National Health Interview Survey

Intro and Overview

The National Health Interview Survey has been conducted by the Census for more than 50 years. Survey content focuses on health status and disability, as well as barriers to accessing healthcare. The NHIS can be linked to the MEPS and the National Survey of Family Growth Links to an external site., and to the National Death Index Links to an external site.. The NHIS contains approximately 45,000 households and 100,000 persons. Demographic information are included for all persons in the household along with health states and limitations, injuries, healthcare access and utilization. For one sampled adult and one sampled child from each household, the survey collects additional information. 

Tips for Getting Started

NHIS is available through IPUMS Health. The webinar below is lengthy but an excellent resource for a first time user.

The NHIS webpage also has a section devoted to explaining the measures of race and Hispanic origin Links to an external site.. This is especially useful for projects on health disparities.

Key Advantages

• Large and long history of data collection.
• IPUMS harmonized variables and resources make it easy to access for a first time user.
• Special disability supplements in 1994-95 Links to an external site.

Key Disadvantages

• Cross Sectional.
• No geocode below region (not state)
• Redesign in 2019 Links to an external site. may limit the comparability of data going forward

Papers Using these Data

There is no CDC NHIS bibliography page, but you can search studies in the IPUMS bibliography Links to an external site. using the IPUMS NHIS Collections filter.

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