National Health Interview Survey

National Health Interview Survey
Name	National Health Interview Survey
Country	United States
Administered by	National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Established	1957
Frequency	Annual
Sample size	Approximately 30,000 households (varies)
Topics	Health status; health care access; vaccinations; chronic conditions; health behaviors

Contents

National Health Interview Survey

The National Health Interview Survey is a principal source of information on the health of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. It provides continuous data supporting analyses by agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and researchers at institutions including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University. The survey informs policy deliberations in venues like the United States Congress, federal agencies such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Overview

The survey collects data on health measures, health care utilization, insurance coverage, immunizations, and health behaviors from a representative sample of households drawn from the United States Census Bureau frames. It supports national estimates used by entities including the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, and academic centers such as the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan. Outputs feed policy reports from the Office of Management and Budget, public health guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, and epidemiologic studies published in journals like the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Established in 1957 under the auspices of the United States Public Health Service, the survey evolved through collaborations with agencies such as the Social Security Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Major redesigns and expansions occurred during administrations and policy shifts including the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act era and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, with methodological updates informed by panels at the National Academy of Medicine and reports from the Institute of Medicine. Historical links to national efforts include coordination with the Decennial Census operations and analytic use by researchers affiliated with Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Sampling uses multistage probability designs informed by frames maintained by the United States Census Bureau and standards set by the Office of Management and Budget. Field data collection employs interviewers trained under protocols aligned with guidance from the National Center for Health Statistics and quality reviews used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for survey operations. Weighting and variance estimation follow complex survey methods discussed in literature from institutions such as the American Statistical Association, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and the Royal Statistical Society. Linkage projects pair survey respondents with administrative files from Social Security Administration earnings records, Medicare claims, and vital statistics from state health departments.

Core modules cover chronic conditions (asthma, diabetes, heart disease) with condition definitions harmonized with clinical classifications used by the World Health Organization and diagnostic criteria from the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association. Modules address preventive services, immunization history following recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and health behaviors referenced in guidance from the Office of the Surgeon General. Periodic supplements have focused on topics tied to policy-relevant issues studied by bodies like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Public-use files are disseminated by the National Center for Health Statistics and archived across platforms used by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and data centers at universities including University of Michigan and Columbia University. Restricted-use linked files require approvals coordinated with institutional review boards at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University and research clearance from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysts from think tanks including the Kaiser Family Foundation and research teams at the Brookings Institution use the data for reports presented to committees in the United States Senate and analyses cited in publications such as the Lancet.

Analyses of survey data have documented trends in insurance coverage during policy changes such as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and have informed monitoring of population health indicators used by the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. Findings have underpinned academic studies at Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of California, Los Angeles on chronic disease prevalence, informed vaccine uptake analyses that reference recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and supported surveillance of health disparities highlighted by the National Academy of Medicine and advocacy by organizations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The survey’s longitudinal series has been cited in major legal and policy debates before the United States Supreme Court and in legislative hearings held by the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Category:Surveys