National Health Interview Survey, 2004

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 2004 NHIS contains the Household, Family,
Person, Sample Adult and Sample Child 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,
use of nasal spray, renal conditions, AIDS, joint symptoms, health
status, limitation of daily activities, and behaviors such as smoking,
alcohol consumption, and physical activity. 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 like
hearing aids, braces, or wheelchairs. Also included are variables
regarding child behavior, the use of mental health services, and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as well as responses
to the SDQ-EX, which is the extended version of Strengths and
Difficulties questionnaire on child mental health. Several changes
have occurred in the 2004 NHIS. The Child Immunization Section (CIM)
has been dropped. Also new in 2004, questionnaires have been provided
in both English and Spanish. The Injury/Poison Episode File (Part 6)
is an episode-based file that contains information about the external
cause and nature of the injury or poisoning episode and what the
person was doing at the time of the injury or poisoning episode, in
addition to the date and place of occurrence. The Injury/Poison
Episode Verbatim File (Part 7) contains edited narrative text
descriptions of the injury or poisoning provided by the
respondent. Imputed income files for 2004 are now available through
the NCHS Web site at www.cdc.gov/nhis.