Scottish Health Survey 2018: summary report

Summary

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) is commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates to provide reliable information on the health, and factors related to health, of people living in Scotland that cannot be obtained from other sources. The series aims to:

• estimate the occurrence of particular health conditions
• estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with health
• look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population
• monitor trends in the population's health over time
• make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets

Key findings from the 2018 survey are presented here alongside some trends. Further discussion of the findings and full documentation of the survey's methods and questionnaire can be found in the 2018 annual report available from the Scottish Health Survey website: www.gov.scot/scottishhealthsurvey. The report is accompanied by an extensive set of web tables for 2018 and updated trends for key measures.

Key indicators for NHS health boards and some local authorities (where the sample is large enough) are available in the new Scottish Health Survey App published on the Scottish Government SHeS website alongside this report.

Further breakdowns are also available for smoking, long-term conditions, general health and caring indicators from the Scottish Survey Core Questions, which ask harmonised questions across the three major Scottish Government household surveys, available here: www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/About/Surveys/SSCQ.