Health and health care; personal characteristics, 2014-2021

Table explanation

Description topics

Self-perceived health: good or very good

Percentage of persons who answered ꞌgoodꞌ or ꞌvery goodꞌ to the question: ꞌHow do you assess your general state of health?ꞌ / ꞌHow does your child assess his, her general state of health?ꞌ. Parents or caretakers answer this question on behalf of children under the age of 12 years.

Poor mental health, 12 years or older

Percentage of persons of 12 years or older that scores less than 60 on the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) for adolescents from 12 years of age and grown-ups. The figures relate to the Mental Health Inventory 5 or ꞌMHI-5ꞌ. This is an international standard for a specific measuring of psychic health, consisting of 5 questions. MHI-5 is actually an extract of ꞌShort Format 36ꞌ (SF-36), an elaborate international standard for measuring health. MHI-5 deals with questions related to how one felt during the last 4 weeks. The following questions were asked:
1. Did you feel very nervous?
2. Were you so down in the dump that nothing could cheer you up?
3. Did you feel calm and quiet?
4. Did you feel depressed and down?
5. Were you happy?
Every question has the following 6 answer categories: all the time-most of the time-often-sometimes-rarely-never. The answer categories in positively worded questions of the MHI questionnaire (questions 3 and 5) have been consequently awarded the values 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0. The answer categories in negatively worded questions (questions 1, 2 ad 4) have been awarded the turned-down values. Next, per person the sum scores have been calculated and multiplied by 4, so that the minimum sum score of a person can be 0 (very unhealthy) and the maximum score 100 (perfectly healthy). A score of 60 or more means that a respondent can be qualified psychologically healthy and a score of less than 60 psychologically unhealthy.

Oral Health

Oral health, 15 years or older

Percentage of persons of 15 years or older who answered ‘good’ or ‘very good’ to the question: ‘How do you assess your general state of teeth and gum?’

Denture, 18 years or older

Percentage of people aged 18 or older with full or partial dentures in the upper and/or lower jaw.

Real teeth and molars, 18 years or older

Average number of real teeth in the upper and lower jaw of people aged 18 years or older.

Functional limitations

Functional limitations
Functional limitations (physical) are observed by means of 3 groups of questions:
a. The OECD indicator for persons in the age category of 12 years or older.
b. The ADL (Activities of Daily Living) indicator for persons in the age category of 55 years or older.
c. Temporary activity limitations and bed-days for persons of all ages.

Sleeping problems, 12 years or older

Percentage of persons aged 12 years or older that answered ‘somewhat’, ‘much’, ‘very much’ to the question: ‘How much were you bothered by sleeping problems in the last 2 weeks? Think about trouble falling asleep, trouble sleeping through the night, waking up too early.’.

SF-12 health measure, age 12 or older

The 'Short Format 12' or SF-12 questionnaire is a selection of 12 questions from the SF-36 (Ware et al., 1995 *). The SF-12 is a widely used international standard of a generic health measure. The SF-12 measures eight health aspects, namely physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health problems, physical pain, general health, vitality (energy / fatigue), social functioning, role limitations due to emotional problems and mental health. Based on the 12 questions, two partial scales can be calculated; a summary measure for physical health (norm score physical) and a summary measure for psychological health (norm score psychological).
These norm scores are calculated for people aged 12 or older.
*Ware J.E., Kosinski M., Keller S.D. SF-12: How to score the SF-12 Physical and Mental Health Summary Scales. Boston, MA: The Health Institute, New England Medical Center, Second Edition, 1995.

Norm score physical

Standard score physical is determined for persons 12 years of age or older. The standard score physical is a summary physical health measure, which is calculated by means of the answers to the SF-12 questionnaire. The American population was used as the reference group in the development of the norm scores. In 1995, the physical health score for the American population was exactly 50. Mean values below 50 indicate less good physical health than in that standard population (American population 1995) and values above 50 indicate better health. For the Dutch population, the average of the physical norm score is slightly higher than 50.

Norm score Psychological

Psychological norm score is determined for people aged 12 or older. The psychological norm score is a summary psychological health measure, which is calculated by means of the answers to the SF-12 questionnaire. The American population was used as the reference group in the development of the norm scores. In 1995, the psychological health score of the American population was exactly 50. Mean values below 50 indicate less good psychological health than in that standard population (American population 1995) and values above 50 indicate better health. For the Dutch population, the average of the psychological norm score is slightly higher than 50.

Separate items

General health

The following question was asked to respondents aged 12 or older: Overall, what do you think about your health?
1. Excellent
2. Very good
3. Good
4. Moderate
5. Bad
This question is asked in the health survey because it is an item of the SF-12. The question is used to calculate the norm score physically and psychologically. Elsewhere in this Statline table are figures on ‘perceived health; good or very good’. For those figures, use was made of another question with different answer options, namely: How is your health / the health of your child in general?
1. Very good
2. Good
3. OK
4. Bad
5. Very bad

Excellent

Percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ’excellent’ to the question ’Overall, how do you feel about your health?’

Very good

Percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘very good’ to the question ‘Overall, how do you feel about your health?’

Good

Percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘good’ to the question ’Overall, how do you feel about your health?’

Moderate

Percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘moderate’ to the question ‘Overall, how do you feel about your health?’

Bad

Percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ’bad’ to the question ’Overall, how do you feel about your health?’

Physical Health: less accomplished

The following question was asked to respondents aged 12 or older: When you think about your work or other daily activities, has your physical health helped you achieve less than you would like?
1.Yes
2. No.

Yes

The percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘When you think about your work or other daily activities, have you accomplished less than you would like because of your physical health?’

No

The percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘no’ to the question ‘When you think about your work or other daily activities, have you accomplished less than you would like because of your physical health?’

Physical Health: limited work

The following question was asked to respondents aged 12 or older:
When thinking about your work or other daily activities, were you limited by your physical health in the type of work or activities?
1.Yes
2. No.

Yes

The percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘When thinking about your work or other daily activities, were you limited by your physical health in the type of work or activities?’

No

The percentage of people aged 12 or older who answered ‘no’ to the question ‘When thinking about your work or other daily activities, were you limited by your physical health in the type of work or activities?’