National Population Health Survey Guide
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL POPULATION HEALTH SURVEY (NPHS)?
The National Population Health Survey (NPHS) is designed to collect information related to the health of the Canadian Population. The target population of the NPHS includes households residents in all provinces, with the principle
exclusion of populations on Indian
Reserves, Canadian Forces Bases and some remote areas in Quebec and Ontario.
The NPHS was collected mainly by telephone. In each household, some limited information was collected and one person in each household was randomly selected for a more in-depth interview.
The questionnaire included sections on health status, use of health services, risk factors and demographic and socio-economic status. The use of health services was measured as well as Behavioural risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use and physi
cal activity. Demographic and socio-economic information included age, sex, education, ethnicity, household income and labour force status. Additional detailed questions covered the following topics: actions taken to improve health, preferred weight,
breast-feeding, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, smoking during pregnancy, opinions on smoking, opinions on alcohol, social support, sexual health and road safety.
SCOPE OF THIS GUIDE
This guide has been prepared to provide a basic overview of and introduction to NPHS. A sample search is included to help familiarize the user with how it works. There is more detailed information in the accompanying user's guide. This guide can
be accessed in the CD by clicking on the NPHS DOCUMENTATION button in the main menu.
MOVING AROUND NPHS
The main menu provides five buttons which may be selected by the user depending on the required task:
1) DATA BROWSER-click here to access the Health Microdata File
2) DOCUMENTATION-click here to access information regarding this CD-ROM and for more information on this survey
3) TUTORIALS-click here for detailed instructions and tutorials on how to use the software
4) FLAT ASCII FILES- click here to access the file list
5) MICRODATA LICENCE AGREEMENT-click here for the detailed licence agreement covering the use of microdata products
BEYOND 20/20 BROWSER-The beyond 20/20 browser is used in this CD. It is a decision support tool to help manage, find, understand and use the data to best advantage. The Browser, is mouse-driven, and creates custom tables, retrieves the information in them and displays this information in table, chart, and map views. For more detailed instructions on creating and working with tables, click on the
TUTORIALS button and then click on Beyond 20/20 Instructions.
A SAMPLE SEARCH
To create a TABLE:
1. Using the mouse pad click on the NAT. POP HEALTH 1996-97 icon.
Click on ENGLISH.
Read down through agreement. Click on ACCEPT to accept the licence agreement.
2. You are presented with FIVE buttons. To create a table, click on DATA BROWSER.
3. Source field tiles are located on the right side of the screen. To see a description of each, click on DATA in the menu bar, then click on Find Source Field.
4. There are categories to choose from and fields for each category.
At the right of the categories screen, click the ALL button to select all categories.
This allows you to view and use all the fields available. To go back to the table, click the CANCEL button.
5. Select the source field AD_6_6 by clicking on it and dragging it to either the top or the left side of the table.
When the area is highlighted release the mouse button.
At least two fields must be selected.
Scroll down the fields by clicking the mouse pad or the down arrow at the bottom of the screen.
Select DGC6_1A, click and drag it to the table.
At this point, any modifications to the table can be done. By clicking on DATA at the top of the page, you are presented with a list of available functions. By highlighting the desired function, a brief explanation appears at the bottom of the scr
een.
NOTE: character fields have both codes and labels. To switch between codes(numbers) and labels(words), select the desired row or column and click on the button with the tag in the menu bar.
6. Once the selections have been made , click on the traffic light button in the menu bar to view the data.
7. To PRINT a copy of the chart either:
Click on the picture of a printer in the menu bar OR
Click on FILE at the top of the page.
Select Print.
Press ENTER.
Click on OK.
8. To SAVE the table
Click on FILE.
Select Save As.
Insert disk and select A drive.
Select file name
Click OK.
9. To EXIT
Click on FILE at the top menu bar.
Click on EXIT.
FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE
For help in using NPHS, ask the staff at the Media and Data Centre counter.
March 24, 2010
Gillian Byrne
