Adults health and wellbeing – JSNA report

On this page you will find a summary of data around adults’ health and wellbeing in Portsmouth.

• Summary
• Smoking
• Healthy weight
• Community safety
• Sexual health
• Mental health
• Cancer
• Armed Forces

The Public Health Annual Report 2022 provides an overview of the key demographic and health data for Portsmouth in 2021/22.

The report includes information on:

• life expectancy and mortality
• deprivation, social economics and vulnerable communities
• long-term conditions
• key risk factors and behaviours

Portsmouth aims to be smoke free by 2030, achieved when adult smoking prevalence falls to 5% or less. A dedicated focus to consistently drive down smoking prevalence for all population groups in the city is essential if this challenging target is to be accomplished. Please see our Tobacco control plan for Portsmouth which details our aims and actions on how we plan to achieve this.

View the population interactive data report.

Smoking in adults – current smokers

• In 2023, according to the national Annual Population Survey (APS) around 10.1% of Portsmouth adults (aged 18 years and over) were current smokers.
• This is similar to the estimate for Southampton (14.2%), England (11.6%) and the South East region (10.6%).

Smoking status at time of delivery (giving birth)

• In 2022/23, the percentage of Portsmouth women smoking at time of delivery (SATOD) was 12.0%.
• This is significantly higher than Southampton (8.9%), England (8.8%) and the South East region (8.1%).
• Portsmouth’s recent trend shows no significant change in SATOD, whereas Southampton’s recent trend is decreasing and improving.

Smoking-related ill health

Higher smoking-related hospital admission rates indicate poorer health in an area and high levels of smoking.

• In 2019/20, the rate of hospital admissions related to smoking for Portsmouth residents (aged 35 years and over) had remained similar since 2016/17.
• The Portsmouth rate of hospital admission related to smoking in 2019/20 was higher (though not significantly) than England; significantly higher than the Southeast region; but significantly lower than Southampton.
• However, this data is based on the primary diagnosis of the admission, which means it might underestimate of the number of smoking-related admissions.

Compared to England, Portsmouth has significantly higher (worse) rates of:

• Emergency hospital admissions for COPD (2022/23)
• Lung cancer registrations (2017-19)
• Oral cancer registrations (2017-19)

Smoking-related deaths

• In 2017-19, the Portsmouth rate of smoking-related deaths in persons aged 35 and over was 273.3 per 100,000 people.
• Compared to England, Portsmouth had a significantly higher rate of smoking-related deaths (England had 202.2 per 100,000 people aged 35+ years).
• There were 793 deaths related to smoking in Portsmouth over the three-year period (around 265 deaths a year).
• The Portsmouth rate has decreased since 2013-15 (though not significantly) but has remained much higher than England over this period.

Compared to England, Portsmouth has significantly higher (worse) rates of:

• Smoking attributable mortality (2017-19)
• Smoking attributable deaths from cancer (2017-19)
• Mortality from lung cancer (2020-22)
• Mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2020-22)
• Mortality from oral cancer (2020-22)
• Potential years of life lost due to smoking related illness (2016-18)
• Stillbirth rate, 2020-22

Smokers setting a quit date

• In 2022/23, there were 1,319 smokers in Portsmouth aged 16 years and over who set a quit date.
• As a rate, this is significantly higher than England and the South East region, but similar to Southampton.

Smokers that have successfully quit at 4 weeks

• In 2022/23, the rate of smokers aged 16 years and over that successfully quit at 4 weeks using NHS stop smoking services in Portsmouth’s was 2,631 per 100,000 smokers.
• In 2022/23, there were 659 smokers successfully quitting at 4 weeks (after setting a quit date) in Portsmouth aged 16 years and over
• As a rate, this is significantly higher than England and the South East region, and similar to Southampton.
• Note: this is based on self-reported outcomes, provided by those using stop smoking services.

Maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in physical activity, and eating healthily all have positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, and local communities.

This summary brings together the most recent relevant data for Portsmouth.

Healthy Eating

The nutritional quality of the food we eat includes more than just the amount of energy our food contains.

Healthy eating guidelines encourage us to eat the recommended amount of vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein and healthy fats (while minimising excess sugar, salt and saturated fats).

The nutritional quality of the food we eat is impacted by the choices we make every day. It’s also affected by the quality of the food that we have access to in our local communities. The Eatwell Guide – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

• The NHS Eatwell Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet.

Fruit and Vegetable consumption

The aim of the ‘5 A Day’ campaign is to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables we eat to lower the risk of serious health issues (including heart disease, stroke, and cancer).

The ‘5 A Day’ campaign was created based on World Health Organisation (WHO) health advice. Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (ALAS) collects data on the percentage of adults (aged 16 years and over) who meet the recommendation. You can learn more on the NHS website’s ‘Why 5 A Day?’ page.

• In 2022/23, 22.3% of Portsmouth adults met the ‘5-a-day’ recommendations. This is a decrease from 36.3% in 2021/22
  • This was significantly lower than both England (31.0%) and the Southeast region (33.2%).

Physical Activity

Physical activity is important for our overall physical health as well as our emotional wellbeing.

In addition to reducing the risk of obesity, consistent physical activity helps to reduce our risk from a range of long term conditions including diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer and breast cancer.

Regular physical activity has also been associated with improvements in mental health and helps us to remain more functionally independent as we move into older adulthood.

Reducing inactivity is also an important factor in reducing health risks and improving our quality of life. Inactivity is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke as well as an overall increased risk of premature death. Simply reducing the amount of time that we spend not moving can reduce these health risks.

Activity and Inactivity

The government guidelines for physical activity are based on the government Sport Strategy and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) recommendations.

The CMO currently recommends that adults (aged 19 years and over) undertake a minimum of:

• 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week,
• or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week
• or a combination of the two, in bouts of 10 minutes or more.

The overall amount of activity is more important than the type, intensity or frequency. Physical inactivity is defined as engaging in less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week.

Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (ALAS) collects data on the proportion of adults who meet the recommendations for physical activity and reducing inactivity.

• In 2022/23, 71.1% of Portsmouth adults were physically active – an increase from 67.5% in 2021/22
  • This is significantly higher than England (67.1%) and similar to the Southeast Region (70.2%).
• In 2022/23, 17.7% of Portsmouth adults were physically inactive – a decrease from 22.4% in 2021/22
  • This is significantly lower than England (22.6%) and similar to the Southeast Region (19.3%).

Obesity and Overweight

Obesity is associated with several long-term health conditions. These include:

• cardiovascular disease
• type 2 diabetes
• cancer
• liver disease
• dementia
• degenerative joint disease (for example, osteoarthritis)
• respiratory disease
• mental health difficulties

The risk and severity of these diseases increases with a higher body mass index (BMI). For more information on BMI view the NHS website’s ‘What is the body mass index (BMI)?’ page.

Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey (ALAS) collects data on the estimated percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese. GP surgeries also record data on the percentage of patients who are classified as obese.

Estimated percentages of overweight and obese adults

• In 2022/23, it was estimated that 30.8% of Portsmouth adults were obese.
  • This was statistically similar to England (26.2%) and Southampton (29.5%) and was significantly higher than the Southeast region (24.3%).
• In 2022/23, it was estimated that 69.8% of Portsmouth adults were overweight or obese – an increase from 66.4% in 2021/22.
  • This was significantly higher than England (64.0%) and the Southeast region (62.8%) and was statistically similar to Southampton (68.4%)

GP recorded obesity

• In 2022/23, 14.1% of registered patients were recorded as obese – an increase from 13.0% in 2021/22.
  • This was significantly higher than England (11.4%), the Southeast region (10.3%) and Hampshire & the Isle of Wight (11.0%).
• In 2022/23, recorded obesity rates at GP practices ranged from 24.8% at Portsdown Group practice to 8.1% at Craneswater Group practice (this data excludes the University Surgery).

For more information on obesity, physical activity, and healthy eating, you can request the JSNA healthy weight briefing by emailing jsna@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

The Health and Wellbeing Board is the city’s Community Safety Partnership, responsible for reducing crime and substance misuse in Portsmouth. It brings together local organisations to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour, substance misuse and re-offending in Portsmouth.

• This work is informed by the Strategic Assessment of Crime, Anti-social Behaviour, Substance Misuse, and Reoffending.
• A separate needs assessment of Substance Misuse was completed in 2022.

Sexual health is fundamental to health and wellbeing, and to social and economic development.

In England, sexual health provision includes:

• interventions related to contraception
• termination of pregnancies
• sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Interventions include healthy conversations, easily accessible information, and service pathways.

• You can view the Summary Profile of Local Authority Sexual Health (SPLASH) for Portsmouth.

It is important to note that the Sexual Health section of the JSNA provides some local information that relates to the data in the SPLASH report. Therefore, it is recommended to cross reference the information in this section when reviewing the SPLASH report.

• You can also view this infographic, which gives a summary of sexual health outcomes in Portsmouth.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

STIs can be easily tested and treated to prevent complications and transmission to others. If left without treatment STI’s can have harmful outcomes, including infertility, pregnancy complications, cancers and other long term conditions.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) creates an area profile of STI data which is publicly available.

• You can access data about Portsmouth and how we compare to other authorities. Some of the Portsmouth values related to STIs may be inflated because of a possible duplication of reporting between online and physical reports.

Nationally, 2022 data suggests there is a 24% rise on the previous year, which includes significant increases in gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis.

HIV

A collaborative approach is required to end transmissions of HIV, AIDS and HIV-related deaths by 2030.

• You can access data related to HIV for Portsmouth and see how we compare to other authorities here. It’s important to note that HIV testing completed remotely (including home sampling HIV testing), are not included in national data sets.

Contraception

There are many types of contraception available for free to prevent pregnancies. These can be provided by the specialist sexual health service, GPs or pharmacies.

Many forms of contraception can also be used for non-contraceptive reasons (generally provided by GPs or gynaecology), including for menstrual disorders, menopause and much more.

Long Acting Reversable Contraception (LARC) are recognised as being the most highly effective forms of contraception alongside vasectomy and sterilisation.

• You can access data related to contraception (including LARC) for Portsmouth and see how we compare to other authorities.

Portsmouth has well-established contraception provision provided by the specialist sexual health service. This service has provided the greatest amount of LARC, compared to GPs.

Overall, in 2022 the total prescribed LARC rate (excluding injectables) is higher than the rate in England for women aged 15 to 44 years. In Portsmouth the rate was 50.1 per 1,000 compared to 44.1 per 1,000 women across England.

Abortion

In Portsmouth free, nonbiased, non-judgemental, confidential support is available for any pregnant person who would like to explore their options if they are unsure if they want to continue with their pregnancy. This support is free from the local abortion provider, the Pregnancy Options Centre or GPs.

• You can access data related to abortion care for Portsmouth and see how we compare to other authorities

The total abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years in 2021 was 22.2 per 1,000 in Portsmouth, compared to the England rate of 19.2 per 1,000. The high rate is contributed to by the much higher rate for over 25s and continues to rise higher than the rate for England (21.8 compared to 17.9 per 1,000).

Teenage pregnancy

• Information about teenage pregnancy data can be viewed on our children’s health, social care and education page.

Public Engagement

In 2022 a questionnaire was shared with the public to provide a better understanding of those in Portsmouth who may not be known to sexual health services or be represented in the available data.

Questions were asked to provide a local picture of the current knowledge, needs, and opportunities for residents. This allows us to look at subsets of the local population to help us make more targeted decisions.

• You can view a summary and the findings from the public questionnaire.

Positive mental health and wellbeing are vital for building good health within the population.

Good mental wellbeing can be supported by:

• social circumstances
• the environment where we live, learn, work and play
• economic factors
• physical and mental health

Our mental wellbeing enables us to get the most from life and feel connected to friends, family and neighbours, fulfil our potential, contribute to communities and to adopt healthy lifestyles.

Poor mental health and serious mental illness can be a significant burden to individuals, families and communities, affecting the quality of lives lived and leading to preventable early deaths.

A summary of the available data on mental health and wellbeing in Portsmouth is available on request by emailing jsna@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. There are more than 200 different types of cancer, and each is diagnosed and treated in a particular way.

Risk factors for cancer include:

• smoking
• drinking alcohol
• obesity
• poor diet
• lack of exercise
• prolonged exposure to sunlight or sunbed use
• unsafe sex (cervical cancer)
• environmental and occupational factors (such as asbestos or ambient particulate matter)

Making some simple lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the risk of developing cancer. Changes like:

• eating a healthy diet,
• taking regular exercise,
• limiting how much alcohol you drink
• avoiding or giving up smoking,
• and taking care in the sun

will all help to lower the risk of getting cancer.

Cancer rates

Cancers are relatively common – about one in two people will develop some form of cancer sometime in their lifetime.

In England in 2021, the majority (94%) of all new cancer diagnoses continue to be found in 24 different cancers. Just over half (53%) of all registered cancer diagnoses are found in breast, prostate, lung, or bowel.

Briefing notes summarising the available local data on cancer overall, breast, lung and bowel cancer are available on request by emailing jsna@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. Portsmouth is the home of the Royal Navy, and the armed forces is a significant part of the fabric of the city.

At last estimate over 37,000 people living in Portsmouth were members of the armed forces community (either currently serving, a veteran, reservist, or immediate family’s members) – that is about 18% of the population.

• You can find out more about how Portsmouth City Council is meeting its commitment to the armed forces.
• The Solent Armed Forces Covenant Partnership worked together to understand the needs of this community in the Solent region. You can view the 2022 needs assessment.