Scottish Health Survey, 2018

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. For the fourth edition (February 2021) minor corrections have been made to the relationship variables from the household grid (Ra to R10a). All data files have been updated accordingly.Main Topics:The Scottish Health Survey, 2018 was the 14th survey in the series. Topics covered included household composition, demographics (including ethnicity, religion, educational background and economic activity), general health including caring, mental health and wellbeing, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and asthma, physical activity, sedentary activity, barriers and motivations to exercise, eating habits, fruit and veg consumption, smoking and drinking, dental health, social capital, and a second stage follow-up visit from a survey nurse to collect biological samples and anthropometric measurements. The study also includes combined datasets covering 2015/16/17/18 and 2017/18. They contain information from the household questionnaires, main individual schedules, self-completions and the biological modules (where applicable). The combined datasets have been provided to give a larger base for analysis of variables from the biological module. The individual year datasets should be used for analysis of individual years, including comparison between years