Women's views of their main health problems

Though there has been increased emphasis on women's health and on community participation in the development of health policy, 'ordinary women' have seldom been asked about their major health concerns. This paper reports on a survey of a stratified random sample of 356 women in Hamilton. Among their main worries regarding health were various cancers and heart disease. The health problems they had experienced in the previous six months which had bothered them most were stress, arthritis, being overweight, migraines/chronic headaches and tiredness. On the basis of these and similar data presented here, it is argued that such community surveys provide an important source of data. They identify somewhat different priorities than approaches which rely on the opinions of experts and other key informants.