1999 NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY (NHIS) 02/13/2002 PUBLIC USE DATA RELEASE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WARNING - DATA USE RESTRICTIONS! Read Carefully Before Use 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 data files. 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 these data files 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 (301-458-4500). 3. Not link these data files with individually identifiable data from other NCHS or non-NCHS data files. By using these data, you signify your agreement to comply with the above-stated statutorily-based requirements. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INTRODUCTION The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The NHIS administers face-to-face interviews in a nationally representative sample of households. Each week a probability sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States is interviewed by personnel of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Information is obtained about the health and other characteristics of each member of the household. 1999 NHIS STRUCTURE Beginning with a new NHIS design in 1997, the NHIS contains a Basic Module every year. The Basic Module is divided into three components which have then been divided into six questionnaires and then nine data files. In some years, the NHIS will also have Periodic Modules or Topical Modules. The 1999 NHIS contains both the Basic Module and Periodic Modules. The questions in the 1999 Periodic Modules have been placed within the Basic Module Sample Adult and Sample Child components. The following chart shows the primary data files for the 1999 NHIS components: Basic Module Component Questionnaire Data File ---------------------- ------------- --------------- Family Core Household Household " Family Family " " Person " " Injury Episode " " Injury Verbatim " " Poison Episode Sample Adult Core Sample Adult Sample Adult Sample Child Core Sample Child Sample Child " Immunization Immunization -- Recontact -- 1999 NHIS FILES AND DOCUMENTATION The various files listed below comprise the 1999 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) public use data release. A copy of this file (README.TXT), in ASCII format, is located with each of the following file groups (survey questionnaires, data files, SAS and SPSS input statements, and documentation). 1999 NHIS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES, ETC. The 1999 NHIS is broken into six questionnaires - Household, Family, Sample Adult, Sample Child, Immunization, and Recontact. Flashcards were handed to the respondents to facilitate their ability to answer certain questions - these are referenced in the questionnaires. The Field Representative Manual contains the guidelines and instructions on the survey process and topic areas covered by the NHIS and was provided to the Field Representatives (also known as interviewers). The survey questionnaires, flashcards, and Field Representative Manual are in PDF format. Also included is a flowchart that shows how a respondent would move through the various questionnaires. These files are in PDF format and can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat software. The Adobe Acrobat Reader software can be downloaded from the Adobe Acrobat Web site at: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html File --File Size-- File Name Description Format (KB) (Pages) QHOUSHLD.PDF Household Questionnaire PDF 92 16 QFAMILYX.PDF Family Core Questionnaire PDF 451 63 QSAMADLT.PDF Sample Adult Core Questionnaire PDF 460 71 QSAMCHLD.PDF Sample Child Core Questionnaire PDF 139 24 QIMMUNIZ.PDF Immunization Questionnaire PDF 212 19 QRECONCT.PDF Recontact Questionnaire PDF 48 6 FLASHCRD.PDF Flashcards PDF 4,075 169 FRMANTOC.PDF FR Manual - Table of Contents PDF 18 3 FRMANU_A.PDF FR Manual - Part A PDF 166 32 FRMANU_B.PDF FR Manual - Part B PDF 326 55 FRMANU_C.PDF FR Manual - Part C PDF 1,263 264 FRMANU_D.PDF FR Manual - Part D PDF 759 147 NHISFLOW.PDF NHIS Flow Diagram PDF 8 1 The survey questionnaires, flashcards, and Field Representative Manual are located at: ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Survey_Questionnaire s/NHIS/1999 1999 NHIS DATA FILES The 1999 NHIS has been divided into nine data files. For ease of transmission, each of the 1999 NHIS data files has been converted into a self-extracting compressed format. To load and expand a compressed file into an ASCII file, perform the following steps: Download a compressed file onto your hard drive into an appropriate directory (folder). For example: Copy the data file HOUSEHLD.EXE into a directory called NHIS1999. To do this, create a directory on your C: drive called NHIS1999. Then, using your browser, go to the FTP site containing the 1999 NHIS data files (see address at end of this section). Right click on the HOUSEHLD.EXE file. Depending on your browser, select Save Link As... or Save Target As... Type c:\nhis1999\HOUSEHLD.EXE in the box labeled File Name and hit Enter. To then extract HOUSEHLD.EXE into the ASCII file HOUSEHLD.DAT, go to the directory NHIS1999 and do the following: - From DOS - in the c:\nhis1999 directory, type HOUSEHLD and hit Enter - From Windows - Double-click on HOUSEHLD.EXE or Click the Start Button, Click Run, enter c:\nhis1999\HOUSEHLD.EXE and hit Enter. The ASCII file HOUSEHLD.DAT will be generated which can then be used for processing by PC statistical software packages which utilize ASCII formatted input, or transferred to another computer for processing. NOTE: The 1999 NHIS files are large in size. Please use caution and check your disk drive capacity before extracting. ------- File Size ------ File Compressed Uncompressed File Name Description Format (KB) (KB) FAMILYXX.EXE Family Data ASCII 1,091 7,493 HOUSEHLD.EXE Household Data ASCII 332 2,559 IMMUNIZE.EXE Immunization Data ASCII 576 9,001 INJEPSOD.EXE Injury Episode " ASCII 58 363 INJVERBT.EXE Injury Verbatim " ASCII 117 1,653 PERSONSX.EXE Person Data ASCII 4,531 78,766 POIEPSOD.EXE Poison Episode " ASCII 5 6 SAMADULT.EXE Sample Adult Data ASCII 3,461 37,028 SAMCHILD.EXE Sample Child Data ASCII 626 3,468 The 1999 NHIS data files are located at: ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Datasets/NHIS/1999 1999 NHIS SAS AND SPSS INPUT STATEMENTS Sample SAS and SPSS input statement programs have been provided for each data file. By using the ASCII data files (.DAT files) as input to these programs, SAS and SPSS data files can be created. The SAS and SPSS input statement programs are stored in ASCII format. File File Size File Name Description Format (KB) FAMILYXX.SAS Family SAS program ASCII 22 HOUSEHLD.SAS Household SAS program ASCII 9 IMMUNIZE.SAS Immunization SAS program ASCII 48 INJEPSOD.SAS Injury Episode SAS program ASCII 24 INJVERBT.SAS Injury Verbatim SAS program ASCII 4 PERSONSX.SAS Person SAS program ASCII 104 POIEPSOD.SAS Poison Episode SAS program ASCII 7 SAMADULT.SAS Sample Adult SAS program ASCII 150 SAMCHILD.SAS Sample Child SAS program ASCII 51 FAMILYXX.SPS Family SPSS program ASCII 19 HOUSEHLD.SPS Household SPSS program ASCII 6 IMMUNIZE.SPS Immunization SPSS program ASCII 83 INJEPSOD.SPS Injury Episode SPSS program ASCII 24 INJVERBT.SPS Injury Verbatim SPSS program ASCII 2 PERSONSX.SPS Person SPSS program ASCII 155 POIEPSOD.SPS Poison Episode SPSS program ASCII 5 SAMADULT.SPS Sample Adult SPSS program ASCII 200 SAMCHILD.SPS Sample Child SPSS program ASCII 51 The 1999 NHIS sample SAS and SPSS input statement programs are located at: ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Program_Code/NHIS/19 99 1999 NHIS DOCUMENTATION FILES There is a data file layout (also called data dictionary) associated with each data file. There is also a Survey Description document which contains general information about the 1999 NHIS. The documentation files are in PDF format and can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat software. The Adobe Acrobat Reader software can be downloaded from the Adobe Acrobat Web site at: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html File --File Size-- File Name Description Format (KB) (Pages) FAMILYXX.PDF Family File Layout PDF 318 69 HOUSEHLD.PDF Household File Layout PDF 86 16 IMMUNIZE.PDF Immunization File Layout PDF 526 93 INJEPSOD.PDF Injury Episode File Layout PDF 449 82 INJVERBT.PDF Injury Verbatim File Layout PDF 43 9 PERSONSX.PDF Person File Layout PDF 3,091 518 POIEPSOD.PDF Poison Episode File Layout PDF 83 13 SAMADULT.PDF Sample Adult File Layout PDF 4,388 699 SAMCHILD.PDF Sample Child File Layout PDF 987 164 SRVYDESC.PDF Survey Description Document PDF 452 81 The 1999 NHIS documentation files are located at: ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentatio n/NHIS/1999 1999 NHIS DATA FILES' RECORD SEQUENCE All records in the NHIS data files have first been sorted by the Household Serial Number (HHX). The Family file has been sorted by the Family Serial Number (FMX) within the Household Serial Number (HHX). The person-level files (Person, Sample Adult, Sample Child, and Immunization) have been sorted by the Person Number (PX) within the Household Serial Number (HHX). The injury files (Injury Episode and Injury Verbatim) have been sorted by Person Number (PX) and Injury Episode Number (INJEPNO) within the Household Serial Number (HHX). The Poison Episode file has been sorted by Person Number (PX) and Poison Episode Number (POIEPNO) within the Household Serial Number (HHX). MERGING 1999 NHIS DATA FILES To merge data from the Household file into the Family file, into any of the person-level files (Person, Sample Adult, Sample Child, and Immunization) or into any of the episode-level files (Injury Episode, Injury Verbatim, and Poison Episode), merge by variable HHX. To merge any person-level file with another person-level file or with an episode-level file, merge by variables HHX and PX. To merge one Injury file with the other Injury file, merge by variables HHX, PX, and INJEPNO. To merge the Family file information into a person-level or episode-level file, re-sort the person-level or episode-level file by variables HHX and FMX and then merge by HHX and FMX. CONTACT INFORMATION Updates about new data releases, publications, or errors will be sent to members of the NHIS Listserv. To join, visit the CDC website at: http://www.cdc.gov/subscribe.html Input your name and E-mail address, select the item "National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) researchers", and click the "Subscribe" button. For additional information on NHIS data products: Phone : 301-458-4901 FAX : 301-458-4035 E-mail : nhislist@cdc.gov. Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm/ For additional information on other NCHS data products: Phone : 301-458-INFO [301-458-4636] E-mail : nchsquery@cdc.gov Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY This material has been cleared for public distribution by CDC/ATSDR and will be authentic if obtained directly from ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/. 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.