Health Status Indicators

Health

Health is the state of complete physical, social and mental wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity.

Physical dimension of health and wellbeing 

Relates to the functioning of the body and its systems and includes the physical capacity to perform daily activities or tasks.

Mental dimension of health and wellbeing

Relates to the state of a person’s mind or brain and the ability to think and process information. A mentally healthy brain enables an individual to positively form opinions, make decisions and use logic

Social dimension of health and wellbeing 

The ability to form meaningful and satisfying relationships with others and the ability to adapt or manage appropriately to different social situations.

Emotional dimension of health and wellbeing 

Relates to the ability to express emotions and feelings in a positive way. It is about the positive management and expression of emotional actions and reactions as well as the ability to display resilience.

Spiritual dimension of health and wellbeing

Relates to the ideas, beliefs, values and ethics that arise in the minds and conscience of human beings. Includes concepts of hope, peace, a guiding sense of meaning or value and reflection on your place in the world.

Health Status

‘An individual’s or a population’s overall health, taking into account various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease risk factors.’

Self-assessed Health Status

A measure based on a person’s own opinion about how they feel about their health and wellbeing, their state of mind and their life in general. It is commonly sourced from population surveys.

Life Expectancy

defined as ‘the number of years of life, on average, remaining to an individual at a particular age if death rates do not change.

Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)

The average length of time an individual at a specific age can expect to live in full health; that is, time lived without the health consequences of disease or injury (AIHW, 2018)

Mortality

The number of deaths in a population in a given period (AIHW, 2018)

Maternal Mortality

Death of a mother during pregnancy, childbirth or within six weeks of delivery.

Infant Mortality

The rate of deaths of infants between birth and their first birthday, usually expressed per 1000 live births

Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR)

The number of deaths of children under five years of age per 1000 live births (WHO, 2008)

Morbidity

‘Ill health in an individual and levels of ill health within a population (often expressed through incidence, prevalence) (AIHW, 218)

Incidence

Refers to the number (or rate) of new cases of a disease/condition in a population during a given period.

Prevalence

The number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time (AIHW, 2008)

Burden of Disease

A measure of the impact of diseases and injuries, specifically it measures the gap between current health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disease and disability.

Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY)

A measure of the burden of disease. One DALY equals one year of healthy life lost due to premature death and time lived with illness, disease or injury.

YLD (Years Lost due to Disability)

A measure of how many healthy years of life are lost due to disease, injury or disability.

YLL (Years of Life Lost)

A measure of how many years of expected life are lost due to premature death.