[Household survey: methods for the definition and recognition of health and supply indicators]

The research project "Towards a Swiss Health Survey" (Swiss National Science Foundation grant No. 4.350.0.79.08) aims at contributing to the development, testing and critical evaluation of new ambulatory care data systems. Specifically, the research project attempts 1) to develop reliable and valid health and use indicators, 2) to present representative data on perceived morbidity of the Swiss population, and 3) to analyse the demand for health and health services using epidemiological, econometric and sociological methods. In Phase I of the study plan, representative samples of the populations within the three language groups (German, French, Italian) and one group of foreign immigrants (Italians) will be interviewed. In phase II, subgroups of special interest defined after the analysis of Phase I will be investigated in more detail. The present paper discusses the problems both of content and method inherent in such a health survey.