The National health index is a set of indicators that describes regional differences in population morbidity and work disability in Finland. The project regularly develops and produces information on the most common and burdensome diseases, as well as on work disability in the population. The data are used to monitor the goals in social and health care and social security reforms, and to assess the effectiveness of services and social security.
The data set includes a morbidity index with 10 sub-indices and a work disability index with three sub-indices, which describe population morbidity and work incapacity in municipalities, wellbeing services counties, and cooperation areas. The information is produced in collaboration between the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), the Finnish Centre for Pensions, and Statistics Finland.
Goals
- Provide an overview of regional differences in morbidity and work disability among the population and different population groups.
- Use the index to examine temporal changes in population health and predict future trends, considering changes in population structure and the potential for disease prevention.
Implementation
The indicators are reported as regional index values, where the reference value is the prevalence of the phenomenon described by the indicator in the entire national population. The index value for the whole country is 100. The higher the index value, the more common morbidity or work incapacity is in the region’s population.
The calculation of the indices is based on cases from three consecutive years. In areas with a small population base, even minor changes in the number of cases can affect the morbidity or work disability index. The data are based on extensive register materials and are defined under expert guidance.
New index results are published annually in the spring in THL’s statistical report, as well as in THL’s Sotkanet online service and Kela’s information platform (age-standardized and non-standardized indices). Index values from previous years are updated relative to the latest value. The project also examines differences in morbidity and work incapacity between population groups and their temporal development.
Funding
THL
Partners
Cancer Registry, Finnish Centre for Pensions, Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), Statistics Finland
Contact details
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