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General health

  • Mnemonic reference

    HEALTH

  • Applicability

    Person

  • Type

    Primary variable

Definition

General health is a self-assessment of a person's general state of health. People were asked to assess whether their health was very good, good, fair, bad or very bad. This assessment is not based on a person's health based over any specified period of time.

Classification

Total number of categories 5

Code Name
1 Very good
2 Good
3 Fair
4 Bad
5 Very bad

Source question or variables

19: How is your health in general?

  • Very good
  • Good
  • Fair
  • Bad
  • Very bad

Reason for asking

On the basis that self-perceived poor health is a strong indicator of future use of the health service, analysis of this information aids government health resource allocation and service provision.

This information also helps to develop and monitor policy on the delivery of health care, the reduction of health inequalities and the assessment of progress towards improving the general health of the population.

In cognitive question testing done by Ipsos MORI Scotland, the main issue surrounding this question was that its subjective nature would lead to inconsistency of response. Respondents found it more difficult to answer than other questions, not because they had problems understanding the question, but because they had to weigh up their situation and make a decision, sometimes taking several factors into account. Regardless of this, we have concluded that the question works well and recommend that no changes should be made to it.

England & Wales (2011) and Scotland (2001) comparisons

The question in England & Wales (2011) is identical to the Scotland (2011) question.

In 2001 the question in Scotland had only 3 tick boxes compared to 5 in 2011. The question also referred to the 'last 12 months' unlike the 2011 question that did not refer to time.

  • Mnemonic reference

    HEAPUK

  • Applicability

    All people, UK.

Definition

This question asks for an assessment of each person's general health over the last year.

Classification

Total number of categories 3

Code Name
1 Good
2 Fairly good
3 Not good