Latest Health Index Reveals Slight Shift In Attitude With Irish People Expressing More Concern About Their Own Health Than That Of Their Families

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 01 Oct 2008 - 10:00 PST

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The results of the 2008 Pfizer Health Index* announced at the Royal College of Physicians Ireland reveal that health continues to be a key priority for Irish people. However the focus of health priorities are shifting with Irish people now conveying greater concern about their own health rather than that of their families. 'Own health' as a greatest personal health priority has risen from 28% in 2005 to 30% in 2008, with 'health and welfare of family' falling from a high of 34% in 2005 to a current level of 25%. In particular middle-aged women are now expressing a greater focus on their own health, rather than being traditionally family-first in their approach.

Supporting the growing awareness about men's health in Ireland, this year the 2008 Pfizer Health Index focused closely on the perceptions and attitudes of the Irish male population towards health and wellbeing. Men's opinions and views towards health are often dissimilar to women, and this report reaffirms that this is the case. The research reveals that men exhibit a considerably more casual attitude to their health and seem more resistant to messages encouraging good health. When men were asked if they 'would like to have more information about health and wellbeing generally', a 10% drop in interest was recorded from 67% agreeing in 2005, to 57% in 2008. In addition, an 8% decline was observed when men were asked 'would they like to have more information about conditions they might be at risk of getting' - from 70% in 2005, to 62% in 2008. This fall is primarily being driven by older and working class men, while younger men seem to be more open to receiving this type of information.

"It's important to recognise that the disparity in life span between Irish men and women remains unacceptably high. Men die almost five years earlier than women do, have higher mortality rates at all ages and for all leading causes of death," said Dr. Noel Richardson, Director, Centre for Men's Health Research & Training, Institute of Technology, Carlow, at the launch of the Health Index. "Current research suggests that men take fewer preventative health measures and are less willing than women to seek medical help. We need to look at how services can be targeted more effectively to meet their particular needs in the future. In addition men themselves need to take control of and be responsible for their own health."

Irish people continue to rate themselves highly in terms of their health and the health of their immediate family. The average Irish person rates his or her health at almost eight out of ten (7.8). This is a slight decrease however from the findings of last year's Health Index which recorded average personal health ratings of 7.9 out of ten. However, it remains a concern that people are so positive about their health over the three Indices, when the actual level of disease and ill-health remains high in Ireland.

When asked to nominate healthcare priorities the provision of more hospital beds is the highest priority. However, since the first survey, there has been a slight but noticeable reduction in the numbers prioritising hospital beds, with the proportion prioritising greater access to GPs, rising from 8% in 2005 to 12% in 2008 - a 50% increase in three years.

On average men tend to award themselves a slightly better personal health rating than women. The male score volunteered comes in at 7.8 out of 10, with a score of 7.7 for women. Men tend to attribute much greater importance to personal finances and money, the cost of living, and job security than women. Nonetheless, personal health is the number one concern for just under 3 in 10 of them (29%) and this level is only marginally lower than that reported by women. Family health is the key priority for 23% of men, but again this figure lags below the level for women at 27%. Thus, men are marginally less health oriented, but it is still important among their concerns.

Older and lower socioeconomic male respondents in particular remain hard to reach in relation to health promotion. Men are less inclined to make any short term changes to their routine to benefit their health. However, where they are inclined to do so, they believe that taking more exercise is key (top reason for 27%), followed by becoming less stressed (number 1 for 20%). An interesting gender difference is in respect of participation in exercise, with the greatest difference reflected in team sports, with 40% of men participating in team sports in comparison with just 13% of women.

Also speaking at the launch, Dr. Felipe Contepomi, Captain of the Argentinian Rugby Team and currently playing with Leinster, commented; "As a doctor and a rugby player I am keen to encourage men to be healthy and take regular exercise. Masculinity should not rule a man's decision or behaviour regarding their health or wellbeing. They should not be afraid to admit they are unwell and seek medical health. Men should also be encouraged to go for health screening procedures as they are vitally important in preventing disease, such as heart disease and cancer."

Male respondents report that they are marginally less likely to experience most of the serious listed conditions studied in the context of this survey, but are substantially 'over index' for heart disease, with 6% of all men admitting to it versus just 3% of women. Although men may experience fewer of these listed conditions, the rate of increase in experience of any of them has grown most substantially for their gender group. It stood at 30% experiencing any one condition in 2005 and now stands at 38% in 2008. To some extent this may be reflective of our slightly ageing population, but it is unlikely that gradual population shifts would cause such a pronounced rise in the experience of serious conditions, as was apparent in the survey.

Men are much less likely to have attended a GP because they felt unwell, or to have gone for health screening, but they do emerge as just as likely as women to have had an operation. In other words, men are just as likely to succumb to serious illnesses it would seem, but are less likely to attend for routine health maintenance/illness prevention activity.

This year, for the first time the Pfizer Health Index examined Irish people's interaction with medical services. Interaction with such services is high, with 75% of respondents having attended for a GP check-up in the past year, with 73% attending their GP because they felt unwell. About half have undergone medical screening in the past year and a fifth have been in hospital for an operation. Two thirds of respondents said that the gender of their GP did not matter to them. However own gender preference increases substantially in more personal contexts. Preference of men is strongly driven by men themselves whereas women substantially favour their GP to be of their own gender.

Serious illness prevalence is creeping upwards, and together with an ageing population structure, represents a growing concern for the future. Fewer unwell people perceive their health negatively and the gap between the well-being assessment of the sick and the healthy is continuously narrowing. The views on the quality of life impact of those with a serious illness is reducing in pessimism (with the notable exception of those with heart disease).

Another new topic introduced in this year's Index examined the incidence of spouses or partners giving each other medical advice. Men are more likely to claim that their partner 'pesters' them about their health but claim to be marginally less likely to have 'pestered' their partner back in return.

"This year's Index further enriches our knowledge about the health and wellbeing perceptions and attitudes of the Irish population, and those of men in particular," said David Gallagher, Managing Director, Pfizer Healthcare Ireland. "Good health is a key driver of productivity, economic growth and ultimately longevity and needs to be valued, promoted and supported with diverse initiatives that resonate with targeted audiences. Our society has seen and is seeing great change and the health challenge is to respond to these shifts, managing healthcare spend in a slowing economy. We hope that the research we are presenting today can help inform targeted health programmes and expenditures as both the public and private sector work towards the goal of a healthier society".

About the Pfizer Health Index

The Pfizer Health Index is undertaken on Behaviour & Attitudes National Barometer Survey, a survey of 1,004 adults aged 15 and over, with fieldwork face-to-face and in home, to measure the perceptions of health and wellbeing that people living in this country. The study is a syndicated survey of the adult population and quota controlled to reflect the latest census of population in terms of sex, age, social class, region and area of residence. The initial survey was undertaken in 2005 (with the inaugural Pfizer Health Index published in early 2006), the second Index (drawing attention on the health needs of non-Irish national populations) was published in 2007 and this latest Pfizer Health Index completed in 2008. In most respects the survey is identical in approach to those undertaken on the previous two occasions. Questions include; serious conditions experienced and their effect on sufferers, general perceptions of personal health, attitudes to health issues, personal short term health priorities and intentions, the relative prioritisation of health and wellbeing, and new sections on GP's and interaction with medical services.

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