Page 148 - 20211214_OHKF_Health_Finance_Research_Report_E (1)

4.2.4 SURVEY METHODOLOGY

Population-based telephone survey

We conducted a population-based telephone survey to evaluate the Hong Kong general
public’s perspectives towards chronic disease screening and management. Data on the
target population’s socio-demographic status, health status, and current health-seeking
attitudes and behaviours was also collected (Appendix A).

We commissioned the Centre for Health Behaviours Research of The Jockey Club School of
Public Health and Primary Care at The Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct the
telephone survey, which was implemented between 27 July 2020 and 30 August 2020. The
study gathered data from 2,044 respondents.

All respondents were (1) aged ≥ 18 years, (2) had a Hong Kong-based phone number, and (3)
were present in Hong Kong at the time of the survey administration. We used a combined
representative sampling followed by random sampling methodology to reflect Hong Kong’s
population structure with 1,200 respondents (around 59% of interviewees) aged ≥ 45 years
and 844 respondents (around 41% of interviewees) aged 18 to 44 years. The telephone
survey was conducted via a random sampling method wherein a computer randomiser
generated phone numbers to select individuals for the survey.

Analysis methodology

To create a more comprehensive perspective of the results from the public polling, we
conducted various statistical analyses of the data set. Analyses include descriptive analyses,
comparison of groups using Chi-squared tests, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA
analyses. We also conducted age-stratified analyses between those aged ≥ 45 years and
< 45 to identify age-specific characteristics pertaining to preventive health behaviour. We
considered a p-value of less than 0.05 to be statistically significant. Figures may not add up
to 100% due to rounding.

4.2.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS

The characteristics of respondents, including sociodemographic factors, personal medical
history of chronic diseases, and family history of chronic diseases, are presented in
Table 4.3, Table 4.4. Overall, our study sample consisted of more female respondents
(68.4%). Most respondents were aged ≥ 65 years (37.2%), followed by respondents aged
35–44 years (22.9%) and 55–64 years (15.6%). Furthermore, most respondents had attained
at least a secondary level education (70.1%), were employed (32.6%) or retired (31.9%), and
were not recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) (96.9%)
(Question ECON; Question CSSA). Most respondents had a monthly household income
ranging from HKD 10,000 to HKD 19,999 (31.0%) and HKD 20,000 to HKD 29,999 (23.4%)
(Question INCOME).

In terms of health status, 39.8% of the respondents had a chronic health condition while
45.8% had an immediate family member (parents, siblings, children) diagnosed with a
chronic health condition (Question 6a; Question 15). More than half of the surveyed
population claim to engage in regular health screening (at intervals of two
years, or shorter) using the measures of blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol
(Question 2i/ii/iii) (Table 4.4).

146