The annual Healthy Ireland Survey is a repeated cross-sectional annual study that provides an up-to-date picture of the nation’s health along with a robust and credible baseline set of data on a range of health behaviours which have significant impact on individual health outcomes. These data are being used by the Department of Health to inform current and future policy direction and programme development and implementation. The Survey reports on many lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, active travel, weight management, diet and nutrition, health service utilization patterns, dental health, chronic disease incidence, mental health, sleep patterns, dementia awareness, caring responsibilities, women’s health and sexual health. Since 2014, the Healthy Ireland Survey has been administered on an annual basis by Ipsos on behalf of the Department of Health. The first 5 Waves, 2015-2019, were conducted via computer aided personal interview (CAPI). Since 2021, the Survey is currently being conducted by computer aided telephone interview (CATI). There is no survey for 2020 as the field collection was abandoned due to the onset of the pandemic.

Probability: Simple random. Respondents were selected using a random digit dialling approach and were interviewed (as previously) by specially trained Healthy Ireland Survey interviewers.

Telephone interview: CATI