Healthy Ireland Survey
Department of Health.
2014
In scope: The purpose of the Healthy Ireland Survey is to provide data on the health of the nation across a range of health behaviours and attitudes, and to monitor progress against key national policy targets. The Survey collates data on a range of health behaviours including, but not limited to, smoking, alcohol use, diet and nutrition, health service utilisation, and physical activity. The Survey was conducted by personal interview (CAPI) from 2015-2019; as a result of infection control considerations in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has switched to phone (CATI) for 2021.
Out of scope: Matters unrelated to health, administrative healthcare records.
National, annual.
CAPI (2015-2019): Data collection begins towards the end of September and continues until June/July of the following year.
CATI (2021): Data collection commences in October and continues to March/April of the following year.
Note: the 2020 Survey was cancelled in March 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and infection risks associated with personal interview.
The Healthy Ireland Survey is an annual survey of a representative sample of the population (aged 15 and over) living in Ireland.
Until 2020, the Survey involved in-home, face-to-face interviews (Computer Aided Personal Interview; CAPI) with a sample of approximately 7,400 individuals, representative of the Irish population aged 15 and over. However, in light of continuing Covid 19 restrictions and the infection risk posed by in-person visits to private homes, the Survey has moved to computer aided telephone interviewing (CATI), which does not incur infection risk.
The Survey collates data on a range of health behaviours including, but not limited to, smoking, alcohol use, diet and nutrition, health service usage, mental health and physical activity.
Survey data is used to inform current and future policy direction and programme development and implementation and is used by policy makers both in the Department of Health, other Government Departments and the wider health service. Results are also shared publicly for research purposes; the data from the Survey is deposited with the Irish Social Science Data Archive for use by researchers. Researchers in good standing can also contact the Department individually and enter into legal agreements for access to more detailed RMF files. The potential use of the data for research purposes is conveyed to respondents as part of the consent process. Finally, Survey data provides essential information regarding international data reporting requirements; relevant data are shared with the CSO, Eurostat and OECD as required.
Link to HI Survey Reports: https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/706608-healthy-ireland-policies/#the-healthy-ireland-survey
The topics covered include general health, health service utilisation and key lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet, mental health and wellbeing, sexual health and, latterly, the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic (HI Survey 2021) in order to monitor the key trends and policy impacts in those areas. It also offers flexibility for the substitution of further modules to meet particular policy needs, including cross-sectoral /health determinant ‘health in all policies’ issues and new international reporting requirements.
Yes, https://www.ucd.ie/issda/data/healthyireland/
Eircodes and addresses are requested on a voluntary basis (CATI) - if the preference of the respondent is not to share this information, or they are not aware of their Eircode, country level location information is sampled. Under previous CAPI methodology, addresses were sampled via Geodirectory (further details in the 2015-2019 Reports)
Yes. These are:
- Place of residence (county at minimum) (address under CAPI)
- Age
- Gender
- Marital Status
- Medical/GP card ownership
- Use of Private Health Insurance Level of Education
- Employment Status
- Details of Employment
- Ethnic background/Race
- Country of Birth
- Details of children, if any
- Carer responsibilities, if any.
The Survey is conducted on an annual basis. Until 2020, the Survey involved in-home, face-to-face interviews (Computer Aided Personal Interview; CAPI) with a sample of approximately 7,400 individuals, representative of the Irish population aged 15 and over. However, in light of continuing Covid 19 restrictions and the infection risk posed by in-person visits to private homes, the Survey has moved to computer aided telephone interviewing (CATI), which does not incur infection risk.
The recording of height, weight and waist circumference is an optional element of the survey. Respondents aged 17 and over have been asked to complete a self-completion questionnaire on issues relating to sexual health.
In 2021, a voluntary module on suicide awareness was completed online by 31% of respondents.
Respondents are asked to identify any chronic conditions they have been diagnosed with. However, clinical coding schemes/methods are not applied.
7,500 records created on average annually.
Summary reports are published annually after each wave of data collection. The 2020 Survey, which was conducted by CAPI, could not be completed as a result of necessary Covid-19 restrictions.
An Anonymised Microdata File (AMF) for each wave is deposited in the Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA) and is available for research and teaching purposes subject to the ISSDA End User Licence Agreement.
https://www.ucd.ie/issda/#:~:text=3%20Simple%20Steps%20to%20Apply,signed%20consent%20form%20by%20email
Information and forms for applications for access to the Researcher Microdata File (RMF), through DoH directly, can be found at:
https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/231c02-healthy-ireland-survey-wave/
No.