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 (April 2010), three new children's Body Mass Index (BMI) variables have been added to the general population and ethnic boost data files (bmicat1, bmicat2, bmicat3). Further information is available in the documentation and on the Information Centre for Health and Social Care Health Survey for England web page.

Main Topics:

For informants from the specified minority ethnic groups (whether in the general population or the ethnic boost sample), the coverage of the 1999 survey was similar to that for 1998 (SN:4150). The special topics included cardiovascular disease (CVD) for adults and asthma for children. Other topics covered included physical activity, eating habits, psychosocial health, social support, religion and cultural identity, as well as the 'core' topics which are repeated every year: smoking, alcohol consumption, general health, prescribed medication and use of services. For the first time in the Health Survey, informants aged 35 and over had an electrocardiographic measurement (ECG) and (among a sub-sample) a fasting blood sample was taken which was analysed for tricglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and glucose. For each child aged 4-15, parents were asked to complete the Strengths and Difficulties (SDQ) Questionnaire. Informants in the general population sample, unless they were members of the specified minority ethnic groups, were given a short version of the questionnaire covering only the core topics. They did not have the follow-up nurse visit, except for a small sub-sample selected to provide comparisons with minority ethnic groups in respect of measurements not previously employed on the Health Survey, for which therefore earlier reports could not provide comparative data. 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. Rose angina questionnaire. Medical Research Council respiratory questionnaire. Strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ).

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Self-completion

Clinical measurements

Physical measurements

CAPI