Objective: To compare data for men who call Healthline for themselves with data from women callers and to use those pilot data to inform strategies to encourage men to use Healthline.
Subjects and methods: This was a study examining retrospective data for people calling Healthline in a week in October 2010. Calls from 487 men were compared with those from 487 women. Geocoded data provided deprivation levels.
Results: There were fewer men calling than women in all age groups, although younger men were overrepresented. Young men were more acutely unwell than young women or older men. Men called at all times of the day, and call duration was similar to that of women callers. Most men callers were European; men of other ethnic groups were underrepresented compared with women and compared with their representation in the New Zealand population. Men from higher deprivation areas were more likely to call than those from lower deprivation areas.
Conclusions: Compared with women, men underuse Healthline as they do other primary care services. Overall, men are more symptomatic than women; of interest is our observation that among men, the users are likely to be younger, of lower socioeconomic status, and European. Healthline may be an acceptable source of health advice for these men, and it should be considered central in any future initiative addressing men's health.