Health Survey for England
The Health Survey for England (HSE)
is a series of annual surveys about the health of people living in England.
Since 1994 the survey has been carried out by the Joint Health Surveys Unit
of the National Centre for Social Research and the Department of Epidemiology
and Public Health, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London.
The survey is sponsored by the Department of Health to provide better and more
reliable information about various aspects of people’s health and to monitor
selected health targets.
The HSE began in 1991 and has been
carried out annually since then. A number of core questions are included every
year but each year’s survey also has a particular focus on a disease or
condition or population group. Topics are brought back at appropriate intervals
in order to monitor change. The survey combines questionnaire-based answers
with physical measurements and the analysis of blood samples. Blood pressure,
height and weight, smoking, drinking and general health are covered every year.
An interview with each eligible person in the household is followed by a nurse
visit.
The 'core' includes: questions on
general health and psycho-social indicators, smoking, alcohol, demographic and
socio-economic indicators, questions about use of health services and prescribed
medicines and measurements of height, weight and blood pressure. The modules
may be about a single topic, several topics or about population groups. The
modules to date have been:
1993 cardiovascular disease
1994 cardiovascular
disease
1995 asthma, accidents and disability
1996 asthma, accidents and special
measures of general health (Euroquol, SF36)
1997 children and young people
1998 cardiovascular disease
1999 ethnic groups
2000 older people and social
exclusion
2001 respiratory disease and atopic conditions, disability and non-fatal
accidents
2002 children and young people (aged 0-24)
2003 cardiovascular disease
2004 ethnic minority groups
2005 older people
2006 cardiovascular disease
2007 knoweldge and attitudes
2008 physical activity and fitness
The early surveys, from 1991 to 1994,
were confined to adults ages 16 and over but since 1995 HSE has also included
children aged 2-15. In 2001, for the first time, this lower age limit was removed
and the survey covers all ages. However, lower age limits are imposed for questions
on certain topics. Information is obtained directly from persons aged 13 years
and over. However, information about children aged under 13 years is obtained
from a parent, with the child present.
Health and Social Care Survey
Programme Review
In 2008 the NHS Information Centre
(IC) reviewed its health and social care survey programme. The review process
was overseen by a dedicated Survey Review Board with membership drawn from the
Department of Health, Government Regional Offices, The Office of National Statistics,
Public Health Observatories, and Universities. As part of the review the IC
invited responses to a consultation on the future of its survey programme. The
report
on the outcome of the Survey Programme Consultation is available online
to view or download from the IC.
The Survey Programme Review Board
has now evolved into the Survey Programme Advisory Group (SPAG) and is continuing
the work to develop the NHS IC's Survey Programme. The group has two roles:
to explore issues relating to the survey programme as a whole, and to address
issues around the design, specification and procurement of future surveys.
If you would like to receive regular
updates on the NHS IC Survey Programme you can join the Virtual User Forum by
sending an e-mail to surveys.queries@ic.nhs.uk
Detailed information from the NHS Information Centre web site
Detailed information from the Department of Health web site
Recent data
