Eurostat

Causes of Death data refer to the underlying cause which - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - is the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury"."

Non-expenditure health care data provide information on institutions providing health care in countries, on resources used and on output produced in the framework of health care provision. Data on health care form a major element of public health information as they describe the capacities available for different types of health care provision as well as potential 'bottlenecks' observed. The quantity and quality of health care services provided and the work sharing established between the different institutions are a subject of ongoing debate in all countries. Sustainability - continuously providing the necessary monetary and personal resources needed - and meeting the challenges of ageing societies are the primary perspectives used when analysing and using the data. The output-related data ('activities') refer to contacts between patients and the health care system, and to the treatment thereby received. Data are available for hospital discharges of in-patients and day cases, average length of stay of in-patients and medical procedures performed in hospitals. Annual national and regional data are provided in absolute numbers and in population-standardised rates (per 100 000 inhabitants). Wherever applicable, the definitions and classifications of the System of Health Accounts (SHA) are followed, e.g. International Classification for Health Accounts - Providers of health care (ICHA-HP). For hospital discharges, the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT) is used. Health care data on activities are largely based on administrative data sources in the countries. Therefore, they reflect the country-specific way of organising health care and may not always be completely comparable.

The indicator measures the standardised death rate of chronic diseases. Chronic diseases included in the indicator are malignant neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases and chronic liver diseases (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes C00 to C97, E10 to E14, I20 to I25, I60 to I69 and J40 to J47). Death due to chronic diseases is considered premature if it occurs before the age of 65. The rate is calculated by dividing the number of people under 65 dying due to a chronic disease by the total population under 65. Data on causes of death (COD) refer to the underlying cause which - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - is "the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury". COD data are derived from death certificates. The medical certification of death is an obligation in all Member States. The data are presented as standardised death rates, meaning they are adjusted to a standard age distribution in order to measure death rates independently of different age structures of populations. This approach improves comparability over time and between countries. The standardised death rates used here are calculated on the basis of the standard European population referring to the residents of the countries.

The domain "Income and living conditions" covers four topics: people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, income distribution and monetary poverty, living conditions and material deprivation, which are again structured into collections of indicators on specific topics. The collection "People at risk of poverty or social exclusion" houses main indicator on risk of poverty or social inclusion included in the Europe 2020 strategy as well as the intersections between sub-populations of all Europe 2020 indicators on poverty and social exclusion. The collection "Income distribution and monetary poverty" houses collections of indicators relating to poverty risk, poverty risk of working individuals as well as the distribution of income. The collection "Living conditions" hosts indicators relating to characteristics and living conditions of households, characteristics of the population according to different breakdowns, health and labour conditions, housing conditions as well as childcare related indicators. The collection "Material deprivation" covers indicators relating to economic strain, durables, housing deprivation and environment of the dwelling.

The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) aims at measuring on a harmonised basis and with a high degree of comparability among MS the health status, lifestyle (health determinants) and health care services use of the EU citizens. The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) was developed between 2003 and 2006, during a process in which all the EU Member States (MS) were largely involved. It consists of four modules on health status, health care, health determinants, and background variables. Those modules may be implemented at the national level either as one specific survey or as elements of existing surveys (i.e. national health interview survey, labour force survey, other household surveys). The final version of the questionnaire for the first wave of EHIS was adopted by the MS at the Working Group on Public Health Statistics in November 2006. The survey contained around 130 questions split among the four modules covering the following topics: Background variables on demography and socio-economic status Health status: Minimum European Health Module (MEHM): self-perceived health, chronic health problems and activity limitationDisease specific morbidityAccidents and injuriesWork-related health problemsHealth related absenteeism from workPhysical and sensory functional limitationsActivities of daily living (ADL - feeding, bathing, etc.) and help receivedInstrumental activities of daily living (IADL - preparing meals, shopping, etc.) and help receivedPainAspect of mental health (psychological distress and mental well-being) Health care: Hospitalisation (inpatient and day care)Consultations with doctors and dentistsUnmet needs for hospitalization and for consultation with a specialistVisits to specific non-medical health professionalsVisits to specific categories of alternative medicine practitionersUse of home care and home help servicesSatisfaction with services provided by health care providersUse of medicines (prescribed and non-prescribed)Health care preventive actions (influenza vaccination, breast examination, cervical smear test, blood tests, etc.)Out-of-pocket payments for medical care (self-completion form) Health determinants: Height and weightPhysical activityConsumption of fruits, vegetables and juiceEnvironnent (home and workplace exposures, criminality exposure, social support)Smoking behaviour and exposure to tobacco smoke (self-completion form)Alcohol consumption (self-completion form)Illicit drug use (self-completion form). The first wave of the EHIS was implemented during the period 2006-2009 under a gentlemen's agreement. Nineteen countries have carried out it: 2006: AT, EE2007: SI, CH2008: BE, BG, CZ, CY, FR, LV, MT, RO, TR2009: DE, EL, ES, HU, PL, SK. Germany provided aggregated data and for breakdowns with a strata size less than 20, the values were marked as confidential (flag ~c). No data have been received for Switzerland. In total, 26 indicators based on DG SANCO and DG EMPL needs and covering health status, health determinants and health care are disseminated on Eurostat website. For more information on indicators see document EHIS indicators guidelines.   The indicators present distribution percentages and are calculated with different breakdown according to the indicator: sex, age group (10-years intervals, 15 – 24, 25 – 34, …, 75 – 84, 85 or over) and educational attainment levels (ISCED0-2, ISCED3-4, ISCED5-6);sex, age group (18-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, 75 or over) and income quintiles. For example: 4.5 % of Latvian women aged 25-34 are obese (BMI is equal or greater than 30). Records with missing values on age and sex were excluded from the calculation of indicators.   Most of the indicators are worked out for the population aged 15 or over. Nevertheless, for some specific indicators, frequencies are calculated on different populations: the Body Mass Index (BMI) (tables hlth_ehis_de1 and hlth_ehis_de2) is calculated for adults only (18+);the self-reported prevalence of high blood pressure (table hlth_ehis_st1) is computed for people aged 25+;the self-reported vaccination against influenza (table hlth_ehis_hc1) is computed for people aged 65+;the self-reported breast examination by X-ray (table hlth_ehis_hc2) is computed for women aged 50-69;the self-reported cervical smear test (table hlth_ehis_hc3) is computed for women aged 20-69;the self-reported colorectal cancer screening test (table hlth_ehis_hc4) is computed for people aged 50-74.

Non-expenditure health care data provide information on institutions providing health care in countries, on resources used and on output produced in the framework of health care provision. Data on health care form a major element of public health information as they describe the capacities available for different types of health care provision as well as potential 'bottlenecks' observed. The quantity and quality of health care services provided and the work sharing established between the different institutions are a subject of ongoing debate in all countries. Sustainability - continuously providing the necessary monetary and personal resources needed - and meeting the challenges of ageing societies are the primary perspectives used when analysing and using the data. The output-related data ('activities') refer to contacts between patients and the health care system, and to the treatment thereby received. Data are available for hospital discharges of in-patients and day cases, average length of stay of in-patients and medical procedures performed in hospitals. Annual national and regional data are provided in absolute numbers and in population-standardised rates (per 100 000 inhabitants). Wherever applicable, the definitions and classifications of the System of Health Accounts (SHA) are followed, e.g. International Classification for Health Accounts - Providers of health care (ICHA-HP). For hospital discharges, the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT) is used. Health care data on activities are largely based on administrative data sources in the countries. Therefore, they reflect the country-specific way of organising health care and may not always be completely comparable.