Health interview surveys. Towards international harmonization of methods and instruments.

Abstract

With the strategy for health for all and its 38 targets, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has created a common health policy for Europe, and has developed internationally agreed indicators for measuring progress towards the attainment of the targets. Some of these indicators are "classical" health indicators, such as mortality rates and the incidence of notifiable diseases, while others reflect more recent public health concerns such as health-related behaviour and quality of life. For the latter group, gathering the information necessary for monitoring and evaluating progress is somewhat haphazard. Health interview surveys provide the best -- in some cases the only -- means of collecting data on many of these indicators, since they mirror the information that only properly approached individuals may be able to provide and ensure that all subgroups of the population are covered. Yet such surveys have enjoyed a long tradition only in a few countries. Moreover, when these indicators are covered, the results are often not comparable. The methods and instruments used to collect data have often been developed without international coordination or adapted from those used in other countries, usually with substantial modification to suit what are perceived to be local requirements. There has also tended to be considerable uncertainty among those countries lacking a tradition of health interviewing as to the best way of conducting surveys. Against this background, the WHO Regional Office and Statistics Netherlands organized a series of consultations, which have resulted in the internationally agreed methods and instruments for health interview surveys set out in this book. These methods and instruments are likely in the longer term to become standards, thus improving comparability of information. This book provides practical guidance on methods for health interview surveys. It is thus essential reading for all concerned in the planning and carrying out of such surveys, whether in national statistical offices or in public or private interviewing agencies. It will also be useful to all in the public health community, including students and academics.