IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STATA AND SPSS USERS The 2003 NAMCS and NHAMCS public-use file release marks the second time we have made Stata and SPSS documentation files available to data users. We are providing Stata "DO" programs to read in each dataset and create Stata files, as well as dictionary files (.dct) to create variable labels. For SPSS users, there are programs to read in each dataset, create SPSS files, and assign variable and value labels. If data users wish to have value labels for their Stata files, please note that the formats we provide for SAS users can be modified slightly for use with Stata. It should be pointed out that Stata will not allow value labels for character (string) format variables. In the case of NAMCS and NHAMCS data, there are a number of character or string variables, such as DIAG1 (physician's first-listed diagnosis), etc. For most character variables we have been able to redefine them as numeric without changing their basic structure and the labels should work. However, for the diagnosis variables (DIAG1, DIAG2, DIAG3) which actually contain alpha characters (eg "V") in the string, this was not able to be done. We do also have a numeric recode version of the DIAG variables (DIAG1R, DIAG2R, DIAG3R), but these will not match with the character format of the ICD-9-CM codes in many cases, and we do not have a set of labels that match with the numeric recode variables for diagnosis codes. Our Stata and SPSS documentation files are new products that we are providing as a convenience to data users, and may be considered as "beta" versions for the time being. If data users experience difficulties or have suggestions for future releases of these products, please contact the Ambulatory Care Statistics Branch at 301-458-4600.