The role of health interview surveys, health examination surveys and disability surveys for measuring the health dimension
The availability of representative population based health data is a prerequisite for identifying public health problems. Rather than basing their health policies on health determinants, most countries continue to rely on mortality figures and service based data due to the lack of data for many key health indicators. A National Health Information System (NHIS) integrates health data from various sources, such as vital registration, health care service utilisation and survey data. Postal questionnaire surveys and health/disability interview surveys (HIS/DIS) are an essential part of NHIS. They provide information e.g. on diseases and conditions not requiring contact to health care system, self rated health, opinions, experiences, and health behaviour. Health ex amination surveys (HES) are used to gather information on clinical measurements and diseases and medical conditions diagnosed by health care professionals. These kinds of surveys face problems related to sampling, inclusion/exclusion criteria, reporting bias and low response rates. Cultural differences in questioning and answering affect international comparisons. The advantage of HIS/DIS/HES is the combination of measured health status, self reported health determinants and socio economic conditions. This allows in depth analysis with personal level data to estimate distributions and inequalities between various sub populations.