National Mortality Followback Survey Series

The National Mortality Followback Survey (NMFS) Program, begun in the 1960s by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), uses a sample of United States residents who die in a given year, supplementing information derived from the death certificate with information from the next of kin or another person familiar with the decedent's life history. This information, sometimes enhanced by administrative records, is collected in order to study the etiology of disease, demographic trends in mortality, and other health issues.