Physical Health Among Adults

This topic area covers statistics and information relating to physical health status among adults in Hull including local strategic need and service provision. Further information relating to Physical Health Among Children and Young People is given under Lifestyle Factors within Children and Young People. General health information has been collected within Hull’s Health and Wellbeing Surveys and full reports are available under Surveys within Tools and Resources. Further information relating to Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing can be found under Health Factors within Adults and Children and Young People.

This topic area covers self-reported physical health status, Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy is within Population, and further information relating to medical conditions and diseases can be found within Health Factors within Adults. Both these sections include comparison of Hull and England (and the Yorkshire and Humber region).

This page contains information from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Information is taken ‘live’ from the site so uses the latest available data from Fingertips and displays it on this page. As a result, some comments on this page may relate to an earlier period of time until this page is next updated (see review dates at the end of this page).

Headlines

• Better health is central to happiness and well-being. It also makes an important contribution to economic progress, as healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save more. Poverty and deprivation as well as many other factors have an adverse impact on health.
• There are huge inequalities in Hull in relation to physical health which impacts hugely on all aspects of life and wellbeing.
• In the Hull Heath and Wellbeing Survey involving over 4,000 adults (16+ years) in Hull, 35.7% reported their health as excellent or very good and 30.2% as fair or poor. This equates to around 74,600 adults in Hull having excellent or very good health, and around 63,200 adults having fair or poor health.
• The Health Index for Hull for 2018 is 91.0 which is the second highest after Blackpool (86.4) with Wokingham having the best value for the Health Index (110.1). Hull has a score of 95.3 for Healthy Places, 89.2 for Healthy Lives and 88.6 for Healthy People.
• By far the majority of people remain independent, but it is estimated that there are around 8,000 adults in Hull aged 18-64 years with mobility impairment and a further 7,000 adults aged 65+ years unable to manage at least one mobility activity on their own. It is estimated that around 6,000 people aged 18-64 years in Hull have physical disabilities that require moderate levels of personal care and another 1,300 people aged 18-64 years who require severe levels of personal care. Among those aged 65+ years, it is estimated that there are around 11,000 people who need help to complete at least one domestic task and 11,000 who need help to complete at least one self-care task (some of these people will be the same people).
• It is estimated that around 100 people aged 18-64 years have serious visual impairment, and an additional 1,200 people aged 65-74 years have moderate or serious visual impairment, and an additional 2,100 people aged 75+ years who have moderate or serious visual impairment although around half of them aged 75+ years will have corrective sight loss (cataracts or refractive error).
• It is estimated that around 39,000 people aged 18+ years in Hull have some hearing loss, and a further 4,000 people aged 18+ years have severe hearing loss.
• Among those aged 65+ years, the numbers unable to complete mobility, domestic and self-care tasks, and the numbers with visual or hearing impairment are anticipated to increase due to the ageing population.

The Population Affected – Why Is It Important?

Better health is central to happiness and well-being, and contributes to economic progress, as healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save more.

Health and physical abilities generally deteriorate with age, and this creates a challenge for society to identify opportunities and approaches to allow older adults to fully and safely participate in life.

Poverty and deprivation and many associated factors such as poor housing, crime, lack of qualifications and unemployment also indirectly influence health.

The number of people living with long-term illness is higher in poorer areas; perversely these individuals are often less able to access or make use of health or other services for a number of reasons including health literacy levels and the design and implementation of these services. The circumstances people live in can make it harder to live healthily, and psychosocial stress leads to physical harm.

Many people with disabilities or very poor health do not have the same educational, training and employment opportunities, and as a result are more likely to live in relative poverty which further impacts on physical health and emotional wellbeing, creating a vicious circle of cause and consequence.

The Hull Picture

General Physical Health

The Hull Heath and Wellbeing Survey was undertaken in 2019 and is a representative sample of over 4,000 adults aged 16 years and over in the city. The results are displayed in the figures below, which are grouped by those who reported their health as excellent or very good, and their health as fair or poor. The figure below for those reporting excellent or very good health demonstrates a socioeconomic gradient with a substantially smaller percentage of those in the most deprived fifth of areas of Hull reporting excellent of very good health than those in the least deprived fifth. Using these results from the survey, we can estimate that across the city, there are around 74,600 adults aged 16+ years are in excellent or very good health, 71,100 in good health, and 63,200 in fair or poor health. Whilst information was collected on survey responders on ethnicity, the numbers are too small and the data is not sufficiently robust to present (see Small Numbers for more information on the statistical problems associated with small numbers).

Around two in ten reported fair or poor health of those aged 16-34 years, but this was five in ten among those aged 75+ years. Among those who were not working due to long-term illness and disability, 85% reported fair or poor health.

The age structure, employment status (especially with regard to students) and deprivation levels of each ward differ, so it is not surprising that there were differences in self-reported health status across Hull’s 21 wards. Kingswood was the only ward where the majority reported excellent or very good health; this ward has the youngest average age of residents and is also the least deprived ward in Hull. St Andrew’s & Docklands, Orchard Park, Central and Marfleet are the most deprived four wards in Hull and they had among the highest percentages reporting fair or poor health. Kingswood, University, North Carr and Orchard Park had the youngest average age of their residents. Beverley & Newland and University wards had the highest percentages of students among those taking part in the local survey.

In general self-reported health has deteriorated over time in Hull. In the 2003 Health and Wellbeing Survey, 37.2% reported excellent or very good health and 27.3% reported fair or poor health. In subsequent surveys which are more representative of Hull’s overall population, 43.3% reported excellent or very good health and 21.2% reported fair or poor health in 2007, but percentages reporting excellent or very good health has gradually reduced over time in the 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2019 surveys to its current level of 35.9% whereas the percentages reporting fair or poor health has increased to its current level of 30.2%. The percentages reporting poor health has been more variable over time due to the smaller numbers, but it is the highest at 9.5% compared to all previous surveys.

Long Term Illness or Disability that Limits Daily Activities

From the local survey, around three in ten people reported a long-term illness or disability that had lasted longer than a month and that limited their daily activities. This increased with age from around 15% among those aged 16-34 years to 58% of those aged 75+ years. The prevalence was also higher among people living in the most deprived areas of Hull. Overall, this equates to around 62,350 adults in Hull with a long-term illness or disability that limited their daily activities.

The most deprived wards (St Andrew’s & Docklands, Orchard Park, Marfleet and Central) had the the highest percentage with limiting long-term illness. Whilst Orchard Park was the second most deprived ward, it also had the fourth youngest average age of residents, so it is perhaps surprising that the prevalence of limiting long-term illness was the second highest among Hull’s 21 wards. St Andrew’s & Docklands (13.4%), Orchard Park (11.9%), Marfleet (11.8%) and Longhill & Bilton Grange (10.4%) did have over one in ten of the survey responders reporting that they were not working due to long-term illness and disability which would clearly influences the responses to this question.

The percentage reporting a long-term illness or disability that limited their daily activities has increased over time from 18.5% in the 2004 survey increasing to 29.9% in the 2019 survey.

Census data also records the information and can be used to triangulate the local survey results. The 2011 Census collected information on the presence of a health problem or disability that has lasted, or is expected to last at least 12 months; this is a different period of time to that used in the local Health and Wellbeing Survey. The information is given within The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Using this data source, around one in five people in Hull reported having a limiting long-term illness or disability in 2011 compared to 17.6% across England. Hull has a younger population compared to England, and the prevalence estimates presented on Fingertips are unadjusted for age.

Health Index

The LCP Insight Clarity Advice and Office for National Statistics have assigned a score on the Health Index for each local authority in England (https://healthindex.lcp.uk.com/).

Health Index for Hull for 2018 is 91.0 which is the second worst (ranked 148 out of 149) after Blackpool (86.4) with Wokingham having the best value for the Health Index (110.1). Hull has a score of 95.3 for Healthy Places, 89.2 for Healthy Lives and 88.6 for Healthy People. There are further breakdowns for Healthy Places, Healthy Lives and Healthy People.

Hull ranks in the bottom 5% overall and for crime, Healthy Lives, risk factors for children, behavioural risk factors, children and young people’s education, difficulties in daily live and mortality. However, Hull tends to score better in terms of Healthy Places with Hull better than the England average for access to green space, access to housing, working conditions, and physical health conditions.

Overall	Domain	Sub-domain	Score	Rank	Percentile
Health Index			91.0	148	1
	Healthy Places		95.3	101	32
	Healthy Places	Crime	65.9	147	1
	Healthy Places	Access to green space	102.6	54	74
	Healthy Places	Access to services	111.0	27	82
	Healthy Places	Access to housing	101.1	63	58
	Healthy Places	Local environment	95.9	100	33
	Healthy Lives		89.2	147	1
	Healthy Lives	Risk factors for children	83.6	143	4
	Healthy Lives	Behavioural risk factors	75.2	149	1
	Healthy Lives	Children and young people’s education	89.6	145	3
	Healthy Lives	Physiological risk factors	88.6	122	18
	Healthy Lives	Working conditions	97.7	87	62
	Healthy Lives	Protective measures	95.7	99	34
	Healthy Lives	Unemployment	94.9	134	10
	Healthy People		88.6	130	13
	Healthy People	Physical health conditions	97.3	57	62
	Healthy People	Personal well-being	98.0	102	32
	Healthy People	Difficulties in daily life	80.7	148	1
	Healthy People	Mental health	86.5	119	20
	Healthy People	Mortality	79.6	146	2

Each of these sub-domains are further broken down and Hull scores particularly well in relation to other local authorities for private outdoor space, access to pharmacies and GPs, housing affordability and transport noise.

Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy

Healthy life expectancy is a measure of the average number of years a person would expect to live in good health with contemporary mortality rates and levels of good health. Healthy life expectancy is lower in Hull compared to England, and furthermore, when comparing life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, people in Hull live a shorter time in good health.

Healthy life expectancy in Hull among men for 2018-20 is 53.8 years which is almost a decade lower than England. For women, healthy life expectancy is 57.9 years which is 6 years lower than England.

Examining trends over time show that healthy life expectancy at birth has remained relatively static with more apparent changes in the last couple of years.

Among men, between 2017-19 and 2018-20, healthy life expectancy has reduced likely influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthy life expectancy increased among women between 2016-18 and 2017-19 by 3.0 years which is considerable. However, healthy life expectancy among women decreased between 2017-19 and 2018-20 by 1.7 years which could be associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of this, healthy life expectancy for women is higher in 2018-20 than it was in 2016-18.

Further information is given under Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy under Population.

Causes of Death

Further information relating to Causes of Death can be found within Population, and information relating to Palliative Care and End of Life can be found within Health Factors under Adults.

Medical Conditions and Diseases

Information relating to specific medical conditions and diseases is given in within Health Factors within Adults. Depending on the condition and data available, information relating to prevalence, hospital admissions and mortality are given, and additionally incidence and survival for the case of cancer. The following medical conditions and diseases are covered in more detail on individual topic pages:

• Cancer
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Dementia
• Diabetes
• Falls and Frailty
• Respiratory Disease
• Suicide and Self-Harm

Physical Health Among Different Groups of Individuals

The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment includes information on specific Vulnerable Groups. Where information is available statistics and information about their physical health is given on the individual topic pages:

• Carers
• Children in Care and Care Leavers
• Gender Identity and LGBTQ+
• Gypsy and Travellers
• Homelessness
• Learning Disabilities
• Mental Ill Health
• Veterans

Current and Projected Numbers in Hull with Various Health Needs

The Projecting Adult Needs and Service Information (PANSI) and the Projecting Older People Population Information Service (POPPI) provide current estimates and future projections at local authority level of the number of people with different health needs.

They use estimates for the estimated prevalence from different surveys and research which have generally been derived at a national level (generally different prevalence estimates for different age groups for men and women separately). They then apply these prevalence figures to Hull’s population. For instance, if the prevalence among males in England in a specific age group is 5% and there are an estimated 500 men living in Hull in that age groups, they would estimate there were 25 men in that age group living in Hull with that condition. For many conditions, there is an increased prevalence in populations with higher levels of deprivation, and in most cases, deprivation is not taken into consideration. Thus in many cases, these estimates for Hull are likely to underestimate the numbers in Hull due to the high levels of deprivation in Hull.

Further definitions and information is available from www.pansi.org.uk and www.poppi.org.uk.

Long-Term Illness or Disability That Limits Daily Activities

It is currently estimated that over 10,000 residents in Hull aged 65+ years have a long-term illness or disability that limits their daily activities a little and a further 11,800 have a long-term illness of disability that limits their daily activities a lot; both are projected to increase in the future.

Limit on activities	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
A little	65-74	5,539	5,662	6,253	6,376	5,957
A little	75-84	3,704	4,297	4,682	4,890	5,483
A little	85+	1,103	1,127	1,151	1,463	1,583
A little	Total 65+	10,346	11,086	12,086	12,728	13,022
A lot	65-74	5,304	5,422	5,988	6,105	5,705
A lot	75-84	4,327	5,019	5,469	5,711	6,403
A lot	85+	2,161	2,208	2,255	2,866	3,101
A lot	Total 65+	11,791	12,649	13,711	14,682	15,209

Mobility Problems

It is estimated that just over 8,000 adults aged 18-64 years have mobility impairment in that they experience either moderate, severe or complete difficulty with mobility, and certain activities are limited in any way as a result, such as walking or climbing stairs.

Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
18-24	282	283	316	321	300
25-34	424	401	373	387	417
35-44	1,595	1,730	1,780	1,690	1,575
45-54	1,565	1,400	1,375	1,490	1,535
55-64	4,242	4,298	3,976	3,570	3,514
Total 18-64	8,108	8,112	7,820	7,458	7,341

It is further estimated that almost 7,000 adults in Hull aged 65+ years are unable to manage at least one mobility activity on their own; this is projected to increase by 32% to over 9,150 people by 2040.

Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
65-69	995	1,082	1,200	1,132	1,038
70-74	1,426	1,348	1,474	1,666	1,572
75-79	1,182	1,545	1,458	1,632	1,830
80-84	1,302	1,273	1,696	1,620	1,848
85+	2,045	2,065	2,100	2,660	2,865
Total 65+	6,950	7,313	7,928	8,710	9,153

Personal Care and Ability to Perform Household Chores

Among those aged 18-64 years, it is estimated that just under 6,000 adults in Hull have physical disabilities requiring moderate personal care and a further 1,300 adults have severe personal care needs. It is anticipated the numbers will decrease slightly in Hull over time among this 18-64 year age group.

Severity	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
Moderate	18-24	169	170	190	193	180
Moderate	25-34	594	561	522	542	584
Moderate	35-44	925	1,003	1032	980	914
Moderate	45-54	1,534	1,372	1,348	1,460	1,504
Moderate	55-64	2,666	2,702	2,499	2,244	2,209
Moderate	Total 18-64	5,888	5,808	5,591	5,419	5,390
Severe	18-24	113	113	126	128	120
Severe	25-34	170	160	149	155	167
Severe	35-44	191	208	214	203	189
Severe	45-54	344	308	303	328	338
Severe	55-64	515	522	483	434	427
Severe	Total 18-64	1,333	1,311	1,275	1,247	1,240

Among those aged 65+ years, it is estimated that there are over 11,000 people who cannot perform at least one domestic task. More women are estimated to not be able to perform at least one domestic task and this is partly associated with the higher number of women in the older ages compared to men. The total numbers are projected to increase by 30% to over 14,400 people by 2040.

Gender	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
Male	65-69	870	915	1,035	975	900
Male	70-74	1,007	950	1,007	1,159	1,102
Male	75-79	864	1,161	1,107	1,215	1,377
Male	80+	1,353	1,419	1,749	1,914	2,112
Female	65-69	1,121	1,254	1,368	1,292	1,178
Female	70-74	1,228	1,219	1,357	1,518	1,426
Female	75-79	1,292	1,666	1,564	1,768	1,972
Female	80+	3,245	3,135	3,630	3,905	4,345
Persons	Total 65+	11,040	11,719	12,817	13,746	14,412

Similar numbers aged 65+ years are also unable to manage at least one self-care task These numbers are also projected to increase over time.

Gender	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
Male	65-69	928	976	1,104	1,040	960
Male	70-74	1,113	1,050	1,113	1,281	1,218
Male	75-79	896	1,204	1,148	1,260	1,428
Male	80+	1,435	1,505	1,855	2,030	2,240
Female	65-69	1,298	1,452	1,584	1,496	1,364
Female	70-74	1,344	1,272	1,416	1,584	1,488
Female	75-79	1,102	1,421	1,334	1,508	1,682
Female	80+	2,891	2,793	3,234	3,479	3,871
Persons	Total 65+	11,007	11,673	12,788	13,678	14,251

Visual Impairment

It is estimated that around 100 people in Hull aged 18-64 years have serious visual impairment.

Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
18-24	18	18	21	21	19
25-34	28	26	24	25	27
35-44	21	22	23	22	20
45-54	20	18	18	19	20
55-64	20	20	18	17	16
Total 18-64	107	105	104	104	103

An additional 3,400 people aged 65+ years have moderate or serious visual impairment, although around half of those aged 75+ years with moderate or serious visual impairment will have correctible sight loss (cataracts or refractive error). This represents a potential population with an unmet need. If these people are able to receive the necessary treatment or support, there would be around 1,100 people aged 75+ years with moderate or serious visual impairment.

Severity	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
Moderate or severe	65-74	1,260	1,288	1,422	1,450	1,355
Moderate or severe	75+	2,120	2,368	2,554	2,802	3,112
Registrable eye condition	75+	1,094	1,222	1,318	1,446	1,606

Hearing Impairment

Among those aged 18-64 years, it is estimated that almost 15,000 adults in Hull have some hearing loss with around 900 having severe hearing loss. The numbers are projected to decrease slightly in the 18-64 year age group.

Severity	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
Some hearing loss	18-24	508	510	569	578	539
Some hearing loss	25-34	926	888	821	837	907
Some hearing loss	35-44	1,500	1,636	1,721	1,688	1,551
Some hearing loss	45-54	3,962	3,566	3,321	3,611	3,777
Some hearing loss	55-64	7,674	7,984	7,450	6,730	6,370
Some hearing loss	Total 18-65	14,571	14,584	13,881	13,444	13,144
Severe hearing loss	18-24	0	0	0	0	0
Severe hearing loss	25-34	114	116	104	97	109
Severe hearing loss	35-44	178	193	196	182	171
Severe hearing loss	45-54	172	155	142	155	163
Severe hearing loss	55-64	425	447	419	379	353
Severe hearing loss	Total 18-65	888	912	861	813	796

Among those aged 65+ years, it is estimated that almost 24,000 people have some hearing loss and almost 3,000 have severe hearing loss; these numbers are projected to increase substantially by 2040 to over 30,000 with some hearing loss and around 4,000 with severe hearing loss.

Severity	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
Some hearing loss	65-74	10,374	10,370	11,399	11,894	11,194
Some hearing loss	75-84	8,899	10,085	11,390	11,679	13,127
Some hearing loss	85+	4,290	4,371	4,495	5,714	6,155
Some hearing loss	Total 65+	23,563	24,825	27,284	29,287	30,477
Severe hearing loss	65-74	669	667	733	766	722
Severe hearing loss	75-84	1,277	1,318	1,657	1,626	1,811
Severe hearing loss	85+	1,024	1,044	1,073	1,364	1,470
Severe hearing loss	Total 65+	2,970	3,029	3,463	3,757	4,003

Incontinence

It is estimated that over 1,200 people aged 65+ years suffer with urinary incontinence less than once a week and a further 6,300 at least once a week.

Severity	Age	2020	2025	2030	2035	2040
<1 per week	65-69	292	315	351	331	304
<1 per week	70-74	327	309	336	381	360
<1 per week	75-79	210	276	261	291	327
<1 per week	80-84	222	217	289	276	315
<1 per week	85+	206	217	224	287	314
<1 per week	Total 65+	1,257	1,334	1,461	1,566	1,620
1+ per week	65-69	1,522	1,656	1,836	1,732	1,588
1+ per week	70-74	1,467	1,386	1,503	1,707	1,614
1+ per week	75-79	1,222	1,607	1,520	1,694	1,904
1+ per week	80-84	1,014	997	1,339	1,284	1,449
1+ per week	85+	1,135	1,145	1,164	1,474	1,587
1+ per week	Total 65+	6,360	6,791	7,362	7,891	8,142

Medical Conditions and Diseases

If information is available on PANSI or POPPI for specific medical conditions and diseases, the information is presented on the individual topic page for that condition and can be found under Health Factors within Adults.

Strategic Need and Service Provision

There are well documented inequalities in relation to socioeconomic status, with those living in poorer communities living shorter lives than those in more affluent communities, and spending a greater proportion of their lives living in ill-health.

Services need to consider whether there are barriers to access services that are driving some of these inequalities in outcomes, and whether there are opportunities to explore and reduce perceived ill-health, or reported morbidity identified in the Hull Health and Wellbeing Survey.

The population projections identify a potential population with correctible visual impairment; NHS services should consider whether their planning and commissioning processes are inadvertently worsening inequalities in these populations as they represent individuals with a potential unmet need.

Resources

Local Health and Wellbeing Surveys.

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/

Projecting Adult Needs and Service Information – PANSI. www.pansi.org.uk

Projecting Older People Population Information Service – POPPI. www.poppi.org.uk

World Health Organisation, Ageing and life course. World Health Organisation: Geneva. Accessed 2020.

World Health Organisation. Aging and Health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health

LCP Insight Clarity Advice and Office for National Statistics. Health Index. https://healthindex.lcp.uk.com/

Updates

This page was last updated on 20 July 2022.

This page is due to be updated / checked in January 2023.