The 1998 Hospital Discharge Survey File and File Documentation WARNING - DATA USE RESTRICTIONS! Read Carefully before Using The Public Health Service Act (Section 308 (d)) provides that the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may be used only for the purpose of health statistical reporting and analysis. Any effort to determine the identity of any reported case is prohibited by this law. NCHS does all it can to assure that the identity of data subjects cannot be disclosed. All direct identifiers, as well as any characteristics that might lead to identification, are omitted from the dataset. Any intentional identification or disclosure of a person or establishment violates the assurances of confidentiality given to the providers of the information. Therefore, users will: 1. Use the data in this dataset for statistical reporting and analysis only. 2. Make no use of the identity of any person or establishment discovered inadvertently and advise the Director, NCHS, of any such discovery. 3. Not link this dataset with individually identifiable data from other NCHS or non-NCHS datasets. By using these data, you signify your agreement to comply with the above-stated statutorily based requirements. The 1998 NHDS dataset is located in: ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Datasets/NHDS The documentation file for the 1998 NHDS dataset are located in: ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/NHDS The dataset file listed below has been compressed. The documentation file is in pdf. format. To load and expand the dataset file, use a ZIP extraction program (such as PkZip) to install this data in a directory (folder) on your hard drive. Size (bytes) File Name File Description Compressed Uncompressed NHDS98.ZIP NHDS dataset file 5,589,000 26,750,000 NHDS1998.pdf NHDS documentation file 275,102 Total compressed file size (dataset) = 5,589,000 Total inflated file size (data set and documentation) = 27,025,102 CAUTION - Because the NHDS is a sample survey, the application of weights to the sample data is needed in order to produce national estimates of inpatient hospital utilization statistics. Statement of Authenticity: This material has been cleared for public distribution by CDC/ATSDR and will be authentic if obtained directly from ftp.cdc.gov. CDC/ATSDR takes all effort to assure the authenticity of electronically distributed documents. However, in all instances where the electronic and official agency record differ, the authenticity of the official agency record is controlling. For questions, suggestions, or comments concerning NHDS data, please contact the National Hospital Discharge Survey at (301) 458-4321. These and other survey data are also available on CD-ROM and public use data tape, as well as in published summaries. For additional information on NCHS data products, contact the: Data Dissemination Branch, NCHS 3311 Toledo Road Hyattsville, MD 20782 Tel: (301) 458-4321 E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/default.htm