Statistics
2017 Health Manpower Survey on Optometrists
Key Findings
1. The optometrists covered in the 2017 Health Manpower Survey (the survey) were optometrists registered with the Optometrists Board of Hong Kong under the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Chapter 359) as at the survey reference date - 31.3.2017.
2. The number of optometrists covered was 2 158.
3. Of the 2 158 optometrists covered, 1 286 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 59.6%. Among the respondents, 1 221 (94.9%) were economically active*† (active) and 65 (5.1%) were economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local optometry profession.
4. Of the 1 221 active optometrists enumerated, 1 216 (99.6%) were practising in the local optometry profession, four (0.3%) were seeking jobs and one (0.1%) was having temporary sickness during the 30 days before the survey.
5. The survey findings presented below were based on the 1 216 responding optometrists who were practising in the local optometry profession as at 31.3.2017. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.
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(i) |
Four optometrists did not indicate the gender. Among the remaining 1 212 active optometrists enumerated, 927 (76.5%) were male and 285 (23.5%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 325. Apart from 12 optometrists who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 1 204 active optometrists enumerated was 52.0 years. |
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(ii) |
Distribution by sector of the main job§ showed that 1 110 (91.3%) were working in the private sector, followed by 72 (5.9%) in the Government, academic and subvented sectors and 34 (2.8%) in the Hospital Authority. |
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(iii) |
Of the 1 216 active optometrists enumerated, 91.5% spent most of their working time on service of optometric care, followed by 3.9% on administration / management, 1.4% on research and 0.9% on teaching. |
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(iv) |
The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 216 active optometrists enumerated was 52.0 hours. Among them, 111 (9.1%) optometrists were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median number of 10.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week. |
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* |
In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong. |
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† |
"Economically active" optometrists comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" optometrists. "Employed" optometrists referred to those optometrists practising in the optometry profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" optometrists referred to those optometrists who (a) were not practising in the local optometry profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the local optometry profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
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‡ |
"Economically inactive" optometrists comprised the optometrists who were not practising in the optometry profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, but excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were "economically active" but "unemployed". |
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§ |
Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the optometrists had spent most of their working time. |
6. Among the 65 inactive optometrists:
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(i) |
37 (56.9%) optometrists reported not practising in the optometry profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local optometry profession during the 30 days before the survey. The reasons reported for not seeking job included: 15 (40.5%) were working in other professions, 11 (29.7%) were engaged in household duties and seven (18.9%) were retired. |
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(ii) |
20 (30.8%) optometrists reported practising overseas and eight (12.3%) optometrists reported practising in the Mainland. |
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Activity Status of Optometrists Covered |