Health, health care and insurance survey

Summary

Strengths: - data collected since 1988; - a rather large sample, even for the older ones, especially since some aspects of the questionnaire have been extended to all the members of selected households; - a comprehensive questionnaire regarding health-related issues and linkage with medico-administrative databases; - enhanced harmonization with European standards in 2012 and 2014. Weaknesses: - methodological changes since 1988 (questions deleted/added/modified, renewal of the sample in 2010, questions not asked to all of the household’s members before 2010...); - for each wave, data collection takes 1 year, and there is a delay of about 20 months before the data is available: data collected in 2012 will be available in the end of 2014. - At the moment, there is no English version of the database.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same

Data gathering method
Telephone
Self administered questionnaire

Access to data

Conditions of access
DVD/CD after agreement, online access soon.

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Anonymised household/individual data.

Formats available
SAS

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Data was collected on an annual basis from 1988 to 1997. Beginning in 1998, data has been collected every two years until 2006. The survey is undertaken in two waves (spring and fall). Until 1997, 25% of individuals were surveyed each year; since 1998, half of them are surveyed every two years. For each wave, about 8,000 households are surveyed, which is equal to approximately 22,000 people.

First year of collection
1988

Stratification if applicable

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
national

Age range
The sampling procedure is based on files gathered on workers and retired people aged 18 and older, but corresponding households include younger people who participate in the survey. In 2012, the sample size was 22,773 individuals, with 25% of them aged 55 and older.

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
Regarding health, performance and wellbeing, data collected allows for a quite detailed study (perceived health, quality of life, functional capacities regarding daily activities, but nothing specific concerning, for example, cognitive performances). The same is true for working conditions & satisfaction, and access to welfare services and social insurances. Only basic information is available regarding socioeconomic status (income, education, employment); social and material support and social network; social, civic and cultural engagement; and housing (surface area, number of rooms, owner/tenant). The housing topic was investigated in more detail in 2010. A few questions regarding transports use were asked in 2012.

Linkage

Standardisation
ISCED taxonomy used since 2012, ISCO taxonomy will be used in 2014. Many questions and scales are based on international standards (MOS SF36 for quality of life, Karasek’s questions for working conditions).

Possibility of linkage among databases
Data collected through telephone and self-administered questionnaires are linked with SNIIR-AM data (reimbursement data for visits to health professionals and prescribed drugs, long-term diseases, hospital discharge records…).

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable

Breaks
- Some questions/scales changed over time. - Until 2010, many questions were asked only to the individual selected in the administrative files used for sampling. Since 2010, most of the questions are still addressed to the head of the household but most of the questionnaire (including social support and working conditions & satisfaction) has been extended to all members of the household, The whole sample was renewed in 2010.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection

Governance

Contact information
Thierry Rochereau
IRDES (Institute for Research and information in health economics)
10 rue Vauvenargues
75018 Paris France Phone: (33) 1 53 93 43 32
Email: rochereau(at)irdes.fr
Url:

Timeliness, transparency
First results are published about 1 year after data collection.