Thematic Household Survey Report No. 63 published
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     The Thematic Household Survey Report No. 63 is published by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) today (December 14).

     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

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