There are more people in Greater Geelong living with a long-term health condition than the statewide and national average according to Census figures released last month.
Figures revealed Greater Geelong residents were higher than the averages in every category listed on the Census form.
You are more likely to be living with a mental-health condition if you live in Greater Geelong (11.1 percent) than the statewide (8.8 percent) and national average (8.8 percent).
Asthma sufferers (9.8 percent) were more plentiful (8.4 percent statewide, 8.1 nationwide) as were people with arthritis (9.3 percent in Geelong, 8 percent in Victoria, 8.5 percent nationwide).
A total of 11,830 people reported having heart disease, including angina and heart attack (4.4 percent), which was above average for the state (3.7 percent) and the country (3.9 percent).
Cancer figures, including those in remission, were also higher with 3.2 percent of responders ticking the Census form box compared to the state (2.8 percent) and nation (2.9 percent).
Dementia figures were relatively stable as were lung conditions and stroke.
Public health physician Dr Akhtar Hussain said age was likely the contributing factor to the data.
“A number of factors are likely to contribute towards Geelong’s higher than average number of long-term health conditions, including age, access to healthcare, and more importantly how data is being presented,” Dr Hussain said.
“The latest ABS data has shown a relatively higher proportion of Geelong area population being 60 years or older as compared to state average.
“We know many of the long-term chronic conditions reported in the recent census data are associated with increasing age and this could portray that Greater Geelong residents have more long-term health issues than the rest of the state average.”
Greater Geelong’s median age is 39 compared to 38 both statewide and national but the region was ‘older’ than the rest of the state and country for those aged over 60, according to the Census.
