The Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (NCPHS)

Abstract Effective public health initiatives should be based upon a thorough understanding of important health-related factors. The purpose of The Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (NCPHS) is to gain insights from the adult population on topics relevant for planning of public health policy, interventions, and action at the county and municipality levels. The survey includes a core questionnaire on public health-related topics such as health behaviour, subjective quality of life, distress, subjective health, social support, social capital, community contexts, and demographics, including indicators of socio-economy, with additional optional questions and scales varying across data collections. Samples are drawn from the Norwegian National Population Register. NCPHS was piloted in three counties in 2015 and in one county in 2018. After some revision of instruments and sampling procedures, surveys have been carried out in most Norwegian counties since 2019. The total number of participants has now passed 400 000. Expedient data analysis and reporting has enabled the Norwegian Institute of Public Health to present comprehensive reports within six weeks after completed data collections. In these, outcome variables are analysed against district (within counties), gender, age, educational attainment, and assessment of household economy. Tables are also made available at the municipality level. The NCPHS represent a valuable addition to existing health registries and regional health surveys, providing critical information for planning purposes for local and regional public health authorities, for assessing trends over time, comparisons across counties and regions, and for evaluation of policies and interventions. The value of such a system during times of crises was demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the Lisbon 2024 European Public Health conference, a few selected examples of use of data from the NCPHS system will be presented. Key messages • Large-scale community surveys provide important insights for planning of public health policies and action. • Strong involvement and collaboration with regional and local public health personnell as well as with media and local people is a prerequisite for succeeding.