National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 1998

DESCRIPTION: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a multi-purpose health survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). It is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian, non-institutionalized, household population of the United States. The NHIS has been conducted annually since 1957 and obtains 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.

The NHIS design consists of two parts: 1) a set of basic health and demographic items (known as the Core questionnaire), and 2) one or more sets of questions (called Supplements) on current health topics. In 1997 the NHIS was redesigned into three parts: 1) a Basic Module, 2) a Periodic Module, and 3) a Topical Module. Periodic and Topical Modules are co-sponsored questions that remain in the survey for a year. Effective 2001, the term "supplement" or "supplementary questions are used to identify co-sponsored questions.

The Basic Module consists of a Family Core, Sample Adult Core, and Sample Child Core. The Topical Module is analogous to the Supplements of the earlier NHIS. Information in the Family Core is collected for all members and includes: household composition and socio-demographic characteristics, tracking information, information for matches to administrative data bases, and basic indicators of health status, activity limitation, injuries, health insurance coverage, and access to and utilization of health care services. The Topical Module questionnaires may be used only once or repeated as needed. Topical Module/Supplement topics include: AIDS knowledge and attitudes, child health care and immunization, dental care, substance abuse, hospitalization, preventive care, nursing care, prosthetic appliances, and self-care.

The NHIS Supplements on Aging (SOA) conducted in 1984 and 1994 and the 1984-1990 Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA) were designed to furnish information on the causes and correlates of changes in the health and functioning of older Americans. Another component of the NHIS is the National Health Interview Survey on Disability (NHIS-D). Begun in 1994, the NHIS-D was designed to collect data that can be used to understand disability and to develop public policy on disability.

CODEBOOKS: Codebooks with frequencies are available on the local area network for the most recent releases 1998-2002 (R:\CFDR\Public\Data\NHIS). There are multiple codebooks for each year. The 'readme file' describes the content of each codebook. Codebooks and questionnaires can also be obtained from the NHIS website or from ICPSR.

DATA: Data are available on the NHIS website or from ICPSR. SAS and SPSS input statements are provided. STATA input statements are available for the most recent data release (2005).

LIST OF FREQUENCIES: Frequencies are available for all variables and waves in the codebooks on the local area network (R:\CFDR\Public\Data\NHIS).

WEBLINKS: Additional information about the study is available at the NHIS website and fromICPSR.

UPCOMING RELEASES: New data and documentation releases are posted on the NHIS website.