Health Surveys User Group 9 July 2009

Welsh Health Survey: an update

Cath Roberts, Welsh Assembly Government

Melanie Doyle, NatCen

Overview & some results

Cath Roberts, Anne Kingdon, Ben CrudgeWelsh Assembly Government

Background

• Survey on health and health-related lifestyle of people living in Wales

• Started 2003, runs every year. Conducted by NatCen

• Covers approx 14,000 adults and 3,000 children per year

• Mode of data collection:– Short household interview

– Adult self-completion questionnaire (all adults in h-hold)

– Child self-completion questionnaire (up to 2 children)

– Child height & weight measurements

– Interviewer pick-up of questionnaires

Background (2)

• Estimates for Wales as a whole, and for sub-groups, eg :

– Age & sex

– Social class (NS-SEC)

– Deprivation quintiles

– Local authorities

– Other geographies / sub-groups

Topics

• Illnesses & other conditions

• Health status (SF-36 adults, SDQ children)

• Smoking (adults only)

• Alcohol consumption (adults only)

• Fruit & vegetables (adults) / Eating habits (children)

• Physical activity

• Height & weight

• Health service use

• Demographic / socio-economic info (age, sex, ethnicity, geography, economic status, qualifications, NS-SEC, housing tenure)

Selected illness & conditions (adults), 2008

Adults being treated for any illness, by age & sex

0

20

40

60

80

100

16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+

Age group

Perc

ent

Men

Women

Limiting long-term illness (adult), by deprivation

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 (least deprived) 2 3 4 5 (most deprived)

deprivation quintile (WIMD)

Age

-sta

ndar

dise

d pe

rcen

t

Health-related lifestyle (adults), 2008

• 24% adults smoked

• 45% drank above guidelines (28% binge drink)

• 36% ate 5+ portions fruit & veg

• 30% met physical activity guidelines

• 57% overweight / obese (21% obese)

Adult smoking by social class (NS-SEC)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Managerial &professional

Intermediate Routine & manual Never worked &long-term

unemployed

NS-SEC

Age

-sta

ndar

dise

d pe

rcen

t

Trend in obesity (adults)

0

5

10

15

20

25

2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2007 2008

Per

cent

Reports & analyses

• Annual report / local authority bulletin

• Ad hoc bulletins / analyses

(eg vision impaired; carers; rural / urban…)

• Secondary analysis by other users

(eg social capital and health; social status, area characteristics and

health; mental illness needs index... )

• Datasets available through UK data archive

Further information

http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/theme/health/health-survey/?lang=en

www.wales.gov.uk/statistics

Welsh Health Survey EvaluationJosie Dixon, Melanie Doyle, Katharine Sadler

• Background• Methodology

Telephone interviewWeb based evaluation

• Key findings• Conclusions

WHS evaluation: Background

• Welsh Health Survey (WHS) 2003• Topic coverage• 5 years of data now available on archive• Evaluation designed to assess:

Current useShortcomings in survey method and contentFuture needs of data users

Methodology: Sample• List of around 200 data users compiled by Welsh

Assembly Government (WAG)• Included data users from:

WAGlocal governmentNHSAcademiaESDS users

• Open to all • Range and diversity

Methodology: Telephone interview

• Core group 26 users invited to take part• Advance letter• Fieldwork: December 2008 – February 2009• Telephone interview, 30-50 minutes, covering:

Health interests and use of WHS dataInformation needs not met by WHS dataInterest in trends data Subgroup and sub-Wales analysis

Methodology: Web based evaluation• Web based evaluation in English and Welsh• Dedicated website• Wider group of informants invited to take part• Valid e-mail address required to complete• Took 10-15 minutes to complete, covering:

Health interests and use of WHS data Information needs not met by WHS dataSubgroup and sub-Wales analyses

Response profileTelephone evaluation

Web evaluation

WAG 9 26

Local govt 3 8

NHS 5 7

Academic 3 13

Other 0 10

TOTAL 20 64

Use and priorities of WHS data• Positive feedback - WHS works well to meet

user needs• Contextual information• Informing political debate• Developing and monitoring strategies, plans and

policies• Ongoing monitoring, highlighting hidden issues• Resource allocation• Academic research and teaching

Feedback and conclusions

• Topic coverageLifestyle and health behaviourHealth and wellbeingUse of health servicesDisease prevalence

• ConclusionsDuplication / trendsAdditional topics

Feedback and conclusions• Sample design

Sample sizeSubgroupsGeography

• Conclusions Sample designGeography

Feedback and conclusions

• DisseminationFindingsDataTiming

• Conclusions PublicationsData availability / awareness

Summary

• Useful exercise that provided good feedback about range and diversity of user needs

• Positive feedback overall, indicated survey is working well to meet user needs

• Areas where survey could be extended to ‘add value’ or meet future needs, eg data linkage

• Increased awareness of results and available data seen as key aspect for future change

Health Surveys User Group 9 July 2009

Welsh Health Survey: an update

Cath Roberts, Welsh Assembly Government

Melanie Doyle, NatCen