1. Health Survey for England Jenny Harris j.harris@natcen.ac.uk

2. HSE 2005 Health of Older People Joint Health Surveys Unit (JHSU) of NatCen and Dept. Epidemiology and Public Health at Royal Free and University Medical School Carried out on behalf of the Information Centre for Health and Social Care

3. HSE 2005 Health of Older People Sample Full-sized general population sample, child boost plus boost sample sample of older adults (aged 65 and over) Core sample: 7,630 adults aged 16 and over and 1,852 children Boost sample: 1,142 children aged 2-15 and sample of 2,673 older adults Total 4402 adults aged 65 and over 71% household RR (core), 74% household RR (boost) 89% RR among adults in co-operative HH 97% RR among older adults in co-operative HH

4. HSE 2005 Health of Older People Interview and nurse visit for older people: Core interview topics General health, alcohol consumption, smoking, fruit, vegetables, height and weight Additional topics Use of health services, dental and social care services, CVD, chronic diseases, quality of care, disabilities and falls Nurse visit BP, waist-hip circumference, demi-span and tests of physical function, blood and urine

5. Five volumes The health of older people: 1. General health and function 2. Chronic diseases 3. Social capital and health 4. Mental health and wellbeing 5. Methodology and documentation

6. Key findings Many people aged 65 and over lead healthy and active lives, but others face severe health challenges as they get older Inequalities in health Nearly 2 in 3 adults aged 65 and over suffer from high blood pressure Roughly 1 in 4 is obese Over a quarter of women and more than a fifth of men have symptoms of depression

7. Health and disability More than half say their health is good or very good 71 % have a longstanding illness 42% of men and 46% of women said this limited their activities Around 2 in 5 had at least one functional limitation (sight, hearing, communicating, walking, using stairs)

8. Mobility problems

9. Upper body strength

10. Walking impairment

11. Falls

12. High blood pressure Around 2 in 3 had high blood pressure (nurse visit) 3 in 5 are receiving treatment for hypertension; – Of these, only 1 in 2 were on adequately controlling their blood pressure Varied by income (lowest income = highest prevalence)

13. Cardiovascular disease

14. Arthritis

15. Overweight and obesity

16. Mental illness Identification and treatment Mental illness in old age is common but often not recognised Even when recognised often does not receive adequate or appropriate management Prevalence 4% of men and 7% of women aged 65 + reported emotional, nervous or psychiatric problems (doctor diagnosed) 28% of women and 22% of men had high Geriatric Depression Scores

17. Geriatric Depression Score

18. HSE 2005 report Published mid March 2007 on the Information Centre website- hard copies now available www.ic.nhs.uk Trend tables published in December 2006

19. HSE 2006 Full size sample (general population and child boost) Fieldwork is complete Data editing and weighting Report published December 2007 Cardiovascular disease – doctor diagnosed & undiagnosed Children – obesity and other risk factors

20. HSE 2007 Half-size sample, and child boost sample Currently in-field Focus on: childrens health and lifestyles (obesity) knowledge and attitudes (adults and children aged 11+) monitoring the effect of smoke free legislation …reporting 2008 on childrens health and on

21. HSE 2008 Physical Activity Focus of 2008 likely to be physical activity Currently in the development stage Physical activity = complex to measure HSE already contains a module of questions on physical activity

22. HSE physical activity development work Three aspects of the development work: Cognitive Pilot Validation Study Step test

23. Cognitive pilot This stage of the development is complete Tested 2 separate physical activity questionnaires: Adult (16+) Children

24. Validation Study Validating the revised questions against OBJECTIVE measure of physical activity… THE ACTIGRAPH Physical activity monitor worn on a belt Like a pedometer We are asking respondents to wear it: For two 7-day periods (adults) For one 7-day period (children) A feasibility study for mainstage HSE

25. The step test Fitness is an independent health risk factor - should we be collecting data on this as well as obesity and physical activity? Feasibility study Measure fitness using a step test

26. And finally… use of HSE data Some current data requests: Use of stored bloods in further research Mortality Data

27. Thank you Questions?