Unmet need for General Practitioner (GP) services
Age and sex differences
Young men aged 15 to 24 reported higher levels of unmet need for GP services than men in all other age groups.
Among females, the highest levels of unmet need were reported among women aged 25 to 34, followed by those aged 35 to 44 and then those aged 15 to 24.
Across all age groups, females were more likely than males to report that they needed to see a GP in the past 12 months, but did not see one – although these differences did not reach statistical significance in any age group.
| Sex | Age group (years) % (95% CI) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65-74 | 75+ | |
| Male | 8.2 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
| (5.9-10.4) | (4.9-8.9) | (4.6-7.9) | (2.8-5.6) | (1.9-4.8) | (1.1-3.8) | (0.4-4.8) | |
| Female | 9.1 | 10.2 | 9.3 | 7.1 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| (7.0-11.2) | (8.0-12.5) | (7.7-10.9) | (5.3-8.9) | (2.8-5.3) | (1.5-3.8) | (1.2-3.9) | |
| Total | 8.6 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 5.7 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| (7.0-10.3) | (7.2-10.1) | (6.7-9.1) | (4.5-6.9) | (2.6-4.7) | (1.5-3.1) | (1.0-3.8) | |
Source: Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Survey 2006/07.
