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 fourth edition (August 2017), a new version of the individual data file was deposited. A Government Office Region variable has been added, and some previous health authority and socio-economic variables removed.
Main Topics:
The 1997 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. In order to increase the number of children available for analysis in the 1997 survey, the design was modified - please see the section on 'Sampling Procedures' for further details. 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), height/weight measurements, perception of current weight (respondents aged 8 years onwards), GHQ 12 (respondents aged 13 years and onwards - see definition below), use of contraceptive pill (respondents aged 16 years onwards), individual economic status/occupation (respondents aged 16 years onwards), educational attainment and ethnic group (respondents aged 16 years onwards). Some of the modules were administered by self-completion: information on smoking and drinking (respondents aged 8-24 years only), perception of current weight (all respondents asked), GHQ 12 (all respondents asked), use of contraceptive pill (all respondents asked). The self-completion questionnaire for parents of 4-15 year olds included questions on their child's strengths and difficulties and consultation about behavioural problems. 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), waist/hip circumference (16 years and over), blood pressure (5 years and over) and lung function (7 years and over) were measured and blood (18-24 year olds only) and saliva (4-17 year olds only) samples. Blood was analysed for IgE, house dust mite IgE, cotinine and ferritin/haemoglobin. 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
