| **National Center    for     Health Statistics            Division of Data     Services            6525 Belcrest Road     Hyattsville, MD     20782-2003     (301)458-4636      **

 
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**National Death Index**

The National Death Index (NDI) is a    central computerized index of death record information on file in the State vital    statistics offices.  Working with these State offices, NCHS established the NDI as a    resource to aid epidemiologists and other health and medical investigators with their    mortality ascertainment activities. 

****Available to investigators **solely**    for statistical purposes in medical and health research.  **Not accessible to    organizations or the general public for legal, administrative, or genealogy purposes.**

****Central computerized index of death record    information (beginning with 1979 deaths) compiled from magnetic tapes submitted by State    vital statistics offices. Death records are added to the NDI file annually, approximately    10 months after the end of a particular calendar year. 

****Contains a standard set of identifying information on    each death to be used in searches of the file to identify and locate death records in the    State offices. 

****Assists investigators in determining whether persons    in their studies have died and, if so, provide the names of the States in which those    deaths occurred, the dates of death, and the corresponding death certificate numbers. 

****Investigators can then make arrangements with the    appropriate State offices to obtain copies of death certificates or specific statistical    information such as cause of death. 

****Investigators can also obtain cause of death codes    using the NDI *Plus* service.

To use the system, investigators first    must submit an NDI application form to NCHS. Applicants should allow about 2 months for    their applications to be reviewed and approved.  Once approved, users may submit    their study subjects' names, social security numbers, dates of birth, and related    information to NCHS on magnetic tape, floppy disk, or NCHS coding sheets. 

As of January 2000 the fees for routine    NDI searches consist of a $350.00 service charge plus $0.30 per user record for each year    of death searched. For example, 1,000 records searched against 10 years would cost $350 +    ($0.30 x 1,000 x 10) or $3,350. Fees are reduced for NDI searches involving more than    2,500 records. Fees for the NDI *Plus* service are slightly higher.

To obtain a free NDI User's Manual and    NDI application form and more information on NDI fees, write to:**National Death Index**Division of Vital Statistics      National Center for Health Statistics      6525 Belcrest Road, Room 820      Hyattsville, Maryland 20782      (301) 458-4444

 

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This page last reviewed November 5, 1999

**U.S.    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES****Centers    for Disease Control and Prevention**    National Center for Health Statistics    Division of Data Services     Hyattsville, MD    20782-2003    (301) 458-4636
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