Before beginning this part of the survey, interviewers read the following statement:

The question for CHEMOTRET was the first item in the section of the CSHCN dealing with "Treatment/Counseling." Respondents who answered "yes" to CHEMOTRET received the follow-up question, "Has this problem lasted or expected to last for at least 12 months?" (CHEMOTRETYR).

The 2002 Field Representative's Manual provides the following information regarding the purpose of the CSHCN Supplement:

• Behavior

• Learning

• Growth or physical development

• Abilities and activities at school or play

• The kind or amount of services needed or used

According to the 2002 Survey Description, the CSHCN Supplement was included in the NHIS "to compare the results of a face-to-face in-home interview as conducted by the NHIS with a random digit dial telephone interview as conducted by NCHS's State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS)." The Survey Description also notes that the special needs questions included in the 2001 SLAITS and 2002 NHIS were taken from a standardized screener developed by the Foundation for Accountability (FACCT). The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), in collaboration with FACCT, provides further information on this screener on their website at http://www.cahmi.org, including scoring procedures used to identify children with special health care needs.

As noted, CHEMOTRET and CHEMOTRETYR were items in the section of the CSHCN dealing with "Treatment/Counseling." If children had affirmative responses in both these variables, they also had a value of "Yes" in the IPUMS NHIS-created variable SPNEEDSERV, indicating they met the criteria for children with special health care needs in the domain "service use above that considered usual or routine."