DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02661.v1
title: National Health Interview Survey, 1996
title: Version 1

description: 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. The variables in the
 Household Record file (Part 1) include type of living quarters, size
 of family, number of families in the household, presence of a
 telephone, number of unrelated individuals, and region. The Person
 Record file (Part 2) includes information on sex, age, race, marital
 status, Hispanic origin, education, veteran status, family income,
 family size, major activities, health status, activity limits,
 employment status, and industry and occupation. These variables are
 found in the Condition, Doctor Visit, and Hospital Record files as
 well. The Person Record also supplies data on height, weight, bed
 days, doctor visits, hospital stays, years at residence, and region
 variables. The Condition Record file (Part 3) contains information for
 each reported health condition, with specifics on injury and accident
 reports. The Doctor Visit Record file (Part 4) documents doctor visits
 within the time period and identifies acute or chronic conditions. The
 Hospital Record file (Part 5) provides information on medical
 conditions, hospital episodes, type of service, type of hospital
 ownership, date of admission and discharge, number of nights in
hospital, and operations performed.
description: The NHIS uses a stratified multistage probability design.
 The sample for the NHIS is redesigned every decade using population
 data from the most recent decennial census. A redesigned sample was
 implemented in 1995, so the sample design for 1996 is different from
 the sample designs in 1994 and earlier years of the NHIS. This new
 design includes a greater number of primary sampling units (PSUs)
 (from 198 in 1994 to 358 for the 1995 design), and a more complicated
 nonresponse adjustment based on household screening and oversampling
 of Black and Hispanic persons for more reliable estimates of these
 groups. Additionally, the 1996 population estimates were adjusted to
 the national population estimates by age, sex, and race/ethnicity,
 based on projections from the 1990 United States Census. Part of the
 1996 NHIS sample was used for testing of the computer-assisted
 personal interview (CAPI) system that was implemented for the 1997
 NHIS. The CAPI test cases are not included in the 1996 public use
 file. Relative to 1995, the 1996 NHIS sample size was reduced by
 approximately 25 percent in the first and second quarters, and by 50
percent in the third and fourth quarters.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Household Record
DS2: Person Record
DS3: Condition Record
DS4: Doctor Visit Record
DS5: Hospital Record
description: Civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the 50 states
and the District of Columbia.
description: (1) Per agreement with NCHS, ICPSR distributes the
 data files and technical documentation in this collection in their
 original form as prepared by NCHS. (2) The codebook and the coding
 manual are provided as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF
 file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be
 accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
 Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided
through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.