Long-term health condition indicator - Long-term Illness
Definition
An indicator for whether a person has a long term illness (a condition, not listed in the other tick box response options for the long term health conditions question, that a person may have for life, which may be managed with treatment or medication)
Classification
Total number of categories 3
| Code | Name |
|---|---|
| -5 | No code required - comprises schoolchildren and full-time students living away from home during term time |
| 0 | Does not have a long-term illness, disease or condition |
| 1 | Has a long-term illness, disease or condition |
Source question or variables
Individual question 18: Do you have any of the following which have lasted or are expected to last at least 12 months? (Tick all that apply)
- Deafness or partial hearing loss
- Blindness or partial sight loss
- Full or partial loss of voice or difficulty speaking (a condition that requires you to use equipment to speak)
- Learning disability (a condition that you have had since childhood that affects the way you learn, understand information and communicate)
- Learning difficulty (a specific learning condition that affects the way you learn and process information)
- Developmental disorder (a condition that you have had since childhood which affects motor, cognitive, social and emotional skills, and speech and language)
- Physical disability (a condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, lifting or carrying)
- Mental health condition (a condition that affects your emotional, physical and mental wellbeing)
- Long-term illness, disease or condition (a condition, not listed above, that you may have for life, which may be managed with treatment or medication)
- Other condition, please write in:
- No condition
Reason for asking
Data on long term health conditions are used for identifying health and social care service needs, informing service planning and development, allocating resources at national and local level, monitoring and assessing health policies and monitoring health inequalities.
England & Wales (2021) and Scotland (2011) comparisons
The question on long term health conditions included in the 2021 England & Wales census did not include tick box responses for each type of condition, and therefore cannot be compared with Scotland's Census 2022 data.
England & Wales (2021) question:
Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?
- Yes
- No
The long-term conditions question changed between 2011 and 2022 with the addition of a new tick box to cover conditions involved with speech difficulty or loss of speech. In addition, following extensive consultation with users, descriptions were added to each category to provide a clear definition for each condition. If required, individuals could also access lists of the specific conditions that went into each category in additional question guidance. These changes halved the number of write-in responses provided in 2022 compared with 2011.