The Public Health Agency of Sweden annually conducts a national public health survey, Health on Equal Terms, including a sample of 20 000 people aged 16-84 years. The survey, which was conducted for the first time in 2004, is an on going collaboration between the The Public Health Agency of Sweden and county councils/regions in Sweden and is carried out with help from Statistics Sweden (SCB). All studies, since 2004, can be found under the tab Related studies.

The survey is voluntary and done with the purpose to investigate the health in the population and to show changes in the population's health over time as a follow up of the national health politics.

The sample is randomly drawn from the Statistics Sweden's population register and includes 20 000 people aged 16-84 years. The personal data is confidential and protected by law and those working with this survey are obliged to practice professional secrecy. Individual answers can not be identified in the results.

The study participants are since 2007 given the opportunity to answer the survey on the web. Since 2012, the web survey is also in English, and since 2014 also in Finnish.

The questionnaire includes about 85 questions. Each county council has its own introduction letter and the questions has been prepared in collaboration with representatives from a number of different community medicine units. The origin and quality of the questions are described in the report "Objective and background of the questions in the national public health survey". Most questions recur each year, but questions can in particular cases be replaced by other questions of good quality and national relevance.

The questions in the national public health survey cover physical and mental health, consumption of pharmaceuticals, contact with healthcare services, dental health, living habits, financial conditions, work and occupation, work environment, safety and social relationships. Data regarding education is collected from the education register, and data of income, economic support, sickness benefits and pensions from the income an taxation register.

Purpose:

The aim is to investigate the health in the population and to show changes in the population's health over time as a follow up of the national health politics. Show less..

Data contains personal data

Method and outcome

Unit of analysis

Individual

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling procedure

Probability: Simple random

The sample was randomly drawn from the population register among people aged 16-84 years.

Number of individuals/objects

9764

Response rate/participation rate

49%

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Data collection

Geographic coverage

Geographic spread

Geographic location: Sweden

Administrative information

Topic and keywords

Research area

Medical and health sciences (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Health (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Keywords

Health services, Body constitution, Dental care, Hearing, Life style, Pathological conditions, signs and symptoms, Exercise, Population surveillance, Socioeconomic factors, Tinnitus, Urinary incontinence, Anxiety, Overweight, Diet, Alcohol drinking, Occupational health, Work, Job satisfaction, Asthma, Diabetes mellitus, Eczema, Public health, Leisure activities, Gambling, Health, Health status, Hypertension, Body weight, Drug utilization, Gastrointestinal diseases, Migraine disorders, Oral health, Interpersonal relations, Mental health, Registries, Smoking, Disease, Pain, Tobacco, smokeless, Social support, Stress, psychological, Vision, ocular, Sleep wake disorders, Fatigue, Occupations, Occupational exposure, Hypersensitivity

Publications