Version Date: Jan 12, 2006 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03107.v2
Version V2
The purpose of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is to obtain information about the amount and distribution of illness, its effects in terms of disability and chronic impairments, and the kinds of health services people receive. Implementation of a redesigned NHIS (ICPSR 2954), consisting of a basic module, a periodic module, and a topical module, began in 1997. The present collection consists of the basic module and topical modules on prevention, which contain pregnancy and smoking components along with information on prevention of illness and injury for adults and children. Each record in the Household-Level File (Part 1) of the basic module contains data on the type of living quarters, number of families in the household responding and not responding, and the month and year of the interview for each eligible sampling unit. The Family-Level File (Part 2) is made up of reconstructed variables from the person-level data of the basic module and includes information on sex, age, race, marital status, Hispanic origin, education, veteran status, family income, family size, major activities, health status, activity limits, and employment status, along with industry and occupation. As part of the basic module, the Person-Level File (Part 3) provides information on all family members with respect to health status, limitation of daily activities, cognitive impairment, and health conditions. Also included are data on years at current residence, region variables, height, weight, bed days, doctor visits, hospital stays, and health care access and utilization. A randomly-selected adult in each family was interviewed for the Sample Adult File (Part 4) regarding respiratory conditions, renal conditions, AIDS, joint symptoms, health status, limitation of daily activities, and behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. The Sample Child File (Part 5) provides information from a knowledgeable adult in the household on medical conditions of one child in the household, such as respiratory problems, seizures, allergies, and use of special equipment such as hearing aids, braces, or wheelchairs. Also included are questions regarding child behavior and the use of mental health services. The Child Immunization File (Part 6) presents information from shot records and supplies vaccination status, along with the number and dates of shots, and information about the chicken pox vaccine. Episode-based information is found in the Injury Episode File (Part 7), while information in the Injury Verbatim File (Part 8) is comprised of narrative text describing injuries, including type of injury, how the injury occurred, and the body part injured. The Poison Episode File (Part 9) examines the cause and date of injury or poisoning, loss of time from work or school, and whether the poisoning resulted in hospitalization. The prevention modules are being examined to determine the "Healthy People Objectives for 2010," which have the aim of reducing or preventing illness and disease among Americans. The Pregnancy and Smoking Prevention Module (Part 10) contains a record for every woman 18-49 years of age and provides information on tobacco use and smoking during pregnancy. The Sample Adult Prevention Module (Part 11) examines injury prevention, environmental health issues, tobacco use, nutrition, workplace health promotion, heart disease, stroke, chronic diseases, clinical services used, preventive services used, cancer, oral health, physical activity, mental health, family discussions, and firearm safety. The Sample Child Prevention Module (Part 12) provides information on health conditions, dental care, and injury prevention, along with use of seat belts and safety equipment during participation in sports.
Export Citation:
In preparing the data files for this collection, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has removed direct identifiers and characteristics that might lead to identification of data subjects. As an additional precaution, NCHS requires, under Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m), that data collected by NCHS not be used for any purpose other than statistical analysis and reporting. NCHS further requires that analysts not use the data to learn the identity of any persons or establishments and that the director of NCHS be notified if any identities are inadvertently discovered. ICPSR member institutions and other users ordering data from ICPSR are expected to adhere to these restrictions.
Users should refer to the codebook for a detailed description of the changes implemented beginning with the 1997 NHIS.
The data from the Household-Level File can be merged with any of the other files, and other files can be merged as well. For further information on merging data, consult the codebook.
The periodic module is not yet available from NCHS. When released, it will provide more detailed information on topics resulting from the basic module.
Per agreement with NCHS, ICPSR distributes the data files and text of the technical documentation in this collection in their original form as prepared by NCHS.
The NHIS uses a stratified multistage probability design. The sample for the NHIS is redesigned every decade using population data from the most recent decennial census. A redesigned sample was implemented in 1995. This new design includes a greater number of primary sampling units (PSUs) (from 198 in 1994 to 358), and a more complicated nonresponse adjustment based on household screening and oversampling of Black and Hispanic persons, for more reliable estimates of these groups.
Civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
personal interviews
2001-03-09
2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 13 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.
2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 14 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.
2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 15 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.
2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 16 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.
2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.
2001-06-18 The Sample Adult File (Part 4) has been replaced due to additional cleaning of the data by the principal investigator.
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
This study is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA), the aging program within ICPSR. NACDA is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Heath (NIH).
