–18).
(b) Consumed more than 2 standard drinks of alcohol per day on average in the past week.
(c) Consumed more than 4 standard drinks of alcohol on a single occasion in the past year.
For more information, including breakdowns by sex and age, and lists of data sources, see the full web report.
Barriers to accessing health services
Some people with disability experience difficulties accessing and using health services. Barriers include longer than desired waiting times, the cost of services, the accessibility of buildings, discrimination by health professionals, and a lack of communication between health professionals.
|
Barrier |
Experience of people with disability |
|---|---|
|
Waiting times(a)
|
1 in 4 (24%) who see a general practitioner (GP) wait longer than they feel is acceptable to get an appointment 3 in 10 (29%) wait 1 or more days after making an appointment to see a GP for urgent medical care 7 in 10 (70%) who have been on a public dental waiting list wait 1 month to more than 1 year for dental care |
|
Cost(a)
|
1 in 13 (7.6%) who need to see a GP delay or do not go because of the cost 1 in 22 (4.6%) who need to see a medical specialist do not go mainly because of the cost 3 in 10 (28%) who need to see a dental professional delay or do not go because of the cost 1 in 28 (3.6%) who need to go to hospital delay or do not go because of the cost |
|
Communication between health professionals(a)
|
1 in 5 (21%) who see 3 or more health professionals for the same health condition report issues caused by lack of communication among them |
|
Discrimination(b)
|
1 in 29 (3.5%) experience disability discrimination from health staff (GP, nurse or hospital staff) |
|
Accessing buildings(c)
|
1 in 8 (12%) have difficulty accessing medical facilities (GP, dentist or hospital) |
|
Unmet need for health care(d)
|
1 in 5 (18%) who need help with health-care activities have their need only partly met or not met at all |
(a) Aged under 65 living in households, in the last 12 months (2018).
(b) Aged 15–64 living in households, in the last 12 months (2018).
(c) Aged 5–64 living in households who need assistance or have difficulty with communication or mobility, in the last 12 months (2018).
(d) Aged 5–64 living in households (2018).
Current data make it difficult to directly compare health-care access issues for people with disability with those for people without disability. However, available data suggest that people with disability are more likely than the general Australian population to face barriers, such as cost, when accessing some types of health services.
For more information, including breakdowns by sex, age and other intersectional cohorts, and lists of data sources, see the full web report.