SHIS – measurement of health indicators

From a purely technical point of view, the SHIS survey instrument is a semantic differential, i.e. consisting of positive and negative words with opposite meanings. Each question is responded to by selecting one of six alternative statements. Example of opposite statements: felt alert – felt tired/exhausted.

SHIS consists of twelve items expressing two different dimensions of health indicators, of which one is intrapersonal and one is interactive. In other words, the instrument has a small scope and is therefore useful in various situations where the aim is to measure health indicators from a salutogenic and holistic perspective. SHIS has been tested in empirical studies with good results.

An extensive report on the development process and the quality analysis of SHIS is presented in the scientific article:
Bringsén Å, Andersson HI, Ejlertsson G. Development and quality analysis of the Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale (SHIS). Scand J Publ Health 2009; 37:13-9

Read more on SHIS in the Extensive report.