Scottish Health Survey 2018: summary report

About the Survey

The sample

SHeS has been designed to provide data on the health of adults (aged 16 and over) and children (aged 0-15) living in private households in Scotland annually. It provides data for NHS Health Boards by combining data over four years. In 2018, 4,810 adults and 1,983 children took part in the survey.

• 4,810 Adults
• 1,983 Children

The interview

The principal focus of the survey is cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related risk factors. Some questions and topics are asked annually while others vary from year to year. In addition to the questionnaire, height and weight measurements are collected from everyone aged 2 and over. Each year a sub-sample of adults also completes a biological module which includes blood pressure and waist circumference measurements along with saliva sample collection. Participants are also asked for permission to link survey responses to their administrative NHS health records. Key topics included in the 2018 survey were:

• mental health and wellbeing
• general health, cardiovascular conditions and caring
• alcohol
• smoking
• diet
• physical activity
• obesity
• respiratory