Annex 1: Inventory of indicators from surveys and registries

at large. The introduction of social capital can support the development of new theoretical
frameworks for understanding health and health-related behaviours within a broader social
environment. By including this concept, the new version of the HEMS questionnaire can
therefore contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between health behaviour
and social environment (Rainford et al., 2000).
Sweden: Swedish National Survey of Living Conditions
The Swedish Survey of Living Conditions (Undersökningen av Levnadsförhällanden, ULF) has
been carried out annually since 1975 by the Department of Welfare and Social Statistics of
Statistics Sweden. This nation-wide survey, which involves a sample of 16-84 year olds,
provides information on a broad range of indicators, and is linked to several other databases,
including the causes of death registry. It provides public debate and social planning with
information about the current situation and trends in living conditions in Sweden.
The components of the survey are grouped into four main themes. The data collection period
for each of these themes comprises a period of two years, thus forming a series of integrated
surveys. Each component is given a broader and deeper illumination every 7 to 8 years.
These components are first of all health and public care, with measures of long-term illness,
functional disorder, outpatient care, health status, use of medicines, smoking and dietary
behaviour and dental care. The second component is working life, and inquires into the type of
occupation, experience of unemployment, working hours, working environment (dirty work,
noise, heavy lifting, mentally strenuous) and industrial safety. The third component focuses on
physical environment, providing information on housing (type of dwelling and tenure space,
equipment and facilities) and experience with physical violence, theft or damage of personal
property and traffic accidents. The fourth component concerns social relations, and contains
items on contacts with family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, social support, leisure
activities spent together with others, and participation in various associations. In addition,
background information is assessed about the socio-economic situation, including educational
level, participation in courses, individual and household income and material standard of living.
The combined information about these topics provides a comprehensive picture of the health
of people in Sweden.
The ULF interviews are supplemented by data from various records and registries, which can
be linked on a one-to-one basis to the respondents of the survey due to the unique
identification number attributed to the inhabitants of Sweden (and the other Scandinavian
countries). This option significantly increases the usefulness of the data source. Registries that
can be linked to the ULF include the Swedish Causes of Death Register, fertility, marriage and
criminality records and data on income, pension, taxation, housing allowance, social
assistance and scholarship. Several of these records are based on the entire population. As
such, the ULF and registries with which it is connected constitute a large database providing
the opportunity to describe the Swedish population in greater depth and from various
perspectives.
In 1996, the survey interview and sampling technique of the ULF was used to investigate
perceived health and the use of health services in a sample of ethnic minorities living in
Sweden. This survey was called the Immigrant Survey of Living Conditions. The study groups
were Swedish residents born in Chile, Turkey, Poland (n=840 each) and Iran (n=420) who had
settled in Sweden at age of 20 to 44 years between 1980 and 1989 and who according to the
Swedish Register of the Total Population (RTP) were still residing in Sweden in 1996. These
subjects were compared against a sample of Swedish-born adults surveyed by the ULF in
1996. For the purpose of the study, use of health services was operationalised by
consultations with a physician, unmet needs for consultation, and confidence in Swedish
health services (Hjern, Haglund, Persson & Rosén, 2001). This application of the ULF
Report on the role of Health Promotion in Tackling Inequalities in Health
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