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    Overview
    Acronym
    HIS
    Type of information
    Survey/interview data
    Description

    A national Health Interview Survey (HIS) provides an overall picture of the health status of the population and allows to identify the main health problems, as well as the social and behavioral factors that influence them. This information enables health authorities to pursue a proactive health policy aimed at improving public health and addressing the needs of groups at risk. Researchers, experts and the press use the results of the HIS. 

    Sciensano organized a large-scale Health Interview Survey (HIS) among the Belgian population for the first time in 1997, and is repeated every 4 to 5 years since. Sciensano will organize the 7th HIS in 2023.

    The HIS collects information on a wide range of health topics: physical and mental health, lifestyle, use of health care and preventive services, perception of the physical and social environment, etc. Furthermore, the HIS has been part of the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) since 2013. This allows not only to study time trends in different health domains and in health inequalities, but also to compare the Belgian results with those of the other EU Member States.

    Free keywords
    household
    general population
    home visit
    lifestyle
    Topics
    Determinants of health;
    Health status
    Country(ies):
    GEO coverage
    Nuts 1
    Target Population
    General population
    Observations by Year
    Year Number of observations
    Sex
    Both
    Data Collection Period
    From 01 January 1997 - Ongoing
    Language(s)
    Dutch,
    English,
    French
    Personal Identifier
    Participant number
    Level of aggregation
    Individual
    Terms of data access

    The procedure for obtaining the HIS data is initially done by completing the electronic application form.
    ​There are 2 possibilities:

    1. If you only request variables that are included in the codebook of the anonymous database of the HIS 2018, the data transfer process will then be quite short and you only need to sign a data transfer agreement.
    2. If, on the other hand, your request requires a link to another database or concerns variables that are not included in this codebook (date of birth, detailed information on nationality or country of birth, detailed geographical data), you must submit an application to the Information Security Committee (ISC).
    Linkage possible
    Yes
    Data Owner(s)
    Sciensano
    Contact name
    HIS team Sciensano
    Contact e-mail
    his@sciensano.be
    Contact info (address)

    Sciensano
    Rue Juliette Wytsmanstraat 14
    1050 Brussels
    Belgium

    Updated on 21 August 2023