Most ARTA Members Are Healthy — Let ’ s Make It Last
ALLISON SOPROVICH | Project Coordinator , ACHORD
ARTA launched a health and wellness survey in February 2016 , in partnership with the Alliance for Canadian Health Outcomes Research in Diabetes ( ACHORD ). Thank you to everyone who responded and completed the online questionnaire . The survey was intended to assess the current health and wellness behaviours , activities and risk factors of ARTA members . The results will inform health and wellness program planning , as well as give a reference for future surveys . For those ARTA members who reported having diabetes , extra questions were asked about their self-care activities , quality of clinical care and complications .
A total of 6,275 people responded to the survey and 2,514 completed it . We are thankful for those members who took the time to complete the survey , and we look forward to even more members responding and completing the survey next time ! We want to follow these people to see how their health changes ( for better or for worse ) over the next few years and to look for any important trends . We asked for consent to link survey responses anonymously with data from Alberta Health . By linking these data , we can examine health care utilization and enrich our understanding of the health of the ARTA membership .
Here are some highlights of the survey findings :
• Most ARTA respondents are healthy , and 69 % report being in Excellent or Very Good health ;
• Most respondents reported eating healthy , exercising daily , and having been vaccinated against influenza ;
• Respondents have good social support and very high food security ;
• Few respondents smoke or feel depressed ;
• According to a measure of body mass index ( BMI ), 66 % of the respondents are considered overweight or obese ;
• One-third ( 33 %) of the respondents have diabetes or are at high risk for developing diabetes ;
• 82 % of the respondents reported taking prescription medications ; the average number is three ; and
• 40 % of the respondents reported having arthritis — the top chronic disease reported , followed by high lipids ( 25 %), back problems ( 24 %), and cataracts ( 23 %).
Among those who reported having diabetes ( approximately 11 %):
• 74 % reported having had their eyes checked in the past year ; and
• only 48 % reported that a health professional has checked their feet for sores or irritation , and only 40 % had their feet checked for loss of feeling in the past year .
In general , ARTA respondents stated that their health was
100 % 75 % 50 % 25 % 0 %
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
36 | arta . net