Prevention is associated with the expectation of avoiding, delaying or making illnesses less likely through targeted measures. Prevention approaches differ in terms of the temporal perspective in the course of the disease according to primary prevention (before the onset of the disease, e.g. vaccination), secondary prevention (in the early stages of a disease, e.g. early detection measures) and tertiary prevention (when the disease manifests itself, e.g. patient education).
Information on the uptake of vaccinations, early detection measures and behavioural prevention is provided by the Austrian Health Interview Survey (ATHIS), which is held every six years from 2019 (previously 2006/07 and 2014).
In addition, the Federation of Social Insurances maintains annually updated statistics on preventive medical examinations (health checks). Statistics Austria provides additional key figures from these statistics.