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.

Main Topics:

General health and long-standing illness; symptoms of cardiovascular disease (cvd); past history of cvd and related conditions; use of health services; physical activity and exercise; eating habits; smoking; drinking; psychosocial factors; anthropometric measurements (body mass index, height, weight, waist/hip circumferences); blood pressure; results of blood sample analysis (total cholesterol, glycosylated haemoglobin, fibrinogen, ferritin, haemoglobin, serum cotinine, gamma GT). Standard measures: World Health Organisation Rose-Angina questionnaire used to measure angina symptoms. Medical Research Council respiratory questionnaire used to measure presence of common respiratory symptoms (cough, breathlessness, wheeze and phlegm). General health questionnaire used to detect possible presence of psychiatric disorders. Work stress questions used by the Whitehall II Study.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Self-completion

Clinical measurements