Publication
Health Education Population Survey (HEPS) 1996-2003
Appendix 1: Questions analysed in overview
Instructions to interviewers and question routings are shown in UPPER CASE BOLD. The questions are shown in the order they appear in the interview.
Self-perceived health
How good is your health overall?
- Very good
- Good
- Fair
- Poor
- Very poor
- Don’t know
Do you have any long-standing illness‚ disability‚ or infirmity? By long standing I mean anything that has troubled you‚ or that is likely to affect you OVER A PERIOD OF TIME.
- Yes
- No
- Don’t know
Do you feel there is anything you can do to make your own life healthier?
- Yes
- No
- Don’t know
Main cause of death and perceptions of risk and preventability
I’d like to ask you now about some different diseases. First of all‚ I’d like you to tell me what you think is the main cause of death for people in Scotland today?
DO NOT PROMPT. CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY IF SAY OLD AGE‚ ASK FOR MAIN DISEASE OR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR.
Here’s a set of cards‚ describing different types of illness. I’d like you to look through them and pick out those you think might be a possible risk to your own health – either now‚ or later in life. Just read out the numbers on the card.
Could you please look at all the cards again and pick out those diseases for which you think people can do something to reduce the risk of getting them.
- AIDS/HIV
- Breast cancer
- Bowel cancer
- Coronary heart disease
- Lung cancer
- Mental illness (including depression and mental health problems)
- Skin cancer
- Stroke
Risk factors for coronary heart disease
These cards show some of the things people might do to reduce the risk of heart disease. Please sort them onto this board to show how important you think each of them is in reducing the risk of heart disease. You can put as many or as few cards in each section as you like.
(Scale is very important/fairly important/not very important)
- Take regular exercise
- Limit amount of salt eaten
- Eat a healthy balance of different types of food
- Control weight
- Give up/cut down on smoking
- Avoid other people’s smoking
- Stop drinking/limit amount of alcohol drunk
- Reduce level of stress/pressure
- Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
- Limit amount of tea or coffee drunk
- Avoid foods with additives
- Have regular checks on blood pressure
- Have regular checks on cholesterol levels
- Have regular chest x-rays
Motivation to change
In the past year‚ have you tried to make any of the following changes in your lifestyle to improve your health‚ even if only for a short time? Just read out the numbers. SHOW CARD
Which of the changes on the card‚ if any‚ would you like to make?
Which of the changes you would like to make are you thinking of making in the next six months?
- Cut down or stop smoking
- Cut down the amount of alcohol I drink
- Increase the amount of exercise I take
- Control weight
- Eat more healthily
- Reduce level of stress
Healthy eating behaviour and knowledge
I’m going to read out some different types of food. For each one‚ please tell me how frequently you eat each type of food. SHOW CARD
(Scale is several times a day/about once a day/several times a week/about once a week/less often/never)
- Fruit‚ salad and vegetables – not including potatoes
Thinking just about yesterday can you tell me how many portions of fruit – fresh‚ frozen or tinned – you ate? And still thinking about yesterday‚ how many portions of salad and vegetables – fresh‚ frozen or tinned‚ but not including potatoes – you ate?
How many portions in total of fruit‚ vegetables and salad do you think people should eat each day for a healthy balance of foods?
Breastfeeding
The following statements are things some people have said about breastfeeding. Please could you tell me how much you agree or disagree with each one?
REMINDER OF QUESTION: HOW MUCH DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT?
(Scale is strongly agree/tend to agree/tend to disagree/strongly disagree)
- Women should be made to feel comfortable breastfeeding their babies in public
- Women should only breastfeed their babies at home or in private
- I would feel embarrassed seeing a woman breastfeeding her baby
Physical activity behaviour and knowledge
In an average day‚ how much time do you spend walking out of doors? Do not include leisure time walking such as hillwalking rambling or golf.
IF NECESSARY‚ CLARIFY WE ARE THINKING ABOUT THE CURRENT TIME / IN THE LAST MONTH OR SO
I would like you to think back to a typical week and tell me about any physical activity you have done‚ not including day-to-day walking. In a typical week‚ which‚ if any‚ of the following physical activities have you done to the point where you were breathing faster than usual through physical exertion?
SHOW CARD
- Cycling
- Exercise e.g.‚ keep fit‚ aerobics‚ weight training etc.
- Swimming
- Running/jogging
- Sports e.g.‚ football‚ tennis etc.
- Leisure time walking e.g.‚ hillwalking‚ golf‚ rambling
- Dancing
- Heavy gardening
- Heavy work around the home‚ e.g. housework‚ DIY
- Heavy manual work as part of your job
ASK FOR EACH ACTIVITY MENTIONED
How many times in the week do you usually do this activity?
Do you usually put in enough effort to make you sweaty and out of breath?
How long on average do you do this activity on each occasion?
I would now like you to think about moderate physical activity‚ that is brisk walking or heavy gardening etc. How much time per day do you think somebody needs to engage in moderate physical activity to help them to stay healthy?
Alcohol consumption
IF DRINKER AND HAD ALCOHOL IN LAST 7 DAYS
In the last 7 days‚ how many did you drink of each of the following?
READ OUT
- Pints of normal strength beer‚ lager or cider
- Pints of extra strong beer‚ lager or cider
- Glasses of martini/sherry/port
- Single measures of spirits/liqueur such as whisky‚ gin‚ vodka etc.
- Glasses of wine
Have you drunk any other alcoholic drinks in the last 7 days which do not fit into any of these categories‚ such as designer drinks or alcoholic lemonade?
IF YES
What did you drink? How many glasses/cans or bottles did you drink?
RECORD DETAILS OF QUANTITY
- Castaway
- Red/Reef/Metz/Hoopers Hooch
- Vodka Source/Bacardi Breezer/Rigo
- Red Square/Smirnoff Ice/Mule
- MD 20/20
- Buckfast
- Something else WRITE IN
As you know‚ some drinks contain more alcohol than others. The amount is sometimes measured in terms of ‘units of alcohol’. Have you heard about measuring alcohol in units?
IF HEARD OF UNITS
How many units of alcohol do you think is the current recommended weekly limit for men?
How many units of alcohol do you think is the current recommended weekly limit for women?
One unit of alcohol is half a pint of normal strength beer‚ a glass of wine‚ a single measure of spirits or a small glass of sherry.
SHOWCARD 2
How many times did you drink 16/10 units or more ON ONE OCCASION during the LAST MONTH? JUST READ OUT THE LETTER.
IF NECESSARY‚ ADD: 16/10 units is 8/5 pints of normal strength beer or lager or 16/10 measures of spirits or glasses of wine.
C. None
F. Once
B. Two or three times
G. Four or five times
A. Six to ten times
H. Eleven to fifteen times
D. Sixteen to twenty times
E. More than twenty times
Smoking behaviour
Do you smoke cigarettes nowadays – including roll-ups‚ even if only occasionally?
IF YES PROMPT Is that regularly or occasionally?
- Yes‚ regularly
- Yes‚ occasionally
- No
IF SMOKE
About how many cigarettes do you usually smoke on a WEEKDAY?
And at WEEKENDS about how many cigarettes do you usually smoke A DAY?
Oral health
When did you last visit a dentist? SHOW CARD
- In the past 6 months
- In the past 12 months
- In the past 2 years
- More than 2 years ago
How often have you visited a dentist for a routine check-up over the past 2 years? SHOW CARD
- Have not visited dentist at all‚ in the last two years
- Have visited but not for a routine check-up
- Once only
- Twice
- 3 times
- 4 times or more
Are you planning on visiting a dentist for a routine check-up in the next 6 months?
Mental health (stress)
Which of these statements best describes the amount of stress or pressure you have experienced in the past year?
- Completely free of stress
- Small amount of stress
- Moderate amount of stress
- Large amount of stress
- Don’t know
How harmful would you say the amount of stress you have experienced has been to your health? Has it been …
- Very harmful
- Fairly harmful
- Not particularly harmful
- Don’t know
Mental health (self completion)
Here are some questions regarding the way you have been feeling over the past few weeks. For each of the questions please select the number next to the answer that best suits the way you have felt.
(Scale for positive attributes is more than usual/same as usual/less than usual/much less than usual‚ less and much less responses score 1; scale for negative attributes is not at all/no more than usual/rather more than usual/ much more than usual‚ rather more and much more responses score 1)
Have you recently
- Been able to concentrate on what you are doing?
- Lost much sleep over worry?
- Felt that you were playing a useful part in things?
- Felt capable of making decisions about things?
- Felt constantly under strain?
- Felt you couldn’t overcome your difficulties?
- Been able to enjoy your normal day-to-day activities?
- Been able to face up to your problems?
- Been feeling unhappy and depressed?
- Been losing confidence in yourself?
- Been thinking of yourself as worthless?
- Been reasonably happy‚ all things considered?
Sexual health (self completion)
Do you feel you have adequate knowledge or information about the following topics‚ or would you like to know more? Please tick one box on each line.
(Scale is know enough/want more information/don’t know)
- Ways in which HIV (the AIDS virus) can be passed on
- Contraception/birth control
- Emergency (‘morning after’) contraception
- How to have a satisfying sex life
- Recognising symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases
- Abortion
- Having a blood test for HIV
- How to use a condom
- Safer sex
Have you changed your own sexual lifestyle in any way‚ or made any decisions about sex‚ because of concern about catching HIV (the AIDS virus)?
- Yes
- No
- My sexual lifestyle has changed‚ but not because of AIDS
- Don’t know
The following are a number of things people have said about condoms and HIV (the AIDS virus). Please tick in a box for each line to show how much you agree or disagree with each one.
(Scale is strongly agree/tend to agree/tend to disagree/strongly disagree/not applicable)
If I wanted to have sexual intercourse with a new partner‚ I would stop if we had no condoms
Drugs (self completion)
Have you EVER taken any of these‚ even if it was a long time ago? And have you taken any in the last 12 months? Please tick one box on each line.
- Amphetamines (speed‚ whizz‚ uppers)
- Cannabis (marijuana‚ grass‚ hash‚ ganja‚ blow‚ dope)
- Cocaine/coke
- Crack/rock
- Ecstasy (‘E’)
- Heroin (smack‚ skag‚ ‘H’)
- LSD/acid
- Magic mushrooms
- Methadone/Physeptone
- Semeron
- Tranquillisers (temazepam‚ jellies‚ valium)
- Amyl nitrite (poppers)
- Anabolic steroids (steroids)
- Glues‚ gas or aerosols (to sniff‚ inhale etc.)
- Other
- None of these