Thematic Household Survey Report No. 63 published
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This publication contains key findings of the Thematic Household Survey conducted during October 2016 to January 2017. The survey collected information on the health status, utilisation of health services, employer-provided medical benefits, coverage of individually purchased medical insurance and views on organ donation of Hong Kong residents.
Findings of the 2016/17 survey revealed that some 1 529 100 persons (21.9%) had consulted a doctor during the 30 days before enumeration. While 88.6% of them had consulted practitioners of Western medicine, 16.7% consulted practitioners of Chinese medicine, including practitioners of Chinese medicine (general practice), bone-setters and acupuncturists, during that period.
At the time of enumeration, some 3 564 300 persons (51.1%) were entitled to medical benefits provided by employers/companies or were covered by medical insurance purchased by individuals or had both kinds of medical protection. Among them, 1 165 400 (32.7%) were entitled to medical benefits from employers/companies only, including 308 400 persons (8.7%) entitled to medical benefits provided by the Civil Service/Hospital Authority only. While another 1 266 400 persons (35.5%) were covered by medical insurance purchased by individuals only, the remaining 1 132 500 (31.8%) had both kinds of medical protection.
Of the 3 564 300 persons, the most commonly cited type of medical protection which they had was hospitalisation (90.6%), followed by consultation with practitioners of Western medicine (65.6%), dental consultation (32.0%), consultation with practitioners of Chinese medicine (22.7%) and medical check-up (10.1%).
Of the remaining 3 409 600 persons (48.9%) who were not entitled to any medical benefits provided by employers/companies and were not covered by medical insurance purchased by individuals, 38.4% were economically active persons, 27.0% were retired persons, 17.7% were students and 13.2% were home-makers.
Respondents of the survey who were aged 15 and over were also asked about their self-perceived general health condition. The survey results showed that 12.4% of persons aged 15 and over considered their general health condition as excellent or very good; 52.8% good; 32.0% fair; and 2.8% poor.
Among some 4 842 600 persons aged 18 to 64 covered in the survey, some 1 572 000 persons (32.5%) were willing to donate their organs after death whereas about 476 100 persons (9.8%) were not willing; and over half of them (57.7%) had not yet decided/considered to do so or refused to answer questions on organ donation. Of those 4 182 800 persons aged 18 to 64 who had provided their views on the topic of organ donation, about one-third (33.8%) supported the implementation of the opt-out system for organ donation in Hong Kong, 35.9% of them did not support the implementation and the remaining (30.3%) were either neutral or did not specify their views towards the implementation.
Other information
The survey successfully enumerated some 10 000 households in accordance with a scientific sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong.
Detailed findings of the survey, together with the population coverage and concepts/definitions of key terms, are presented in the publication. Users can download the publication free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp140.jsp?productCode=B1130201).
Enquiries about the contents of the publication can be made to the Social Surveys Section (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 2887 0592 or email: thematic@censtatd.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, December 14, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:30
Issued at HKT 16:30
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