DOI: 10.3886/icpsr08976.v3
title: National Health Interview Survey, 1986
title: Version 3

description: The basic 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. There are five types of records in the core survey, each in a separate data file. The variables in the Household File (Part 1) include type of living quarters, size of family, number of families in household, and geographic region. The variables in the Person File (Part 2) include sex, age, race, marital status, veteran status, education, income, industry and occupation codes, and limits on activity. These variables are found in the Condition, Doctor Visit, and Hospital Episode Files as well. The Person File also supplies data on height, weight, bed days, doctor visits, hospital stays, years at residence, and region variables. The Condition (Part 3), Doctor Visit (Part 4), and Hospital Episode (Part 5) Files contain information on each reported condition, two-week doctor visit, or hospitalization (twelve-month recall), respectively. A sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth file have been added along with the five core files. The Dental Health Supplement (Part 6) includes variables that report on dental care and dental health, as well as dental visits, length of hospital stay, reasons for visits to the dentist, use of fluorides, and other oral health practices. Respondents for the Functional Limitations Supplement (Part 7) were persons age 65 and older. Questions concerned degree of difficulty in performing activities of
daily living. The Health Insurance Supplement (Part 8) contains questions pertaining to job stability and layoff as well as type of insurance held, such as Medicare or other types of health insurance coverage. For the Longest Job Worked Supplement (Part 9) respondents were persons age 25 or older who had worked. Information obtained in this supplement determines the effects of a person's job on his or her health. Respondents for the Vitamin/Mineral Intake Supplement (Part 10) were sampled from those age 2-6 and those 18 or older. Proxies for the children and the adults themselves were asked questions to determine individual consumption of these nutrients and their effects on health.
description: Detailed information regarding the use of weights is located within the documentation.
description: Starting in 1985, the NHIS multi-stage probability sampling
design incorporates several major changes that facilitate linkages with
other National Center for Health Statistics surveys, improve precision
of estimates, and reduce costs. Starting with an all-area frame, a
reduced number of 198 PSUs were selected, including two from each
non-self representing stratum. Black persons were oversampled. Four
independent representative samples were drawn which may be used in any
combination.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Household
DS2: Person
DS3: Condition
DS4: Doctor Visit
DS5: Hospital
DS6: Dental Health Supplement
DS7: Functional Limitations Supplement
DS8: Health Insurance Supplement
DS9: Longest Job Worked Supplement
DS10: Vitamin/Mineral Intake Supplement
description: Civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United
States and the District of Columbia from 1,900 geographically defined
Primary Sampling Units (PSUs).
description: face-to-face interviewThe data contain ampersands (&), dashes (-), and blank
codes. There are 837 Black respondents of all ages in the Functional
Limitations Supplement. The age distribution for this supplement is:
N=4,401 ages 65-74, and N=2,791 ages 75 and older. There are 10,053 Black
respondents of all ages in the Person File and the Health and Dental
Insurance Supplements. The age distribution for these files is:
N=48,998 ages 6-54, N=5,862 ages 55-64, N=4,401 ages 65-74, N=2,791
ages 75 and older. There are 2,206 Black respondents of all ages in the
Vitamin/Mineral Intake Supplement and the age distribution for this
supplement is: N=12,302 ages 6-54, N=2,006 ages 55-64, N=1,865 ages
54-74, N=1,233 ages 75 and older. There are 5,225 Black respondents of all ages
in the Longest Job Worked Supplement and the age distribution is:
N=24,863 ages 6-54, N=5,862 ages 55-64, N=4,401 ages 65-74, N=2,701
ages 75 and older.Selected value labels have not been included in the STATA files for the Vitamin/Mineral Intake Supplement (Part 10) of this study. Due to a limitation in STATA, all labels applied to numeric values with decimal places have been removed from the STATA files for Part 10.