Health of the Population
The European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) while not in existence long enough to provide 10 year trends, nevertheless provides a basis for comparing self-evaluated health across Europe and also to relate these assessments to socio-economic measures. In the areas of self-reported chronic illness and limitations in activities, Ireland compares favourably with the EU average, but this does not take account of Ireland’s relatively young population, and it is clear that the gradient for chronic conditions rises very steeply with age (see Tables 2.3 and 2.4). In general terms, Ireland continues to have the highest percentage of its population reporting either good or very good health (see Table 2.1 and Figure 2.1). When this is broken down by income quintile Ireland continues to be above the EU average but 20% more of the population reports good or very good health among high income earners than among the lower paid (see Figure 2.2).
Results on self-reported well-being from the 2010 Health Module in the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) are displayed in Table 2.2 broken down between people with and without a disability. For those without a disability, 82% report being happy all or most of the time; this falls to 61% for those with a disability. Further data from the 2010 Health Module is set out in Table 2.5 and reports on selected diagnosed health conditions in adults and compares these with results from the 2007 Health Module. Most conditions show an increased prevalence with age with the exceptions of anxiety/depression and asthma. The most commonly diagnosed condition is hypertension which rises to 35% of the population aged over 70 years.
In overall population health terms, the past decade presents a clear picture of rapid decreases in mortality rates accompanied by a rapid rise in life expectancy. Mortality from circulatory system diseases fell by almost 40% between 2001 and 2010 and cancer death rates reduced by over 15% (see Table 2.6 and Figure 2.4). Between them, these two causes accounted for 63% of all deaths registered in 2010 (see Figure 2.3). Transport accident mortality fell by nearly 60%; suicide rates by nearly 20%; and infant mortality by 33%. The most recent single year changes in mortality figures should be interpreted with caution since the data are provisional and based on year of registration.
Figure 2.5 presents a graph of mortality from suicide and from road traffic accidents compared with the EU and calculated as a 5-year moving average. This shows the downward trend since 2000 and illustrates that suicide rates in Ireland remain close to the EU average, while motor vehicle death rates continue to be significantly below the EU average.
Table 2.7 provides a summary comparison of Irish death rates by principal cause with the EU average. In 2009, the mortality rate for cancer in Ireland was 7.7% above the EU rate and 14% higher for deaths from smoking-related diseases, many of which will, of course, be cancers. Survival rates for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers are graphed in Figure 2.6 and show Ireland below the OECD average. However, improvement in survival is also evident for all three, and Ireland is closing the gap with the OECD average for both breast and cervical cancer.
Many diseases and premature deaths are preventable. Increased morbidity and mortality are strongly related to lifestyle health determinants such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity. Morbidity and mortality can also be affected by a range of factors such as socio-economic status, environmental and living conditions, ethnicity, gender etc. These factors can, of course, be closely correlated with lifestyle risks. A graphic (see Figure 2.8) is included which shows the relationship between rates of breast feeding and occupational class. In the higher professional group more than 60% of mothers breast feed their babies; in the unemployed group this drops to less than 30%. A further graphic (see Figure 2.9) shows overweight and obesity rates in 9 year old children. More than a quarter of children are either overweight or obese at this age. Better news is that alcohol and cigarette consumption are both at somewhat lower levels than they were ten years ago (see Figure 2.7).