Dataset

Health Interview Survey - 2023-2024

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.

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. The 7th HIS was conducted in 2023-2024. The HIS collects information on a wide range of health topics: physical and mental health, health determinants, use of health care and preventive services, perception of the physical and social environment, etc. Researchers, experts and the press use the results of the HIS.

Overview

Alternative Titles / Acronym
  • HIS
Keywords
Mental health Algemene bevolking General population Health and society Health care use Health determinants Health status Prevention Quality of life Population générale
Languages
ENG
Health Categories
Data on factors impacting on health, including socio-economic, environmental and behavioural determinants of health Data from research cohorts, questionnaires and surveys related to health, after the first publication of results
Population Coverage
A sample of the general population.
Personal Data Categories
Demographic
Purposes

  • The Health Interview Survey aims to collect information on population's health and healthcare need that is not available from other data sources. It is therefore explicitly intended as a tool to support public health policy. The added value of this survey lies in its horizontal approach to data collection: different types of information—including health status, lifestyle, healthcare utilisation, and socio-economic characteristics—are collected simultaneously from the same individuals. This makes it possible to obtain a comprehensive picture of the population's health and its priority healthcare needs. Repeating the survey at regular intervals also makes it possible to monitor changes over time in health, healthcare needs, and the impact of public health interventions.

Provenance
  • The 2023–2024 Belgian Health Interview Survey (HIS) was conducted on behalf of the Interministerial Conference “Health Systems”, as specified in the Protocol Agreement between the Federal Government and the authorities referred to in Articles 128, 130 and 135 of the Belgian Constitution concerning the organisation and financing of the 2023 Health Interview Survey, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 25 February 2022. The survey was organised by Sciensano, in collaboration with Statbel, which was responsible for data collection. Due to unforeseen circumstances—a shortage of interviewers and a declining willingness among selected households to participate—the data collection period was extended until the end of 2024. The HIS is characterised by its horizontal approach, simultaneously collecting information on health status, health determinants, healthcare use, and socio-economic and environmental characteristics. The survey targets all persons residing in Belgium, regardless of nationality, age, or legal status. Participants were selected from the National Register. The survey was conducted in a sample of Belgian municipalities and cities. Within each selected municipality, households were invited by a letter to participate. A trained interviewer visits the households home to conduct the interview(s). If a household consisted of four or fewer members, all members were included. In larger households, up to four members were selected, including the reference person and their partner. Households that declined to participate were replaced by similar households. All participants provided written informed consent in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The questionnaire of the HIS consists of three components: (1) a household questionnaire completed by the reference person or their partner; (2) a face-to-face interview with the selected household members; and (3) a self-administered questionnaire covering more sensitive topics, completed by participants aged 15 years or older. The face-to-face interview was conducted using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) software developed in Blaise©. In principle, all selected participants completed the interview themselves. However, in certain cases, another person was permitted to answer on behalf of the selected participant (a proxy interview). Proxy interviews were mandatory for all selected participants younger than 15 years. Proxy interviews were not permitted for the self-administered questionnaire.
Landing Pages
Documentation

Temporal Information

Dataset Issued
Temporal Coverage
Start
End
Temporal Resolution
P1Y
Update Frequency
QUINQUENNIAL
Metadata Dates
Issued:
Modified:

Spatial Information

Geographic Coverage
  • BE
NUTS Codes
http://data.europa.eu/nuts/code/BE

Additional Information

Dataset Types
Personal Data
Applicable Legislation
Legal Basis

  • On 25 February 2022, an agreement was concluded between the federal government and the authorities referred to in Articles 128, 130 and 135 of the Constitution regarding the organization and financing of the Health Interview Survey 2023. This agreement provides the possibility of making the survey data available for: 1) analyses conducted at the commissioners’ request, 2) municipal and provincial authorities, as well as federal, regional or community levels administrations that are not represented among the HIS commissioners or who have financed an over-sampling, 3) international public health or statistics organizations, 4) university research groups or groups associated with a university. All data access is free of charge. ​The data of the HIS 2023-2024, which also includes the data from previous editions, is subject to the general data protection regulations (GDPR), the Framework Act of 30 July 2018 and the Act of 5 September 2018 establishing the Information Security Committee.

    Source
HDAB
Contact Points
Conforms To
In Series
  • https://public-fdp.sciensano.be/dataset/1f0f8dff-0c59-4346-8e76-e9e5754c8d23
Structured Identifiers

Distributions & Resources

Belgian Health Data Agency

https://www.hda.belgium.be/en/data_request

Restricted en
Description

Data request via Belgian Health Data Agency

Publication Info
License cc-zero1.0
Technical Details
Compression http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/zip
Standards & Languages
Languages en
Conforms To
Distribution Profile
Direct Links
Access URL https://www.hda.belgium.be/en/data_request
HISIA: Belgian Health Interview Survey – Interactive Analysis

https://www.sciensano.be/en/projects/health-interview-survey/hisia

Restricted en
Description

All HIS results are available online via the interactive tool HISIA, which can be used to conduct your own analyses.

Publication Info
License cc-zero1.0
Standards & Languages
Languages en
Conforms To
Analytics Profile
Direct Links
Access URL https://www.sciensano.be/en/projects/health-interview-survey/hisia
Website 'Health Expectancies'

https://sciensano.shinyapps.io/HealthExpectancies/

Restricted en
Description

The website ‘Health Expectancies’(link is external) presents the Belgian data on health expectancies based on different health indicators from the HIS

Publication Info
License cc-zero1.0
Standards & Languages
Languages en
Conforms To
Analytics Profile
Direct Links
Access URL https://sciensano.shinyapps.io/HealthExpectancies/
Mental health
Algemene bevolking
general population
Health and society
Health care use
Health determinants
health status
Prevention