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A report on men’s health in
regional and remote Australia
Lisa Thompson and Sally Bullock
NSW Rural and Remote Health Conference
4–5 November 2010

The AIHW and rural health reporting
The report:
AIHW 2010. A snapshot of men’s health in
regional and remote Australia.
Rural health series no. 11. Cat. no. PHE 120.
Canberra: AIHW
Other rural health publications:
www.aihw.gov.au/ruralhealth/publications.cfm

Today’s presentation
• Why men in regional and remote areas
• Measuring remoteness
• Demographics
• Health risk factors
• Health conditions
• Changes in men’s health status over time
• The general practice setting
• Mortality
• Mapping mortality across states and territories

Why men
• Research has consistently shown a sex differential in
illness and mortality.
• Australian men currently have a shorter life expectancy,
higher overall mortality rates and are more likely to
experience a number of health problems (e.g. cancer,
diabetes and cardiovascular disease).
• In May 2010, the Federal Government launched
Australia’s first National Male Health Policy, highlighting
the health challenges facing Australian males.

Why men in regional and remote areas
• One-third of males (3.3 million) live outside Major cities.
• Work, location and lifestyle create unique health issues.
• Strong relationship between poor health and social and
economic disadvantage:
– Regional and remote areas contain a higher proportion
of socioeconomically disadvantaged people and a
higher proportion of people who identify as Indigenous.

Measuring remoteness in Australia
• The Australian Standard Geographical Classification
(ASGC) has five main categories for remoteness:
Regional
Remote
Male pop
distribution
Major cities
(MC)
Inner
regional
(IR)
Outer
regional
(OR)
Remote
(R)
Very remote
(VR)
68.0% 19.7% 9.6% 1.6% 0.8%
For example Sydney Albury Broken Hill Bourke Wilcannia

Demographics: rural men at a glance
In regional and remote areas (compared with Major cities) there are:
• More boys and fewer older men
• More lone-person households
• Generally lower levels of education
• Higher rates of employment in primary production
• Lower levels of marriage
• Lower levels of home ownership
• Higher rates of volunteering
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 2006.

Socioeconomic status by remoteness
Proportion of male population living
in areas classified as low SES
Major cities 27%
Inner regional 46%
Outer regional 62%
Remote 57%
Very remote 77%
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 2006.

Health risk factors
Men in regional/remote areas were more likely than their urban
counterparts to experience chronic health conditions & risk factors.
For example, they were:
- 40% more likely to report daily smoking
- 30% more likely to report risky/high risk alcohol consumption
- 6% more likely to be overweight or obese
- 7% more likely to undertake insufficient exercise
- Less likely to possess an adequate level of health literacy
But more likely to consume recommended serving of vegetables
Source: ABS National Health Survey 2004–05; National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2007; ABS ALLS 2006

Selected health conditions, 2004–05
Source: ABS National Health Survey 2004–05

Changes in men’s health status over time
Health status
Diabetes; osteoporosis
Asthma
Bronchitis
Short-term injury
Long-term condition due to injury
Arthritis
Self-assessed very good/excellent
health
Trend in Major
cities
Trend outside Major
cities
Source: ABS National Health Survey 1995, 2001, 2004–05

Men in the general practice setting
• Compared with their urban counterparts, men in regional and
remote areas were:
- less likely to present with two or more reasons for visiting
- more likely to have a problem that was work-related or chronic
- more likely to see a GP about skin issues
- less likely to see a GP about respiratory and digestive issues.
• Higher proportion of encounters with Indigenous males, older
men and less with young boys.
Source: AIHW analysis of BEACH data 2007.

Male mortality rates increase with remoteness
Compared with men in Major cities, death rates were:
- 8% higher in Inner regional areas
- 14% higher in Outer regional areas
- 25% higher in Remote areas
- 78% higher in Very remote areas
If current death rates remained, 72% of boys born in
Very remote areas could be expected to reach the age
of 65 (compared to 88% of boys in Major cities)
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.

Mortality rates for non-Indigenous men
• Higher mortality in more remote areas is not due
exclusively to the higher proportion of Indigenous males.
• Compared with non-Indigenous males in Major cities,
non-Indigenous male death rates were still 10–20% higher.
A non-Indigenous boy born in a Very remote area in 2006 could
expect to live to 77.7 years (compared to 80.8 years in Major cities)
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.

Mortality from all causes by age
Death rates among young
men (15–24 years) in
regional and remote areas
were 83% higher than in
Major cities
Death rates among older
men (65+ years) in
regional and remote areas
were 6% higher than in
Major cities
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.

Causes of death
• Cardiovascular diseases were responsible for nearly
one-third of the elevated male death rates in regional and
remote areas.
• Male death rates due to injury and poisoning in Very remote
areas were 3.1 times as high compared with Major cities.
- MVA (114% higher), assault (31% higher), suicide (33% higher)
• Male death rates from diabetes were 1.3 times as high in
Inner regional areas and 3.7 times as high in Very remote
areas as compared with males in Major cities.
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.

Mapping mortality: New South Wales
In 2004–06, male death rates
in NSW generally increased
with remoteness.
Compared with Australian
Major cities, male death rates
were over 20% higher in
Dubbo, Lachlan, Bathurst-
Orange, Central Murray and
the Southern Tablelands.
Source: AIHW National Mortality Database.

Mapping mortality: Queensland
In 2004–06, male death rates
were over 20% higher than
Australian Major cities in north
and west Qld.
Compared with Australian
Major cities, male death rates
were significantly lower in
Moreton and similar in
Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay,
Gladstone and Mackay.

Mapping mortality: Western Australia
In 2004–06, male death rates
were over 20% higher than
Australian Major cities in most
of eastern and northern WA.
Compared with Australian Major
cities, male death rates were
lower in North Metropolitan
Perth and Vasse and similar in
the south and west.

Mapping mortality: South Australia
In 2004–06, male death rates
were over 20% higher than
Australian Major cities in most
of northern and western SA.
Compared with Australian
Major cities, male death rates
were lower in Southern
Adelaide and similar in the
south-east.
For other states and territories (except ACT), see:
www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10742

Thank you
Further information:
www.aihw.gov.au/ruralhealth/publications.cfm
Contacts:
lisa.thompson@aihw.gov.au
sally.bullock@aihw.gov.au