Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Health Survey for England (HSE) is a series of surveys designed to monitor trends in the nation's health.  It was commissioned by NHS Digital and carried out by the Joint Health Surveys Unit of the National Centre for Social Research and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.The aims of the HSE series are:to provide annual data about the nation’s health;to estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;to examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;to assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;to monitor progress towards selected health targetssince 1995, to measure the height of children at different ages, replacing the National Study of Health and Growth;since 1995, monitor the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.The survey includes a number of core questions every year but also focuses on different health issues at each wave. Topics are revisited at appropriate intervals in order to monitor change. Further information about the series may be found on the NHS Digital Health Survey for England; health, social care and lifestyles webpage, the NatCen Social Research NatCen Health Survey for England webpage and the University College London Health and Social Surveys Research Group UCL Health Survey for England webpage. Changes to the HSE from 2015:Users should note that from 2015 survey onwards, only the individual data file is available under standard End User Licence (EUL). The household data file is now only included in the Special Licence (SL) version, released from 2015 onwards. In addition, the SL individual file contains all the variables included in the HSE EUL dataset, plus others, including variables removed from the EUL version after the NHS Digital disclosure review. The SL HSE is subject to more restrictive access conditions than the EUL version (see Access information). Users are advised to obtain the EUL version to see if it meets their needs before considering an application for the SL version.

For the fifth edition (April 2010), three new children's Body Mass Index (BMI) variables have been added to the individual data file (bmicat1, bmicat2, bmicat3). Further information is available in the documentation and on the Information Centre for Health and Social Care Health Survey for England web page.

Main Topics:

The 1998 survey had two separate elements: an interviewer visit and a nurse visit. At the first visit, all respondents aged 13 and over were asked to give a CAPI (computed assisted) interview on a range of health related topics. Parents/guardians of 2-12 year olds were interviewed about the child, with the child present. Information was collected on the following topics: Interviewer survey: general health, longstanding illness, limiting longstanding illness, acute sickness, respiratory problems, accidents, eating habits, physical activity, smoking (respondents aged 8 years onwards), drinking (respondents aged 8 years onwards - including CAGE if 16 years and over), reported birthweight (those aged 2-15 years), economic status/occupation and educational attainment (respondents aged 16 years onwards only), ethnic origin; parental history (respondents aged 16 years onwards only), height/weight measurements, perception of current weight (respondents aged 8 years onwards), GHQ 12 (respondents aged 13 years and onwards - see definition below), social support (those aged 13 years and over), use of contraceptive pill (respondents aged 16 years onwards), hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (respondents aged 18 years onwards), use of health services, heart problems, diabetes. Some information was collected by via self-completion form: smoking and drinking (for those aged 8-17 years and some respondents aged 18-19), perception of current weight, GHQ-12, social support, use of contraceptive pill and HRT. Household level information was obtained on: household size, composition and relationships, accommodation tenure and number of bedrooms, smoking in household, car and telephone ownership, income of household, economic status/occupation of head of household, type of dwelling and area. At the nurse visit, information was collected on prescribed drugs (all age groups), vitamin supplements (all age groups) and nicotine replacements (16 years and over only). Upper arm circumference (age 2-17 year olds), demi-span (those aged 65 years and over), waist/hip circumference (16 years and over) and blood pressure (5 years and over) were measured and blood (respondents aged 18 years onwards only) and saliva (respondents aged over 4 years only) samples were taken. Blood samples were analysed for total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol, ferritin/haemoglobin fibrinogen and c-reactive protein. Saliva was analysed for cotinine. Some administrative data and some geographic identifiers have been left out of the dataset. Standard Measures General health questionnaire (GHQ12) - copyright David Goldberg, 1978 reproduced by permission of NFER - NELSON.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Self-completion

Clinical measurements

Physical measurements