Scottish Health Survey 2017: summary report

Key findings from the Scottish Health Survey 2017 report.

This document is part of a collection


Summary

The Scottish Health Survey ( SHeS) is commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates to provide reliable information on the health, and factors related to health, of people living in Scotland that cannot be obtained from other sources. The series aims to:

  • estimate the occurrence of particular health conditions
  • estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with health
  • look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population
  • monitor trends in the population’s health over time
  • make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets

Key findings from the 2017 survey are presented here alongside some trends. Further discussion of the findings and full documentation of the survey’s methods and questionnaire can be found in the 2017 annual report available from the Scottish Health Survey website: www.gov.scot/scottishhealthsurvey. The report is accompanied by an extensive set of web tables for 2017 and updated trends for key measures.

About The Survey

The sample

SHeS has been designed to provide data on the health of adults (aged 16 and over) and children (aged 0-15) living in private households in Scotland annually. In 2017, 3,697 adults and 1,603 children took part in the survey. Representative data for adults in all NHS Health Board for the 2014-2017 period are also available.

The interview

The principal focus of the survey is cardiovascular disease ( CVD) and related risk factors. Some questions and topics are asked annually while others vary from year to year. In addition to the questionnaire, height and weight measurements are collected from everyone aged 2 and over. Each year a sub-sample of adults also complete a biological module which includes blood pressure and waist circumference measurements along with urine and saliva sample collection. Participants are also asked for permission to link survey responses to their administrative NHS health records. Key topics included in the 2017 survey were:

Survey Clipboard

Contact

Julie Landsberg

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