General health refers to a state of wellbeing and the capability to function in the face of changing circumstances. General health can be seen to depend not only on medical care, but also on other factors including individual behaviour and genetic makeup, and social and economic conditions.
This standard measures an individual’s subjective opinion of their health. The reference is to health in general rather than the present state of health, therefore it is not intended to measure temporary health problems.
Health, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
This harmonised standard presents guidance on how general health can be defined, measured and presented in a more consistent manner.
Data on general health is used to ensure adequate services are in place, in particular to meet the national demand for healthcare and also support educational needs. It can also be used to determine an individual’s healthy life expectancy. General health data can be used to underpin policy development and implementation, to monitor, measure and evaluate progress in implementing the Healthy Ireland Framework, as well as to meet international reporting obligations, including to the OECD, the EU and the WHO, and to provide information to researchers.
Many data collections require information on the general health of individuals. When collecting data on this topic, either of the following questions are recommended:
The standard question on this topic is designed to collect information, for use in the majority of surveys or data collections. However, it is not intended to replace questions already in use for specialist surveys where more detailed analysis is required.
The standard questions provided are recommended by the World Health Organisation.
The following list of response options represents the basic level of detail that the CSO recommends should be gathered in data collection.
| Standard Response Options and Codes for General Health | |
| 10 | Very Good |
| 20 | Good |
| 30 | Fair |
| 40 | Bad |
| 50 | Very Bad |
The standard response options and standard reference classification provided are consistent with the established question in previous census years and it is part of the Minimum European Health Module (MEHM).
| Description of Standard Response Options of General Health | |
| Very Good | Very good refers to the upper end of the five-point scale. |
| Good | Good refers to the upper end of the five-point scale. |
| Fair | Fair refers to the intermediate category of the five-point scale which represents a neutral position (i.e. neither good nor bad). |
| Bad | Bad refers to the lower end of the five-point scale. |
| Very Bad | Very bad refers to the lower end of the five-point scale. |
The standard response options consist of a five-point scale, ranging from very good to very bad, to assess a respondent’s self-perceived general health.
| Standard Reference Classification for General Health | |
| 10 | Very Good |
| 20 | Good |
| 30 | Fair |
| 40 | Bad |
| 50 | Very Bad |
| 99 | Not applicable |
If more detailed breakdowns are required, please consult classifications@cso.ie
| Concept name | General Health (Self-perceived) |
| Variable name | GHEALTH_CSO |
| Format type | Character code |
| Guideline Version | 1.0 |
| Guideline Release date | 24 March 2025 |
| Valid to | 24 March 2028 |
| Owner | Central Statistics Office (CSO) Classification Standardisation Team |
| Audience | Policy makers, system developers and producers or users of statistics |
| Contact | classifications@cso.ie |
This data standard will be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure it remains current and aligned with any changes in regulations or best practices. The validation period for this standard is three years.
We are always interested in hearing from users so that we can develop our work.