Pandemic influenza in Australia: Using telephone surveys to measure perceptions of threat and willingness to comply

Table 2 Comparison of the weighted pandemic influenza survey sample to the Australian population for key demographics

	Weighted pandemic influenza survey sample %	2006 Australian Population^‡ %	P values⁺
Gender		Based on = > 16 years
Male	50.8	48.8	p = 0.069
Female	49.2	51.2
Age		Based on = > 16 years
16–24	15.1	15.5	p = 0.01
25–34	17.1	17.1
35–44	19.7	18.8
45–54	18.8	17.7
55–64	14.3	14.0
65–74	9.5	8.8
75+	5.4	8.1
Highest formal qualification		Based on = > 15 years
None	6.1	7.9	p < 0.0001
School certificate	22.1	17.3
High school certificate	17.2	22.3
TAFE certificate/diploma	22.6	31.7
University degree/equivalent	32.0	20.8
Born in Australia **		Based on = > 15 years	p = 0.065
Yes	73.5	71.7
No	26.5	28.3
Speak language other than English ^#		Based on all years
Yes	16.8	16.8	p = 0.982
No	83.2	83.2
Employed ^^		Based on = > 15
Yes	64.1	61.2	p = 0.007
No	35.9	38.8
Children in household *** ^##		Based on occupied dwellings
Yes	41.5	43.3	p = 0.101
No	58.5	56.7
Living alone		Based on = > 15 years
Yes	11.1	12.5	p = 0.054
No	88.9	87.5
Location ^^^		Based on all years
Urban	70.1	68.4	p = 0.093
Rural	29.9	31.6

Notes:^‡ ABS figures obtained from the ABS website at http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Symbols refer to ABS data: * Excludes Australian External Territories; ** Excludes country of birth not stated; # language spoken at home. Excludes language spoken at home not stated;
## Count of persons in occupied private dwellings; *** children defined as being < 15 yrs old; ^based on 52 weeks in the year.
^^ Employed is defined as any paid work full-time or part time ^^^ urban/rural is defined by area health service for NSW population survey and is equal to the major cities category for the Australian census. ⁺chi squared
Source: New South Wales Health Survey Program. Sydney: New South Wales Department of Health, 2008.

ISSN: 1471-2334