Authors: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Overview
Disability and health have a complex relationship – long-term health conditions might cause disability, and disability can contribute to health problems. The nature and extent of a person’s disability can also influence their health experiences. For example, it may limit their access to, and participation in, social and physical activities.
An estimated 1 in 6 people in Australia (17.7% or 4.4 million people) had disability in 2018, including about 1.4 million people (5.7% of the population) with severe or profound disability (ABS 2019a) (see People with disability in Australia, Defining disability).
In general, people with disability report poorer general health and higher levels of psychological distress than people without disability. They also have higher rates of some modifiable health risk factors and behaviours, such as poor diet and tobacco smoking, than people without disability.
This page looks at the health of people with disability, their health risk factors, and the impacts of COVID-19 on the health of people with disability.
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