Scottish Health Survey: content review

8. Health Board and local authority level analysis

Since 2008, the SHeS sample has been designed to be representative of adults at health board and local authority level following four years of data collection. Changes in the sample design for the 2012 survey mean that users are not advised to combine data for periods spanning 2011 and 2012. Going forwards, however, the sample has been designed to be representative of the population of Scotland at Health Board level for every four-year period. Hence, the survey can be analysed using combined data from 2012 to 2015, 2013 to 2016, 2014 to 2017, 2015 to 2018 or 2016 to 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortened version of the SHeS survey was conducted via telephone in 2020, but this data is not included in the dashboard, as it is not comparable to the previous years. Depending on data quality/comparability a decision will be made on whether to include 2021 figures in the dashboard. For local area results we are proposing to combine three instead of four years this time (201820192021).

Therefore, any data that is required at health board or local authority level must be included in the survey every year to allow the estimates to be based on the most recent four years' worth of data combined.