DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02755.v1
title: National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997
title: Version 1

description: This series measures the prevalence and correlates of drug use in the United States. The surveys are designed to provide quarterly, as well as annual, estimates. Information is provided on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco among members of United States households aged 12 and older. Questions include age at first use as well as lifetime, annual, and past-month usage for the following drug classes: marijuana, cocaine (and crack), hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, alcohol, tobacco, and nonmedical use of prescription drugs, including psychotherapeutics. Respondents were also asked about substance abuse treatment history, illegal activities, problems resulting from the use of drugs, personal and family income sources and amounts, need for treatment for drug or alcohol use, criminal record, and needle-sharing. Questions on mental health and access to care, which were introduced in the 1994-B questionnaire (see NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY ON DRUG ABUSE, 1994 [ICPSR 6949]), were retained in this administration of the survey. In 1996, the section on risk/availability of drugs was reintroduced, and sections on driving behavior and personal behavior were added (see NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY ON DRUG ABUSE, 1996 [ICPSR 2391]). The 1997 questionnaire continued the risk/availability section along with new items about the use of cigars, people present when respondents used marijuana or cocaine for the first time (if applicable), reasons for using these two drugs the first time, reasons for using these two drugs in the past year, reasons for discontinuing use of these two drugs (for lifetime but not past-year users), and reasons respondents never used these two drugs. In addition, a new series of questions asked only of respondents aged 12 to 17 was introduced. These items covered a variety of topics that may be associated with substance use and related behaviors, such as exposure to substance abuse prevention and education programs, gang involvement, relationship with parents, and substance use by friends. Demographic data include gender, race, age, ethnicity, marital status, educational level, job status, income level, veteran status, and current household composition.
description: Data were weighted based on the five stages of sampling that were used. Adjustments were made to compensate for nonresponse and sampling error. Adjustments also included trimming sample weights to reduce excessive weight variation and a post-stratification to Census population estimates. The final weight variable to be used in analysis is ANALWT.
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Performed consistency checks.; Standardized missing values.; Created online analysis version with question text.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes..
description: Response Rates: The interview response rates for the three racial/ethnic groups were: 75.5 percent for Whites/others, 81.8 percent for Blacks, and 82.5 percent for Hispanics. The overall unweighted interview response rate was 78.3 percent. A completed interview had to contain, at a minimum, data on the recency of use of marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS1: National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997
description: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Series
description: Data were collected and prepared for release by Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC.
The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse questionnaire and estimation methodology changed with the implementation of the 1994-B survey. Therefore, estimates produced from the 1997 survey are not comparable to those produced from the 1994-A and earlier surveys.
For selected variables, statistical imputation was performed following logical imputation to replace missing responses. These variables are identified in the codebook as "...LOGICALLY IMPUTED" and "...imputed" for the logical procedure or by the designation "IMPUTATION-REVISED" in the variable label when the statistical procedure was also performed. The names of statistically imputed variables begin with the letters "IR". For each imputation-revised variable there is a corresponding imputation indicator variable that indicates whether a case's value on the variable resulted from an interview response or was imputed by the hot-deck technique. Hot-deck imputation is described in the codebook.
The "basic sampling weights" are equal to the inverse of the probabilities of selection of sample respondents. To obtain "final NHSDA weights," the basic weights were adjusted to take into account dwelling unit-level and individual-level nonresponse and then further adjusted to ensure consistency with intercensal population projections from the United States Bureau of the Census.
To protect the privacy of respondents, all variables that could be used to identify individuals have been encrypted or collapsed in the public use file. These modifications should not affect analytic uses of the public use file.
Users who wish to replicate results published in the NHSDA Main Findings Report or other SAMHSA reports should use the 1997 NHSDA imputed data for prevalence estimates rather than raw data from the questionnaire or drug answer sheets.
For some drugs that have multiple names, questions regarding the use of that drug may be asked for each distinct name. For example, even though methamphetamine, methedrine and desoxyn are the same drug, their use was measured in three separate variables.
description: The civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 and older, including residents of noninstitutional group quarters, such as college dormitories, group homes, shelters, rooming houses, and civilians dwelling on military installations.
description: Multistage area probability sample design involving five selection stages: (1) primary sampling unit (PSU) areas (e.g., counties), (2) subareas within primary areas (e.g., blocks or block groups), (3) listing units within subareas, (4) age domains within sampled listing units, and (5) eligible individuals within sampled age domains. The 1997 NHSDA used the same 115 PSUs as the 1995 and 1996 NHSDAs, plus a total of 18 supplemental PSUs from Arizona and California. The 115 PSUs were selected to represent the nation's total eligible population, including areas of high Hispanic concentration. These PSUs were defined as metropolitan areas, counties, groups of counties, Census tracts, and independent cities. Of the 115 PSUs, 43 were selected with certainty and 72 were randomly selected with probability proportional to size (PPS). The national sample was supplemented by a PPS selection of 14 noncertainty PSUs from Arizona plus 4 noncertainty PSUs from California. Because the national sample provided representation for certainty PSUs in each state, no additional certainty PSUs were added to either sample. Unlike NHSDAs prior to 1996, the 1996 and 1997 NHSDAs did not oversample cigarette smokers aged 18-34. Unlike the 1996 NHSDA, which reused about 95 percent of the sample segments used in 1995, the 1997 NHSDA basically surveyed a new segment sample. Only 96 segments in the 1997 NHSDA overlapped with 1996 segments. Beginning in quarter two of the 1997 NHSDA, residents of Arizona and California were oversampled to provide direct survey estimates for these states. Due to confidentiality concerns, there is no variable on the public use data file to indicate a state identifier. The five age groups were: ages 12-17, 18-25, 26-34, 35-49, and 50 and older. The three race/ethnic groups were: Whites/others, non-Hispanic Blacks, and Hispanics. Blacks and Hispanics were oversampled. The study yielded an 85.0 percent eligibility rate for sample households and a 92.7 percent completion rate for screening eligible households.