The VicHealth Indicators population survey: methodology, prevalence of behavioural risk factors, and use in local policy

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) is an Australian state-based government agency with a remit to promote health by targeting physical activity, diet, mental wellbeing, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. Population health data is crucial to this work. This paper reports on the measures and methods used in surveillance, examines the prevalence of risk factors in sub-populations and use of risk factor data in local policy and planning. METHODS: The VicHealth Indicators (VHI) cross-sectional population telephone survey of behavioural and attitudinal health risk factors involved interviews with 22,819 respondents aged 18 years+ from the state of Victoria in 2015...