Affiliations: THL National Institute for Health and Welfare,
Information Department, Helsinki, Finland | NHV Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden
Note: [] Corresponding author: Mika Gissler, THL National Institute for
Health and Welfare, Information Department, P.O.Box 30, 00271 Helsinki,
Finland. Tel.: +358 29 524 7279; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The availability of representative population-based health data is a
prerequisite for identifying public health problems. Rather than basing their
health policies on health determinants, most countries continue to rely on
mortality figures and service-based data due to the lack of data for many key
health indicators. A National Health Information System (NHIS) integrates
health data from various sources, such as vital registration, health care
service utilisation and survey data. Postal questionnaire surveys and
health/disability interview surveys (HIS/DIS) are an essential part of NHIS.
They provide information e.g. on diseases and conditions not requiring contact
to health care system, self-rated health, opinions, experiences, and health
behaviour. Health examination surveys (HES) are used to gather information on
clinical measurements and diseases and medical conditions diagnosed by health
care professionals. These kinds of surveys face problems related to sampling,
inclusion/exclusion criteria, reporting bias and low response rates. Cultural
differences in questioning and answering affect international comparisons. The
advantage of HIS/DIS/HES is the combination of measured health status,
self-reported health determinants and socio-economic conditions. This allows
in-depth analysis with personal level data to estimate distributions and
inequalities between various sub-populations.
Keywords: Disability survey (DIS), Health examination survey (HES), Health interview survey (HIS), National Health Information System (NHIS)
