Telephone Health Survey - German Health Update

Summary

The GEDA surveys are a part of health monitoring by the Robert Koch Institute. The surveys cover basic health information at each assessment, which are complemented by specific policy-relevant topics (such as attitudes towards organ donation) that are changing. Therefore, one of the strengths of the GEDA surveys is that they enable the government to respond quickly and flexibly in the field of health policy because data is collected rapidly. The regular cross-sectional samples allow health trends to be analysed over time. Furthermore, the basic health module that is collected in each survey follows the European Health Survey, which allows for comparison in health trends with other European countries. Due to the large number of individuals taking part each year, the GEDA provides reliable and valuable data on health in Germany. As this survey is supposed to be representative for the residential population over the age of 18 in Germany, there is no specific focus on people aged 50 years and older, and the health questions do not cover all important aspects of health in old age. Because of the cross-sectional sampling, it is not possible to analyse individual health changes and underlying mechanisms. Another weakness of the GEDA survey is that they cannot be used for specific analysis focusing on foreigners or people with migration backgrounds as they are underrepresented in the survey.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Crosssection regular

Data gathering method
Telephone

Access to data

Conditions of access
Available for scientific, non-profit use

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
anonymised microdata

Formats available
SPSS, STATA

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Wave 1: Data for GesTel03 was collected in 2003 and had a sample size of 8,318. Wave 2: Data for GesTel04 was collected in 2004 and had a sample size of 7,341. Wave 3: Data for GesTel05 was collected in 2005 and had a sample size of 4,401. Wave 4: Data for GesTel06 was collected in 2006 and had a sample size of 5,600. Wave 5: Data for GEDA09 was collected in 2009 and had a sample size of 21,262. Wave 6: Data for GEDA10 was collected in 2010 and had a sample size of 22,050. Wave 7: Data for GEDA12 was collected in 2012 and had a sample size of approximately 26,000.

First year of collection
2003

Stratification if applicable
none

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
national, regions

Age range
18+ (depending on cross-sectional sample, e.g. GEDA10 18-99 years)

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
In addition to a regular module, each cross-sectional survey addresses specific policy-relevant topics which change for each assessment. The surveys regularly cover: subjective health, health-related behaviour, e.g. physical exercise, diet, alcohol consumption, smoking, chronic diseases, injuries, health consequences and disabilities, health-related support and stress, mental health, socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, occupational status, migration background. The selection of the regular health module follows the European Health Survey (EHS). As specific topics, gastrointestinal diseases, organ donation and the extent to which interviewees make use of healthcare services were assessed in GEDA09. GEDA10 asked questions about injuries and the use of cancer screening. Measles and measles vaccination, care of family members and noise pollution were assessed in GEDA12. The public use file includes around 400 variables for the GEDA09 and GEDA10, the public use file for the GSTel03 includes 199 variables. The GSTel03, GSTel04, GSTel05, GSTel06 included more survey-specific questions, but included some basic information, which is comparable to the GEDA surveys since 2009.

Linkage

Standardisation
Majority of instruments are standardised questions, scales, test and measurements. The measuring standards of the Robert Koch Institute comply with European and international recommendations.

Possibility of linkage among databases
No

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Raw data is cleaned by project organisers and checked for inconsistencies.

Breaks
The GSTel and the GEDA are both telephone surveys, but they are different projects. The GEDA surveys serve the same purpose as the GSTel surveys (2003-2006). However, they are planned differently and are more comprehensive than the telephone surveys between 2003 and 2006. Financing is already granted for the GEDA14. It is planned that a multi-modal assessment in the upcoming surveys will be used (combination of telephone and internet questionnaires). There are no public use files available for the GSTel04, GSTel05, GSTel06.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Although they strived for consistency, there are some differences between GSTel and GEDA.

Governance

Contact information
Cornelia Lange
Robert Koch-Institut; Fachgebiet 21 - Epidemiologisches Datenzentrum, Biometrie
Postfach 650261
13302 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 (0)30- 18107543326
Email: geda(at)rki.de
Url: http://www.rki.de/EN/Content/Health_Monitoring/HealthSurveys/Geda/Geda_node.html

Timeliness, transparency
The file for scientific use is available about 2 to 3 years after data collection.