The study Health and Wellbeing has become an essential source of information on the health status of adults. The study's main objective is to regularly assess adults' health, well-being, welfare, and lifestyle with a questionnaire. The study was conducted in 2007 and repeated in 2009, 2012, 2017, and 2022. In addition to providing important information on the health and well-being of adults every five years, the study's results make it possible to monitor changes that may occur over time.
The study results have benefitted the Directorate of Health, the government, the university community and others involved in important decisions concerning the health and well-being of residents of Iceland and will continue to do so.
Health and Wellbeing 2022 – FAQs
Health and Wellbeing is a study carried out by the Directorate of Health every five years. The Director of Health is the Principal Investigator of the study. The study was conducted in 2007 and repeated in 2009, 2012 and 2017. The study is being conducted for the fifth time in autumn 2022.
The main objective of the study Health and Wellbeing is to assess the health, wellbeing and welfare of adults. In addition to providing important information on the health and well-being of adults every five years, the study's results make it possible to monitor changes that may occur over time.
The study results will benefit the Directorate of Health, the government, the university community and others involved in important decisions concerning the health and well-being of residents of Iceland.
The Directorate of Health publishes the study's main results on www.landlaeknir.is, but the results are also used in strategic measures concerning the health and well-being of the residents. Data from the study is also used as material in students’ final projects at the country’s universities, and most of them are published in Skemman and even as scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Participants in the study are found in two ways.
Individuals who agreed to continue participating in the Health and Wellbeing study in 2017 (approximately 6,000 people).
A new stratified random sample of individuals from the National Registry, aged 18 and older, who live in Iceland. The new sample consists of both Icelandic and foreign citizens.
Those selected to participate in the study will receive an information letter in the mail and then a text message (SMS) with an invitation to participate. The text message contains a link to an electronic questionnaire.
You can answer the questionnaire on your smartphone by clicking on the link in the text message (SMS). You can also answer on a computer. The link to the questionnaire is available under Messages after logging in to Heilsuvera.
It takes about 40–60 minutes to answer the questionnaire.
It is not necessary to answer the questionnaire all in one go. If you want to take a break, the questionnaire will reopen where you left off. You are also welcome to skip answering individual questions.
You can receive help answering, but the answers must apply to the person to whom the questionnaire is sent.
Your participation in the study is entirely optional. You can also opt out at any time without explaining and request that all information about you be deleted from the study. This can be done by sending an e-mail to rannsoknir@landlaeknir.is or calling 510-1900.
Benefits: By answering the questionnaire, you can win ISK 100,000. Four prizes of ISK 25,000 will also be drawn. In other respects, there is no direct benefit for participants.
Risks: The questions asked are general and not likely to bring up complicated feelings. The risk of participating in the study is therefore considered insignificant.
Answers from the questionnaire will be stored encrypted and without personal identification information on the access-controlled network of the Directorate of Health.
Before you answer the questionnaire, your consent is requested so that your answers can be linked to the data of other studies and data in different registers, such as health registers and the National Register. This link is made only for scientific purposes, and the strictest instructions for personal data protection are followed. After linking, the data is encrypted so it is not personally identifiable.
The National Bioethics Committee has granted permission for this study, and it has been notified to the Data Protection Authority.
The participants' data, who permit for this, will be stored in the Health Databank at Landspítali University Hospital, which is planned to be established. The encryption key will be deleted no later than five years after the end of the study if participants do not agree to the future retention of their answers.
On the Directorate of Health website, you can find information about the research projects that have used data from Health and Wellbeing. The information includes all iterations of the study.
