Scottish Health Survey 2019: 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 2019, 4,903 adults and 1,978 children took partin the survey.

• 4,903 Adults
• 1,978 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 complete 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 2019 survey were:

• general health, CVD and
• diabetes
• mental wellbeing
• dental health
• alcohol
• smoking
• diet and obesity
• physical activity
• adverse childhood
• experiences