Italy Health Stats
Author: Luke.Metcalfe
Italy is a country of old people: not only is life expectancy among the longest in the world (79 years for men and 85 years for women) with the additional benefit of a long healthy life expectancy (70.7 years for men and 74.7 years for women); it is quite literally the country of old people with 20.8% of population aged 65 years or older (making Italians the forth oldest population in the world). However, Italy is a rather big country with accordingly big differences between the affluent North and warm South in terms of socioeconomic situation and lifestyle choices. While Northern regions, such as Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia are reported to have excellent health service, Southern regions and islands of Sicily and Sardinia enjoy the more traditional Mediterranean diet and speed of life, perhaps canceling out the inequality in access the quality health care. Overall, Italy has the highest number of practicing physicians per 1.000 people - 4.4 - which is perhaps the health care reform in 1978, establishing the national health service with then relatively big investments in health care, which other members of European Union have only recently caught up to. Either way, Italians enjoy La Dolce Vita without fear of it making them fat - the obesity prevalence was 17.2% in 2008 (European average was 21.9%), or maybe mom’s good cooking is to thank for, since 25.3% of 30- to 44-year-olds still live with their parents.
Definitions
- Birth rate > Crude > Per 1,000 people: Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the population growth rate in the absence of migration.
- Births and maternity > Average age of mother at childbirth: Average age of mother at first childbirth.
- Births and maternity > Future births: Mid-range estimate for country's population increase due to births from five years prior to the given year. For example, from 2095 to 2100, India's population is expected to rise by 16,181 people due to births. Estimates are from the UN Population Division.
- Births and maternity > Total fertility rate: Total fertility rate.
- Hospital beds > Per 1,000 people: Hospital beds include inpatient beds available in public, private, general, and specialized hospitals and rehabilitation centers. In most cases beds for both acute and chronic care are included.
- Human height > Average female height: Average female height.
- Human height > Average male height: Average male height.
- Life expectancy at birth > Total population: The average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.
- Life expectancy at birth, female > Years: Life expectancy at birth, female (years). Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.
- Life expectancy at birth, total > Years: Life expectancy at birth, total (years). Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.
- Obesity: Percentage of total population who have a BMI (body mass index) greater than 30 Kg/sq.meters (Data for Australia, Austria and Portugal is from 2002. All other data is from 2003). Obesity rates are defined as the percentage of the population with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. The BMI is a single number that evaluates an individual's weight status in relation to height (weight/height2, with weight in kilograms and height in metres). For Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, figures are based on health examinations, rather than self-reported information. Obesity estimates derived from health examinations are generally higher and more reliable than those coming from self-reports, because they preclude any misreporting of people's height and weight. However, health examinations are only conducted regularly in a few countries (OECD).
- Physicians > Per 1,000 people: Physicians are defined as graduates of any facility or school of medicine who are working in the country in any medical field (practice, teaching, research).
- Probability of not reaching 60: Probability at birth of not reaching the age of 40.
- Quality of health care system > Cost: Cost to you. Based on 0-50 contributions for Albania, Argentina, Austria and 69 more countries and 50-100 contributions for Australia, Brazil, Germany and 7 more countries and over 100 contributions for Canada, India, United Kingdom and 1 more country. The surveys were conducted by numbeo.com from October, 2010 to February, 2014. See this sample survey for the United States, respondents were asked "Cost to you". The higher the value, the more survey respondents believe it is high in their country.
- Quality of health care system > Health care system index: Health Care Index is an estimation of the overall quality of the health care system, health care professionals, equipment, staff, doctors, cost, etc.
SOURCES: World Development Indicators database; United Nations Population Division. Source tables; United Nations Population Division. Source tables; United Nations Population Division. Source tables; Wikipedia: Human height (Average height around the world); CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; Derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; OECD Health Data 2005; calculated on the basis of survival data from UN (United Nations). 2001. World Population Prospects 1950-2050: The 2000 Revision. Database. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. New York; health care
Citation
Italy Health Profiles (Subcategories)
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Italy is a country of old people: not only is life expectancy among the longest in the world (79 years for men and 85 years for women) with the additional benefit of a long healthy life expectancy (70.7 years for men and 74.7 years for women); it is quite literally the country of old people with 20.8% of population aged 65 years or older (making Italians the forth oldest population in the world). However, Italy is a rather big country with accordingly big differences between the affluent North and warm South in terms of socioeconomic situation and lifestyle choices. While Northern regions, such as Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia are reported to have excellent health service, Southern regions and islands of Sicily and Sardinia enjoy the more traditional Mediterranean diet and speed of life, perhaps canceling out the inequality in access the quality health care. Overall, Italy has the highest number of practicing physicians per 1.000 people - 4.4 - which is perhaps the health care reform in 1978, establishing the national health service with then relatively big investments in health care, which other members of European Union have only recently caught up to. Either way, Italians enjoy La Dolce Vita without fear of it making them fat - the obesity prevalence was 17.2% in 2008 (European average was 21.9%), or maybe mom’s good cooking is to thank for, since 25.3% of 30- to 44-year-olds still live with their parents.
Posted on 14 Apr 2014
Luke.Metcalfe
137 Stat enthusiast