Four out of five Irish adults are happy - most of the time

DESPITE THE recession, record unemployment and falling living standards, four out of five adults in Ireland are happy all or most of the time, new official figures suggest.

The figures produced by the Central Statistics Office also show more men than women feel calm and peaceful.

At the same time more women than men say they are tired or worn out all or most of the time.

As part of a study into health status and heath service utilisation, which was part of the quarterly national household survey for the third quarter of last year, respondents were asked their views on a number of statements covering both positive and negative feelings.

The findings, published yesterday, indicated eight out of 10 adults – in equal proportions of men and women – reported being happy all or most of the time.

The study found 61 per cent of adults felt “full of life” all or most of the time and 54 per cent said they had lots of energy. However, four per cent of adults indicated they did not feel energetic at all.

When broken down by men and women, the CSO data showed 67 per cent of men reported feeling calm or peaceful all or most of the time compared with 59 per cent of women.

“When it comes to energy-vitality, 16 per cent of women reported feeling worn out or tired all or most of the time compared with 10 per cent of men.”

The proportion of adults with private health insurance, it said, decreased from 49 per cent in 2007 to 47 per cent in 2010.

“More men relied solely on general public health cover – having neither a medical card nor private health insurance – than women, with 26 per cent of men not having either a medical card or private health insurance, compared with 19 per cent of women.”

The report said that in the third quarter of 2010, 8 per cent of the adult population was on a hospital waiting list. In 2007 this figure had been 6 per cent.

“In 2010 5 per cent of adults were on an out-patient waiting list, while 1 per cent were on an in-patient waiting list and a further 2 per cent were on a day-patient waiting list. In 2007 the comparable percentages of persons on waiting lists were 3 per cent, 1 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

“On average, those on an in-patient waiting list reported the longest length of wait at time of interview, with 40 per cent reporting a wait of less than three months, down from 43 per cent in 2007, but 21 per cent reporting waiting times of 12 months or more, an increase from the 19 per cent reported in 2007.”

The figures also showed patients with a medical card had on average 5.2 consultations with their GP in the previous 12 months.

This was almost 2½ times as many consultations as those patients with private health cover (2.2) and more than 2½ times as many as those with only general health cover (1.9).

Hypertension (high blood pressure), chronic back pain and high cholesterol were the most common health conditions.

OUR STATE OF HEALTH BY THE NUMBERS:

CSO Quarterly National Household Survey, Quarter 3, 2010

4 out of 5 adults report feeling happy most of the time

61% of adults felt “full of life” all or most of the time and 54 per cent said they had lots of energy

67% of men reported feeling calm or peaceful all or most of the time compared with 59% of women

26% of men have neither a medical card nor private health insurance, compared with 19 per cent of women

47% of adults have private health insurance, down from 49% in 2007