1. High level working group on statistical confidentiality
Proposal for granting access to European Health Interview Survey (EHIS)
Unit F5 ‘Health and food safety statistics’
23 October 2009
High level working group on statistical confidentiality

2. Structure of the presentation
European Health Interview Survey
Importance to access to microdata
Rules to anonymise EHIS data sets
Consultation among Member States
Conclusion
23 October 2009

3. European Health Interview Survey – EHIS (1)
Aim: measure health status, life style (health determinants) and health care services use of the EU residents
Topics answer to :
Policy driven needs (fulfil indicator sets requested by the Commission (e.g. ECHI, OMC))
Scientific purposes (research on specific population …)
General health pattern no detailed health aspects
Take on board comparability and harmonisation issues
Common EN questionnaire of about 130 questions
 Final version agreed with MS (2006 WG on PH Statistics)
Translation protocol, conceptual cards and guidelines for implementation, methodological guidelines
23 October 2009

4. European Health Interview Survey – EHIS (2)
Implementation phases
1st wave: (17 MS+CH+TR), gentlemen’s agreement
2nd wave by , under the new Regulation on Community statistics for health & health and safety at work
Regular five year collection thereafter; same year in all MS
Financial support for the 1st implementation
Translation in national languages
Fieldwork: interviewer training, IT development
Target population: 15+, household/individual survey
Composition of the questionnaire
23 October 2009

5. European Health Interview Survey – EHIS (3) Main subjects
Health determinants
Height and weight
Present and former smoking
Consumption of alcohol
Physical activity
Use of illicit drugs
Health care
Hospitalisation
Consultation with doctors/dentists
Use of medicines
Preventive actions
Long-term care
Health status
MEHM
Morbidity (list of conditions)
Limitation in daily activities
Background variables
Age
Gender
Educational level
Marital status
Activity level
Occupation
Income
23 October 2009

6. Importance to access to microdata
Community Statistical Programme (TITLE XIII - PUBLIC HEALTH): Further develop the health information system through actions on "health knowledge and information“
Specific studies: elderly, tobacco consumers
Assessment of EU/national plans
Launch of new prevention plans
 Importance to offer access to EHIS microdata sets
23 October 2009

7. Rules to anonymise EHIS data sets
Design anonymisation rules
Avoid to identify statistical units indirectly
Common set of rules to anonymise data (aggregation, delete cells…)
Proposed process:
1st draft of rules from previous social surveys (EU-SILC, LFS) and national experiences
Availability: Winter 2009
But health = sensitive topic
Need additional rules or more targeted reflections ?
Who: group of experts
23 October 2009

8. Consultation among the MS (1)
Presentation of the procedure to be followed
Include the EHIS in the list of data sets mentioned in the Regulation 831/2002
Design anonymisation rules
“should the EHIS be explicitly included in the Regulation (EC) 831/2002”
Principle agreement of the WG (November 2008)
BE,FR,MT,NO : explicit yes
PL,PT,FI : subject to the anonymised rules designed
23 October 2009

9. Consultation among the MS (2)
Presentation during the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality meeting (December 2008)
Issues raised:
Flexibility of the survey
 most of the questionnaire stable for wave II onwards (legal framework)
Sensitivity of the data related to health
 Taken on board during the anonymisation process
Differences in the situation in the MS as far as the implementation of the survey is concerned
23 October 2009

10. In conclusion
Importance to access microdata sets for scientific purposes
Principle agreement of MS during our WG meeting
Design of the rules to anonymise data sets
Ask for the principle agreement of the HLWGSC to include the EHIS (and not a particular wave) in the list of surveys covered by article 6 of regulation 831/2002
23 October 2009