Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) series was established in 1995. Commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the series provides regular information on aspects of the public's health and factors related to health which cannot be obtained from other sources. The SHeS series was designed to:estimate the prevalence of particular health conditions in Scotland;estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these health conditions and to document the pattern of related health behaviours;look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population in the extent of their having these particular health conditions or risk factors, and to make comparisons with other national statistics for Scotland and England;monitor trends in the population's health over time;make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets.Each survey in the series includes a set of core questions and measurements (height and weight and, if applicable, blood pressure, waist circumference, urine and saliva samples), plus modules of questions on specific health conditions that vary from year to year. Each year the core sample has also been augmented by an additional boosted sample for children. Since 2008 NHS Health Boards have also had the opportunity to boost the number of adult interviews carried out in their area. The Scottish Government Scottish Health Survey webpages contain further information about the series, including latest news and publications.
The 1998 Scottish Health Survey was designed to provide data at both national and regional level about the population aged 2 and over living in private households in Scotland. The sample for the 1998 survey, as in 1995, was drawn from the Postcode Address File (PAF). Sampled addresses were selected from 312 postal sectors, with 26 sectors covered each month. Each sector was covered by an interviewer/nurse team. Up to three households per address were eligible for inclusion. Where there were 4 or more households, 3 were selected at random. Within each household all persons aged 2-74 were eligible for inclusion in the survey. Where there was more than one adult aged 16-74, one was selected at random. Where there were three or more children aged 2-15, two we re selected at random. Information was obtained directly from those aged 13 or over. Information about children aged 2-12 was obtained from a parent, with the child present. An interview with each eligible person (Stage 1) was followed by a visit by a nurse (Stage 2), who made a number of measurements and requested permission to obtain a sample of blood from those aged 11 and over. Saliva samples were also collected from those aged 4 and over. Blood and saliva samples were sent to a laboratory for analysis. Interviewing was conducted throughout the year to take account of seasonal differences. Computer-assisted interviewing was used by both interviewers and nurses.For the second edition (October 2018), the variables ‘region’ (Health Board recoded- use for Strata) and ‘PSU’ (PSU - postcode sector) were added to the individual file.
Main Topics:
Topics covered in the interviewer visit in the 1998 survey were general health, cardiovascular disease and use of services, asthma, accidents, eating habits, physical activity, eating habits, psychosocial health, smoking, alcohol consumption and standard classification questions. The nurse visit covered prescribed medicines, food poisoning, mid-upper arm circumference (2-15 year olds), blood pressure (5-74), demi-span (65-74), waist and hip (16-74), lung function (7-74), blood sample (11-74) and saliva sample (2-74). Standard Measures General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) Rose Angina questionnaire MRC Respiratory questionnaire
Multi-stage stratified random sample
