National Center for Health Statistics Research Data Center Peter S. Meyer Director, Research Data Center May 6, 2009

National Center for Health Statistics Mission and Mandate Programs Federal Statistical System Working with the RDC

To monitor the nation’s health—to collect, analyze and disseminate health data To provide statistical information that will guide actions and policies to improve the health of the American people. NCHS Mission

National Center for Health Statistics Mission To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health services in the United States Extent and nature of illness and disability Life expectancy Disease incidence Infant and maternal morbidity and mortality Impact of illness and disability on the economy and other aspects of well-being Environmental, social, and other health hazards Determinants of health

National Center for Health Statistics Mission Health resources: Health professionals and services and facilities Utilization of health care: Ambulatory and facility-based Health care costs and financing Family formation, growth and dissolution

Public Health Service Act, 1956 (Sec. 306) NCHS statistics must be “…of high quality, timely, comprehensive as well as specific, standardized, and adequately analyzed and indexed, and NCHS shall publish, make available, and disseminate such statistics on as wide a basis as is practicable.” NCHS Legislation

Why can’t I just have the data? NCHS data confidentiality rules prohibit the release of potentially identifiable data Standards of the Federal Statistical System Ethics Consent Laws and laws $250,000 and 5 years in prison

Born in 1956 with the National Health Survey Act Forerunner of today’s National Health Interview Survey and The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 500+ staff In Hyattsville, MD and Research Triangle Park, NC FY 09 Budget: $119M + $40M in Reimbursable agreements NCHS: Snapshot

Our Scope…

NCHS Programs: Data Systems Vital Statistics Health Status National Health Interview Survey National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Health Care Survey National Survey on Family Growth State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey

National Vital Statistics System Birth and death records State and territory records Information at the State and local level

National Vital Statistics System Data and analyses Birth and death rates Life expectancy Births Nonmarital births Births to teens Prenatal care and birthweight Pregnancy outcomes Causes of death Infant mortality

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey NHANES Mobile Exam Center

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data source Standardized physical examinations, laboratory tests, personal interviews with annual sample of 5,000 Data applications Disease or condition prevalence Risk factors Nutrition monitoring Anthropometry Growth and development Disease monitoring

National Health Care Surveys Hospital Discharge Survey Hospital Discharge Survey Ambulatory Care Survey Ambulatory Care Survey Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey Home and Hospice Survey Home and Hospice Survey Survey on Ambulatory Surgery Survey on Ambulatory Surgery Residential Care Survey Residential Care Survey

Source: National Hospital Discharge Survey Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), Rate per 10,000 population CABG PCI

National Survey of Family Growth National Survey of Family Growth Data source and sample In-person interviews in the home Annual sample of 7,600 women and 5,000 men, representative of the civilian US population, ages Findings Reproductive health Fertility/infertility Contraception Pregnancy Sexual activity Family formation Marriage, divorce, cohabitation

SLAITS The State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey Random digit-dial telephone survey National, state and local data needs Uses sampling frame from the National Immunization Survey Designed to produce immunization coverage estimates for 50 states and 28 metropolitan areas

National Immunization Survey

What We Eat in America – USDA/NCHS An Integrated Federal Food Survey What We Eat in America (WWEIA) is the dietary intake interview component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) WWEIA is conducted as a partnership between the USDA and the DHHS

RDC Proposals Full research proposal from analytic plan to examples of desired output, eg, table shells Proposals are review in the RDC, the program that produces the data, and the Confidentiality officer Provide specifications to the RDC staff for creating analytic files Files are only created by RDC staff

Proposal Requirements Cover letter Project title Abstract (maximum 300 words summarizing project) Full contact information Institutional affiliation Mail address, phone, Dates of proposed time at RDC Source of funding for proposed research

Proposal Requirements Study background Key study questions or hypotheses Public health benefits Methods Analytic approach and statistical methods Statistical software requirements Description of intended output for nondisclosure review, e.g. Table shells Model equations Test statistics that researcher plans to remove from RDC

Proposal Requirements Explanation of why restricted data are needed, e.g. describe why publicly available data are insufficient Summary of data requirements to be included in analytic file Identification of sample Identification of variables Description of additional data to be supplied by researcher to be merged with NCHS or other data source

Proposal Requirements: Appendices Current Curriculum Vitae or resume for each investigator Data dictionary – complete listing of specific data requested and its source(s) and indicate if public use or restricted access variables specific files and years sample variables (dependent, independent, matching/merging)

RDC Helpful Tips Be clear about research and data requirements (helps to determine feasibility of project) Clearly identify the sample to be included in the analytic file Provide data dictionaries for both Public use data Restricted data Provide examples of expected output

National Center for Health Statistics Research Data Center Proposal Checklist National Vital Statistics System National Health Interview Survey NHIS Analytic Considerations National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Tutorial National Health Care Surveys Linked Data Files Peter S. Meyer, Director Research Data Center