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The Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) survey series is an ongoing, nationally representative, longitudinal study focusing especially on differences between Black and White Americans in middle and late life. These data constitute the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth waves in a panel survey covering a wide range of sociological, psychological, mental, and physical health items. Wave I of the study began in 1986 with a nation face-to-face survey of 3,617 adults ages 25 and up, with Black Americans and people aged 60 and over over-sampled at twice the rate of the others. Wave II constitutes face-to-face re-interviews in 1989 of those still alive. Survivors have been re-interviewed by telephone, and when necessary face-to-face, in 1994 (Wave III), 2001/02 (Wave IV), 2011 (Wave V), and 2019/21 (Wave VI).

Please note that for Wave VI, the majority of data collection occurred in 2019, with only a small subset (n=39) of participants surveyed in 2021.

ACL was designed and sought to investigate the following: (1) The ways in which a wide range of activities and social relationships that people engage in are broadly "productive," (2) how individuals adapt to acute life events and chronic stresses that threaten the maintenance of health, effective functioning, and productive activity, and (3) sociocultural variations in the nature, meaning, determinants, and consequences of productive activity and relationships. Among the topics covered are interpersonal relationships (spouse/partner, children, parents, friends), sources and levels of satisfaction, social interactions and leisure activities, traumatic life events (physical assault, serious illness, divorce, death of a loved one, financial or legal problems), perceptions of retirement, health behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight, rest), and utilization of health care services (doctor visits, hospitalization, nursing home institutionalization, bed days). Also included are measures of physical health, psychological well-being, and indices referring to cognitive functioning.

Demographic information provided for individuals includes household composition, number of children and grandchildren, employment status, occupation and work history, income, family financial situation, religious beliefs and practices, ethnicity, race, education, sex, and region of residence.

The National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A) was designed to estimate the lifetime-to-date and current prevalence, age-of-onset distributions, course, and comorbidity of DSM-IV disorders in the child and adolescent years of life among adolescents in the United States; to identify risk and protective factors for the onset and persistence of these disorders; to describe patterns and correlates of service use for these disorders; and to lay the groundwork for subsequent follow-up studies that can be used to identify early expressions of adult mental disorders.

The core NCS-A interview schedule was an adaptation of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). NCS-A also administered the non-verbal subtest (Matrices subtest) of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT).

In addition to interviewing adolescents, information was collected from a parent or a parent surrogate to obtain an additional perspective on the adolescent's mental health and its correlates. Information from parents focused on the five adolescent disorders for which previous methodological research has most consistently shown that parental reports are important for making diagnoses: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, major depressive episode, and dysthymic disorder.

Demographic information collected by NCS-A includes age, citizenship status, country of birth, criminal history, ethnicity, grandparents' country of birth, language(s) spoken in the home, parents' country of birth, race, religion, and sex.

The data collection contains six data files: (1) data for the adolescent household and school respondents; (2) data for the parents who responded to the long self-administered questionnaire; (3) data for the parents who responded to both the long self-administered questionnaire and short telephone interview; (4) diagnostic variables derived from the data collected from the adolescents and parents; (5) K-BIT scores normed to the NCS-A adolescent sample; and (6) raw K-BIT data.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The NHANES combines personal interviews and physical examinations, which focus on different population groups or health topics. These surveys have been conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on a periodic basis from 1971 to 1994. In 1999 the NHANES became a continuous program with a changing focus on a variety of health and nutrition measurements which were designed to meet current and emerging concerns. The surveys examine a nationally representative sample of approximately 5,000 persons each year. These persons are located in counties across the United States, 15 of which are visited each year.

For NHANES 2003-2004, there were 12,761 persons selected for the sample, 10,122 of those were interviewed (79.3 percent) and 9,643 (75.6 percent) were examined in the mobile examination centers (MEC). Many of the NHANES 2003-2004 questions were also asked in NHANES II 1976-1980, Hispanic HANES 1982-1984, NHANES III 1988-1994, and NHANES 1999-2002. New questions were added to the survey based on recommendations from survey collaborators, NCHS staff, and other interagency work groups. As in past health examination surveys, data were collected on the prevalence of chronic conditions in the population. Estimates for previously undiagnosed conditions, as well as those known to and reported by survey respondents, are produced through the survey. Risk factors, those aspects of a person's lifestyle, constitution, heredity, or environment that may increase the chances of developing a certain disease or condition, were examined. Data on smoking, alcohol consumption, sexual practices, drug use, physical fitness and activity, weight, and dietary intake were collected. Information on certain aspects of reproductive health, such as use of oral contraceptives and breastfeeding practices, were also collected. The diseases, medical conditions, and health indicators that were studied include: anemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and lower extremity disease, environmental exposures, equilibrium, hearing loss, infectious diseases and immunization, kidney disease, mental health and cognitive functioning, nutrition, obesity, oral health, osteoporosis, physical fitness and physical functioning, reproductive history and sexual behavior, respiratory disease (asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema), sexually transmitted diseases, skin diseases, and vision. The sample for the survey was selected to represent the United States population of all ages. Special emphasis in the 2003-2004 NHANES was on adolescent health and the health of older Americans. To produce reliable statistics for these groups, adolescents aged 15-19 years and persons aged 60 years and older were over-sampled for the survey. African Americans and Mexican Americans were also over-sampled to enable accurate estimates for these groups. Several important areas in adolescent health, including nutrition and fitness and other aspects of growth and development, were addressed. Since the United States has experienced dramatic growth in the number of older people during the twentieth century, the aging population has major implications for health care needs, public policy, and research priorities. NCHS is working with public health agencies to increase the knowledge of the health status of older Americans. NHANES has a primary role in this endeavor. In the examination, all participants visit the physician who takes their pulse or blood pressure. Dietary interviews and body measurements are included for everyone. All but the very young have a blood sample taken and see the dentist. Depending upon the age of the participant, the rest of the examination includes tests and procedures to assess the various aspects of health listed above. Usually, the older the individual, the more extensive the examination. Some persons who are unable or unwilling to come to the examination center may be given a less extensive examination in their homes.

Demographic data file variables are grouped into three broad categories: (1) Status Variables: provide core information on the survey participant. Examples of the core variables include interview status, examination status, and sequence number. (Sequence number is a unique ID assigned to each sample person and is required to match the information on this demographic file to the rest of the NHANES 2003-2004 data). (2) Recoded Demographic Variables: these variables include age (age in months for persons through age 19 years, 11 months; age in years for 1- to 84-year-olds, and a top-coded age group of 85 years of age and older), gender, a race/ethnicity variable, current or highest grade of education completed, (less than high school, high school, and more than high school education), country of birth (United States, Mexico, or other foreign born), Poverty Income Ratio (PIR), income, and a pregnancy status variable (adjudicated from various pregnancy related variables). Some of the groupings were made due to limited sample sizes for the two-year data set. (3) Interview and Examination Sample Weight Variables: sample weights are available for analyzing NHANES 2003-2004 data. For a complete listing of survey contents for all years of the NHANES see the document -- Survey Content -- NHANES 1999-2010.

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, consisting of a basic module, a periodic module, and a topical module, began in 1997 (See NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY, 1997 [ICPSR 2954]).

The 2001 NHIS contains the Household, Family, Person, Sample Adult, Sample Child, Child Immunization, and Injury and Poison Episode data files from the basic module. Each record in the Household-Level File (Part 1) contains data on type of living quarters, number of families in the household responding and not responding, and the month and year of the interview for each 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. Also included in this file are variables pertaining to the Healthy People 2010 Objectives.

The Sample Child File (Part 5) provides information from an 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 variables regarding child behavior, the use of mental health services, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

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 regarding injuries and poisonings are found in the Injury and Poison Episode File (Part 7), which examines the cause and date of injury or poisoning, loss of time from work or school, and whether the episode resulted in hospitalization.

Information in the Injury and Poison Verbatim File (Part 8) is comprised of narrative text describing injuries, including type of injury, how the injury occurred, and the body part injured.