Table 1 Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey, conducted in Agder County, 2019
Variable | Questions | Response options | Definitions |
|---|---|---|---|
Mental health problem/ distress | HSCL-5. The HSCL-5 is a five-item short version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) and has been found reliable and valid as a screening instrument for symptoms of depression and anxiety. | Response categories were ‘not bothered’, ‘a little bothered’, ‘bothered quite a lot’, and ‘extremely bothered’. | The total HSCL-5 score was summed, and a cut-off point at > 2.0 was used to define mental health problems. |
The participants were asked if over the last week, they had: 1) been constantly afraid and anxious 2) felt tense or keyed up 3) felt hopeless about the future 4) sad or depressed 5) worried | |||
Financial difficulties | For one-person households, consider your total income. If you live with others, consider the total income of everyone in the household. How easy or difficult is it for you to make ends meet day to day with this income? | 1. Very difficult 2. Difficult 3. Relatively difficult 4. Relatively easy 5. Easy 6. Very easy 7. Don’t know | 1–3 = financial difficulties vs. 4–7 = no financial difficulties |
Social exclusion measured with 6 separate measures | Oslo Support Scale Social support was measured by Oslo Support Scale, which is a common instrument widely used to assess level of social support. | The three variables were summed and then dichotomized. Respondents with a sum score of 3 to 8 were defined as having low social support. | |
Oslo 1: How many people are so close to you that you can count on them if you have great personal problems? | Oslo 1: ‘none’ ‘1–2’ ‘3–5’ ‘5+’ | ||
Oslo 2: How much interest and concern do people show in what you do? | Oslo 2: 1 ‘none’ 2 ‘little’ 3 ‘uncertain’ 4 ‘some’ 5 ‘a lot’ | ||
Oslo 3: How easy is it to get practical help from neighbors if you should need it? | Oslo 3: 1 ‘very difficult’ 2 ‘difficult’ 3 ‘possible’ 4 ‘easy’ 5 ‘very easy’ | ||
How often do you participate in organized activity/voluntary work such as sports team, political organization, religious communities, choir, or similar? | 1. Daily 2. Weekly 3. 1–3 times a month | 4–5 = low participation 1–3 = regular participation/ref group | |
How often do you participate in other activities such as a club, meetings, time with friends, exercise with friends/colleagues, or other? | 4. Seldom 5. Never | ||
How often do you feel you miss someone to be with? | 1. Never 2. Seldom 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Very often | 4–5 = missing someone to be with 1–3 = reference group | |
How often do you feel excluded? | 1. Never 2. Seldom 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Very often | 4–5 = excluded 1–3 = not excluded/reference group | |
How often do you feel isolated from others? | 1. Never 2. Seldom 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Very often | 4–5 = isolated 1–3 = not isolated/reference group | |
Sex | Sex | Retrieved from registries | Male/female |
Age | Age in years | Retrieved from registries | Age applied as a continuous variable (year) |