OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
This publication provides information about the release of microdata from the 1997 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults (SMHWB). The data are released as a confidentialised unit record file (CURF) on CD-ROM under the conditions set out in this publication and subject to the approval of the Australian Statistician.
The CURF will enable purchasers to tabulate, manipulate and analyse data to their own specifications. More detailed information to assist in using the CURF and interpreting the data will be provided in a technical paper which will accompany the file.
ABOUT THE SURVEY
The 1997 SMHWB is a comprehensive survey of Australian adults' mental health. The survey was an initiative of, and funded by, the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services (HFS) as part of the National Mental Health Strategy.
The survey provides detailed information about the prevalence of a range of major mental disorders, the level of disability associated with these disorders, and health services used and help needed as a consequence of a mental health problem for Australians aged 18 years or more.
The survey was conducted throughout Australia from May to August 1997 under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905, on a voluntary basis.
The SMHWB consisted of a representative sample of residents of private dwellings (houses, flats, etc.) in all States and Territories. The sample excluded special dwellings (such as hospitals, institutions, nursing homes, hotels, hostels, etc.), and dwellings in remote and sparsely settled parts of Australia.
The survey also excluded persons from overseas holidaying in Australia, members of non-Australian defence forces and their dependants stationed in Australia, and households containing non-Australian diplomatic personnel.
Trained Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) interviewers approached approximately 13,600 dwellings. One person aged 18 years or over from each dwelling was randomly chosen to participate in the survey. Personal interviews were conducted with 10,641 persons, representing a response rate of 78%.
Detailed information about the survey is contained in the forthcoming publication National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults: Users' Guide, 1997 (Cat. no. 4327.0). An overview of survey results is contained in Mental Health and Wellbeing: Profile of Adults, Australia, 1997 (Cat. no. 4326.0).
In addition to these publications and the CURF, an extensive range of other unpublished data is available from the ABS on request.
ABOUT THE MICRODATA
The 1997 SMHWB CURF contains 10,641 confidentialised respondent records from the survey. Each record contains demographic, socio-economic and geographic indicators, along with a comprehensive set of responses to the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and questions on disability and health service usage. The CIDI also provides a diagnosis of selected mental disorders in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases-10th revision (ICD-10), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th revision (DSM-IV).
Composite International Diagnostic Interview
Measuring mental health in the community through household surveys is a complex task as mental disorder is usually determined through clinical diagnoses. For the SMHWB the diagnostic component of the interview was administered through a modified version of the CIDI. This is a comprehensive interview for adults which can be used to assess current and lifetime prevalence of mental disorders through the measurement of symptoms and their impact on day-to-day activities.
The questions in the CIDI are written to represent the criteria for a subset of mental disorders defined by the ICD-10. A small number of additional questions are included so that criteria of the DSM-IV can be identified.
As part of the CIDI, probe questions are asked when a respondent is identified as having a symptom. These questions are designed to identify severity or clinical significance, whether the symptom was always caused by drugs, medicines, alcohol, physical illness or injury, or whether the symptom was due to mental disorder. Responses to the questions are put together by computer algorithms, first to assess each criterion, and then to combine criteria into diagnoses. Further details on the criteria for mental disorder diagnosis are contained in the forthcoming survey user guide.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Training and Reference Centre for CIDI (The WHO Centre) in Australia, contracted by HFS, developed a computerised version of the CIDI, including diagnostic algorithms, for the SMHWB.
Data interpretation
The survey instrument also incorporates additional CIDI modules which provide a set of screening questions for other mental disorders such as personality disorders. These modules provide an indication of whether a disorder may be present. However, they do not collect sufficient information to determine whether the criteria for a diagnosis of a mental disorder by the CIDI are met. As a diagnosis for these mental disorders is not made, the overall prevalence rates of mental disorder presented in the SMHWB may underestimate the extent of mental disorder in Australia.
The CIDI is a structured interview for diagnosis of mental disorder for research purposes. The CIDI can inform a clinician's diagnosis but not replace it. Estimates of mental disorders presented in the SMHWB are not clinical diagnoses and are therefore dependent on the accuracy of diagnosis based on survey data.
The questions used in this survey to collect data on labour force status and educational qualifications differ from those used in other ABS surveys. As such, these data items provide an indication of an individual's status and, though not directly comparable with other ABS surveys, they are sufficient to associate with mental health status.
Confidentialising the file
These data are released under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, which enables release of data in the form of unit records where the information is not likely to enable the identification of a particular person or organisation. Accordingly, there are no names or addresses of survey respondents on the CURF and some other steps have been taken to protect confidentiality, such as omitting selected data items collected in the survey and reducing the detail of other data items. As a result, it may not be possible to exactly reconcile some tabular/aggregated data produced from the CURF with data published by the ABS.
A list of all the data items on the SMHWB data file is provided in this publication (pp. 6-41), and data items for which the level of detail has been reduced are also included (pp. 42-49). In addition to the data item list, CURF users should obtain a copy of the survey questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed by The WHO Centre and is available from HFS. Please contact:
Director
Quality and Effectiveness Section
Mental Health Branch (MDP 37)
Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services
PO Box 9848
CANBERRA ACT 2601
ABOUT THE FILE
The 1997 SMHWB CURF is available on CD-ROM. If another computer readable medium is required, this can be discussed with the contact officer.
The services of a computer programmer may be required to reformat the data for some analysis software. However, the SMHWB CURF will contain a program to generate an input statement to facilitate this for SAS users. Complete input programs are available for SAS and SPSS on request. These include descriptive as well as structural metadata.
There are six files which specifically relate to the SMHWB data:
*MHSD1URT.DAT is a column delimited ASCII text file containing the survey data.
*MHSD1DOC.TXT contains documentation on MHSD1URT.DAT. It includes data item labels, field start positions and lengths, code values and category labels. To assist users in analysis, the file also contains weighted and unweighted frequencies of each code value. It can be opened for reading or printing, using most word processors, as an ASCII text file.
*MHSD1DOC.FMT contains the same data as MHSD1DOC.TXT but in a rigid format which can be read by a computer program. If the purchaser has access to SAS, this file can be used in conjunction with MHS95INP.SAS (see next point) to generate a SAS input program for the SMHWB data file.
*MHS95INP.SAS contains a SAS program which reads MHSD1DOC.FMT and generates a file which can be pasted into a SAS program to allow it to read in the corresponding data file.
*COPRIGHT.TXT contains the ABS copyright warning notice. This is a simple statement that the copyright to the 1997 SMHWB CURF data is held by the ABS. The consequences of copyright ownership are to be considered an additional constraint and in no way limit the Conditions of Sale.
*README.TXT contains a brief description of each of the files listed above.
CONDITIONS OF RELEASE
The 1997 SMHWB CURF is released under strict Conditions of Sale (pp. 50-52) - this should be read carefully before placing an order for the file. In addition, the Australian Statistician's approval is required for each release.
The 1997 SMHWB CURF is released in accordance with a Ministerial Determination (Clause 7, Statutory Rules 1983, No. 19) (pp. 53-54) made in pursuance of Section 13 of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. As required by the Determination, the CURF has been designed so that the information on the file is not likely to enable the identification of the particular persons to whom it relates.
In pursuance of Clause 7, the Determination requires the purchaser of the file to undertake that, in using the information in the form of individual statistical records, the purchaser will:
*not attempt to identify particular persons or organisations;
*not attempt to match the information with administrative lists of persons or organisations;
*use the information only for statistical purposes; and
*not disclose the information to any other person or organisation.
The 1997 SMHWB CURF can only be used for statistical purposes. Examples of statistical purposes are:
*the manipulation of the data to produce means, correlations or other descriptive or summary measures;
*the estimation of population characteristics from sample data;
*the use of data as input to mathematical models or for other types of analysis (e.g. factor analysis); and
*to provide graphical or pictorial representations of the characteristics of the population or subsets of the population.
Use of the data for unauthorised purposes may render the user liable to severe penalties (see p. 51). Advice about the propriety of any particular intended use of the data is available from the Director, Health Section, telephone Canberra 02 6252 7995.
Under no circumstances can data in the form of unit records be made available to persons or organisations other than those covered by the Undertaking, without the written authority of the Australian Statistician.
While the utmost care is taken in preparing and handling each CURF, deterioration may occur between the time of copying and receipt of the file. Accordingly, if the file is unreadable on receipt and this is reported to the ABS within 30 days of receipt, it will be replaced free of charge. As an added precaution, a security copy (backup) of the file should be made on receipt.
PRICE
The price for the 1997 SMHWB CURF, as at July 1998, is $7,500, including freight and handling charges.
HOW TO ORDER
To submit your order, please take a copy of and complete the Order Form (pp. 55-56), sign The Undertaking (pp. 57-58) and forward these to the Director, Health Section, at the address shown below. The ABS cannot process your order unless a fully completed Order Form and signed Undertaking have been received.
For purchases of this file by government and other organisations, the Undertaking must be signed by someone who has the legal authority to sign on behalf of that organisation, taking account of all users and usages of the file, both current and future.
It is suggested that a copy of the completed Order Form and signed Undertaking is retained by your organisation.
The ABS will invoice you once the Statistician has approved the release of the microdata to you, and the CURF will be despatched within seven working days of receipt of payment.
Please forward your order to:
Director
Health Section (W31c)
Australian Bureau of Statistics
PO Box 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any queries about this service, please contact Gary Sutton on Canberra 02 6252 7318, email gary.sutton@abs.gov.au, or facsimile on Canberra 02 6252 8007.
