Other Governmental AgenciesAppendix A.4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States and is one of the major data collection programs of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The main objective of the NHIS is to monitor the health of the U.S. population through the collection and analysis of data on a broad range of health topics. A major strength of this survey lies in its ability to display these health characteristics by many demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
The NHIS covers the civilian noninstitutionalized population residing in the United States at the time of the interview. The NHIS is a cross-sectional household interview survey. Sampling and interviewing are continuous throughout each year. The sampling plan follows a multistage area probability design that permits the representative sampling of households and noninstitutional group quarters (e.g., college dormitories). The sampling plan is redesigned after every decennial census. The current sampling plan was implemented in 2006. It is similar in many ways to the previous sampling plan, which was in place from 1995 to 2005. The first stage of the current sampling plan consists of a sample of 428 primary sampling units (PSUs) drawn from approximately 1,900 geographically defined PSUs that cover the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A PSU consists of a county, a small group of contiguous counties, or a metropolitan statistical area.
The revised NHIS questionnaire, implemented since 1997, contains Core questions and Supplements. The Core questions remain largely unchanged from year to year and allow for trends analysis and for data from more than one year to be pooled to increase sample size for analytic purposes. The Core contains four major components: Household, Family, Sample Adult, and Sample Child.
The Household component collects limited demographic information on all of the individuals living in a particular house. The Family component verifies and collects additional demographic information on each member from each family in the house and collects data on topics including health status and limitations, injuries, healthcare access and utilization, health insurance, and income and assets. The Family Core component allows the NHIS to serve as a sampling frame for additional integrated surveys as needed.
Data are collected through a personal household interview conducted by interviewers employed and trained by the U.S. Bureau of the Census according to procedures specified by the NCHS.
Further information on the NHIS may be obtained from
Information Dissemination Staff
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Room 5407
Hyattsville, MD 20782-2003
(800) 232-4636
nhis@cdc.gov
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Summary of Notifiable Diseases
The Summary of Notifiable Diseases, a publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), contains the official statistics, in tabular and graphic form, for the reported occurrence of nationally notifiable infectious diseases in the United States. These statistics are collected and compiled from reports sent by state health departments and territories to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), which is operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.
For more information on the MMWR: Summary of Notifiable Diseases, see http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_nd/.
National Vital Statistics System
The National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) is the method by which data on births, deaths, marriages, and divorces are provided to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data are provided to NCHS through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program (VSCP). In 1984 and earlier years, the VSCP included varying numbers of states that provided data based on a 100 percent sample of their birth certificates. Data for states not in the VSCP were based on a 50 percent sample of birth certificates filed in those states. Population data used to compile birth rates are based on special estimation procedures and are not actual counts.
Race and Hispanic ethnicity are reported separately in the NVSS. Data are available for non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks for 1990 and later; however, for 1980 and 1985, data for Whites and Blacks may include persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For all years, Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native categories include persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
For more information on the NCHS and the NVSS, see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) was created in 1991 to monitor six types of health-risk behaviors that lead to death and disability among young adults: tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, physical inactivity, sexual risk behaviors, unhealthy diet behaviors, and behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence. Obesity and asthma among youth and young adults are also measured. Surveys are conducted every 2 years, usually in the spring semester.
The system includes a national school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as state, territorial, tribal, and local surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local health and education agencies and tribal governments. Each survey takes one class period to complete, approximately 10 minutes to distribute materials and give directions, and 35 minutes to record responses. Permission is obtained from parents before administering this anonymous, voluntary survey. States and local agencies can add or delete questions from the core questionnaire to meet their policy or programmatic needs.
Local, territorial, and jurisdictional data from YRBSS surveys are weighted to represent all public school students in grades 9–12 in the respective jurisdiction. National data are collected from a separate scientific sample of students and are representative of students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Sample size varies according to area, district, or school administering the survey. Methodological studies were conducted in 1991 and 1999 to assess the validity of the self-reported behaviors and personal information. Research indicates that student-reported data is just as credible as that gathered from adults.
Further information on the YRBSS may be obtained from
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Division of Adolescent and School Health
4770 Buford Highway, NE
Atlanta, GA 30341
cdcinfo@cdc.gov
1-800-232-4636