Scottish Health Survey 2014 - volume 1: main report

Presents results for the Scottish Health Survey 2014, providing information on the health and factors relating to health of people living in Scotland.


References and notes

1. Mathers C, Stevens G and Mascarenhas M. Global health risks: mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks. Geneva: World Health Organization. 2009. www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/GlobalHealthRisks_report_full.pdf

2. See: www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/

3. Grant I, Springbett A, and Graham L. Alcohol attributable mortality and morbidity: alcohol population attributable fractions for Scotland. 2009. ISD Scotland/Scottish Public Health Observatory. www.scotpho.org.uk/downloads/scotphoreports/scotpho090630_alcoholfractions_rep.pdf

4. See: www.scotpho.org.uk/behaviour/alcohol/data/health-harm

5. Beeston C, Geddes R, Craig N, Gordon R, Graham L, McAuley A, McCartney G, Reid G, Robinson M, Van Heelsum A (on behalf of the MESAS project team). Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy. Fourth Annual Report. Edinburgh: NHS Health Scotland; 2014. www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/24485-MESAS_4th%20Annual%20Report%20Dec%2014.pdf

6. See: www.scotpho.org.uk/behaviour/alcohol/data/health-harm

7. See: isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Publications/2014-11-25/2014-11-25-ARHS2013-14-Summary.pdf?36329287291

8. Beeston C, Robinson M, Craig N and Graham L. Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy. Setting the Scene: Theory of change and baseline picture. Edinburgh: NHS Health Scotland. 2011. www.healthscotland.com/documents/5072.aspx

9. Beeston C, McAuley A, Robinson M, Craig N, and Graham L (on behalf of the MESAS project team). Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy. 2nd Annual Report. Edinburgh: NHS Health Scotland. 2012. www.healthscotland.com/documents/6182.aspx

10. Beeston C, Reid G, Robinson M, Craig N, McCartney G, Graham L and Grant I (on behalf of the MESAS project team). Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy. Third Annual Report. Edinburgh: NHS Health Scotland. 2014. www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/22621-MESAS%203rd%20annual%20report%206.12.13.pdf

11. Hope A, Curran J, Bell G & Platts A. Unrecognised and under-reported: the impact of alcohol on people other than the drinker in Scotland. Glasgow, Scotland: Alcohol Focus Scotland. 2014. www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk

12. Carnie J, Broderick R & McCoard S. Prisoner Survey 2014 Main Bulletin. Edinburgh: Scottish Prison Service. 2014. www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/PrisonerSurvey2014MainBulletin.aspx

13. Scottish Emergency Department Alcohol Audit (SEDAA) Group. Understanding Alcohol Misuse in Scotland: Harmful Drinking: One: the size of the problem. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Edinburgh. 2006.

14. Changing Scotland's relationship with alcohol use: a discussion paper on our strategic approach. Scottish Government, 2008. See: www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/227785/0061677.pdf

15. Scottish Government. Framework for Action: Changing Scotland's relationship with alcohol. Final business and regulatory impact assessment for minimum price per unit of alcohol as contained in Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. 2012. www.gov.scot/Resource/0039/00395549.pdf

16. York Health Economics Consortium. The Societal Cost of Alcohol Misuse in Scotland for 2007. Scottish Government; 2010. www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/12/29122804/21

17. Sharp C, Marcinkiewicz A and Rutherford L. Attitudes towards alcohol in Scotland: results from the 2014 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey. Edinburgh: NHS Health Scotland. 2014. www.scotcen.org.uk/media/338791/ssa-2014-alcohol-report-final.pdf

18. Further information on Scotland Performs can be found at : www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms

19. Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action. See: www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/03/04144703/0

20. Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012. See: www.scottish.parliament.uk/help/43354.aspx

21. Meier P, Meng Y, Hill-McManus D and Brennan A. Model-Based Appraisal Of Alcohol Minimum Pricing And Off-Licensed Trade Discount Bans In Scotland Using The Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model (V 2):- Second Update Based On Newly Available Data. University of Sheffield; 2012 Available from: www.shef.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.156503!/file/scotlandjan.pdf

22. SPICe Briefing 12/34. 17 May 2012. Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3. Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Available from: www.scottish.parliament.uk/help/43354.aspx

23. Bellis MA, Hughes K, Jones L, Morloe M, Nichols J, McCoy E, Webster J, Sumnall H. Holidays, celebrations, and commiserations: measuring drinking during feasting and fasting to improve national and individual estimates of alcohol consumption. Available from: www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/13/113

24. Maclennan B, Kypri K, Lamgley J, Room R. Non-response bias in a community survey of drinking, alcohol-related experiences and public opinion on alcohol policy. Drug Alcohol Depend 2012; 126 (1-2):189-94

25. Caetano R. Non-response in alcohol and drug surveys: a research topic in need of further attention. Addiction 96:1541-5. 2001.

26. Torvik FA, Rognmo K, Tambs K. Alcohol use and mental distress as predictors of non-response in a general population health survey: the HUNT study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2012 May; 47(5): 805-816. Published online 2011 May 5. doi: 10.1007/s00127-011-0387-3

27. Gorman E, Leyland AH, McCartney G, White IR, Katikireddi SV, Rutherford L, Graham L, Gray L. Assessing the representativeness of population-sampled health surveys through linkage to administrative data on alcohol-related outcomes. American Journal of Epidemiology 2014 Nov 1;180(9):941-8.

28. See: www.healthscotland.com/documents/24485.aspx

29. See: www.gov.scot/scottishhealthsurvey

30. See: gss.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Comparability-Report-Final.pdf

31. Reid S. Chapter 3: Alcohol consumption. In Bromley C, Bradshaw P and Given L. [eds.] The 2008 Scottish Health Survey - Volume 1: Main Report. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. 2009. www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/09/28102003/31

32. For participants aged 16 and 17, details on alcohol consumption were collected as part of a special smoking and drinking self-completion questionnaire. Some 18 and 19 year olds also completed the self-completion if the interviewer felt it was appropriate. For all other adult participants, the information was collected as part of the face-to-face interview. The method of estimating consumption follows that originally developed for use in the General Household Survey and is also used in the Health Survey for England. For six types of alcoholic drink (normal strength beer/lager/cider/shandy, strong beer/lager/cider, spirits/liqueurs, fortified wines, wine, and alcoholic soft drinks), participants were asked about how often they had drunk each one in the past twelve months, and how much they had usually drunk on any one day. The amount given to the latter question was converted into units of alcohol, with a unit equal to half a pint of normal strength beer/lager/cider/alcoholic soft drink, a single measure of spirits, one glass of wine, or one small glass of fortified wine. A half pint of strong beer/lager/cider was equal to 1.5 units. The number of units was then multiplied by the frequency to give an estimate of weekly consumption of each type of drink. The frequency multipliers were:

Drinking frequency Multiplying factor
Almost every day 7.0
5 or 6 times a week 5.5
3 or 4 times a week 3.5
Once or twice a week 1.5
Once or twice a month 0.375
One every couple months 0.115
Once or twice a year 0.029

The separate consumption figures for each type of drink were rounded to two decimal places and then added together to give an overall weekly consumption figure. The results were then banded, using the same bands as the ones used in the 1995 Scottish Health Survey and in all years of the Health Survey for England. The bandings for men are as follows:
1 Under 1 unit (less than or equal to 0.50 units)
2 1-10 units (over 0.50 units, but less than or equal to 10.00 units)
3 Over 10-21 units (over 10.00 units, but less than or equal to 21.00 units)
4 Over 21-35 units (over 21.00 units, but less than or equal to 35.00 units)
5 Over 35-50 units (over 35.00 units, but less than or equal to 50.00 units)
6 Over 50 (over 50.00 units)
The bands for women were similar, but with breaks at 7, 14, 21 and 35 units, instead of 10, 21, 35 and 50.

33. Participants were first asked if they had drunk alcohol in the past seven days. If they had, they were asked on how many days and, if on more than one, whether they had drunk the same amount on each day or more on one day than others. If they had drunk more on one day than others, they were asked how much they drank on that day. If they had drunk the same on several days, they were asked how much they drank on the most recent of those days. If they had drunk on only one day, they were asked how much they had drunk on that day.

34. Gray, A. & Leyland, A. Chapter 3: Alcohol. In Rutherford L, Hinchliffe S and Sharp C [eds.] The Scottish Health Survey 2013 - Volume 1: Main Report. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. 2014. www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/12/9982/10

35. See for example the North West Public Health Observatory's Local Alcohol Profiles for England, which use these definitions - www.nwph.net/alcohol/lape/

Contact

Email: Julie Landsberg

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