About The Norwegian Public Health Survey
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The Norwegian Public Health Survey is a survey conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). NIPH carries out this survey to improve knowledge about the population’s health, lifestyle habits, and other factors that may influence health.
The information collected through the questionnaire is used to develop better public health policies, support public health efforts at both regional and national levels, and contribute to new knowledge through research.
How Participants Are Selected
Approximately 100,000 individuals from across the country are randomly selected from the National Population Register. Invitations to participate are sent via SMS. To retrieve contact information, we use the Contact and Reservation Register managed by the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency.
The questionnaire is available in multiple languages and is published here: Questionnaires for the Norwegian Public Health Survey.
Topics Covered in the Questionnaire
The questions focus on health, lifestyle habits, and other factors that are relevant to public health. This includes, among other things:
- Health-related behaviours and habits: Physical activity, diet, use of tobacco and alcohol
- Health status: General health, illness, sleep, and mental health issues
- Childhood and living conditions, including marital status, financial circumstances, and factors related to work, education, and social support
Purpose of the Norwegian Public Health Survey?
The main objective of the Norwegian Public Health Survey is to provide a better overview of the population’s health status and the factors that influence public health.
Here are some of the survey’s key contributions:
- National and regional representative data: The survey collects information on health, well-being, and lifestyle habits from a broad sample of the population.
- Improved knowledge about public health: It provides insight into aspects not captured by national health registries, such as pain, smoking habits, diet, and mental health.
- Support for public health efforts: The results are used by counties and national authorities to design and evaluate public health initiatives.
- Basis for research: The data can be used to study relationships between social factors and health, such as income, education, diet, and lifestyle.
- Public Health Report: The data contributes to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s work on the national public health report.
- Public Health Profiles: The data may be used by the Norwegian Directorate of Health to develop public health profiles for municipalities and counties.
- International comparisons: High-quality national data makes it possible to compare Norway with other countries and monitor developments over time.
Use of Survey Responses
When a participant consents to participate in the study, their responses may be shared with research projects, county authorities, or similar entities. The responses may be linked to information from various registers, such as health registries, Statistics Norway (SSB), other health surveys, and more. This helps improve knowledge about health and lifestyle habits in the population.
Participants may be contacted again in the future to take part in new studies, such as follow-up surveys or other types of data collection for research purposes. Participation in these is entirely voluntary.
Publication and Use of Results
The results from the survey are summarised in reports and other publications and are intended to support public health efforts. They will contribute to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s work on the national public health report, as well as to the Norwegian Directorate of Health’s development of public health profiles for municipalities and counties across the country.
The results may also be used in research, for example to study how income, education, and other social factors affect health, or to examine connections between diet, lifestyle, and various health conditions and diseases.
The results from the survey will be published on an ongoing basis, and an overview of publications and any related research projects will be available on the study’s website.
Privacy
The information collected through the questionnaire is processed in accordance with privacy regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Regulation on Population-Based Health Surveys.
This means, for example, that when researchers or others apply for access to participant responses, this is done without names or personal identification numbers.
It will not be possible to identify individuals in any publications, statistics, or research based on the study.
If you wish to read more about privacy in the Norwegian Public Health Survey, you can visit the following website: