DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36146
title: National Health Interview Survey, 2012
title: Archival Version

description: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The main objective of the NHIS is to monitor the health of the United States population through the collection and analysis of data on a broad range of health topics. The NHIS contains many similar questions every year. The repeated items are called "core questions." Beginning with a new NHIS design in 1997, these core questions were divided into three components -- Family, Sample Adult, and Sample Child. The 2012 NHIS data release consists of six core data files, a paradata file, the three Disability Questions Tests files, a Functioning and Disability file, and two Complementary and Alternative Medicine files. Users may see the Survey Description document for more details. The 2012 NHIS contains the core questions, as well as enhanced questions on health care access and utilization. Supplemental topics are covered in the following questionnaires: the Family questionnaire covers subjects of food security; the Sample Adult questionnaire covers subjects of immunization, complementary and alternative medicine, non-cigarette tobacco use, voice, speech, and language; and the Sample Child questionnaire covers subjects of mental health, mental health services, immunization, complementary and alternative medicine, balance, voice, speech, and language. Along with the 2012 NHIS core data files are the Disability Questions Tests 2012 files which contain person-level data collected via a field test of six disability questions. These supplemental questions appeared on the NHIS, at the end of the Family, Sample Adult, and Sample Child Cores. The Disability Questions Tests 2012 files are released as three separate files. A fourth disability supplement was also fielded in 2012 as part of the Sample Adult Core and is called "Adult Functioning and Disability Level." The Adult and Child Alternative Health Supplement files were intended to expand on knowledge of alternative medical services. Questions focus on how often various types of alternative therapies are used, the associated costs, and the reasons they are used. Lastly, the Paradata Level file contains information about the survey and data collection processes; included are data on response rates, keystrokes, interview times, and number of contact attempts.
description: The main objective of the NHIS is to monitor the health of the United States population through the collection and analysis of data on a broad range of health topics.
description: The data are not weighted. These data contain multiple weight variables for each part which must be used in any analysis. Users should refer to the User Guide for further information regarding the weights, their use, and their derivation.
description: Response Rates: The total household response rate was 77.6 percent. The final response rate for the family component was 77.6 percent. The final response rate for the sample child component was 69.7 percent. The final response rate for the sample adult component was 61.2 percent.
description: The sample design follows a multistage area probability design that permits the representative sampling of households and noninstitutional group quarters (e.g., college dormitories). In order to increase the precision of estimates of the Black, Hispanic, and Asian populations, the current NHIS sample design oversamples Black persons, Hispanic persons, and Asian persons. In addition, the sample adult selection process provides that when Black, Hispanic, or Asian persons aged 65 years or older are present, they have an increased chance of being selected as the sample adult. For more information on sampling, please refer to the "NHIS Survey Description" section of the User Guide document.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: Household Level DS2: Family Level DS3: Person Level DS4: Sample Adult Level DS5: Sample Child Level DS6: Injury/Poison Episode Level DS7: Family Disability Level DS8: Adult Functioning and Disability Level DS9: Adult Disability Level DS10: Child Disability Level DS11: Adult Alternative Medicine Level DS12: Child Alternative Medicine Level DS13: Paradata Level
description: Civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Smallest Geographic Unit: Region (and pseudo-PSU)
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI); face-to-face interview; telephone interviewThe User Guide contains information regarding the merging of files and the use of weight variables, along with information regarding changes to the 2012 NHIS.Please note that file names references in the User Guide do not align with the names of files released by ICPSR.For more information about the National Health Interview Survey, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site.