Description

JAUNDICEYRC indicates whether the person had chronic yellow jaundice in the past year. This variable is created with supplemental programming by the IPUMS NHIS staff from the pre-1997 condition records. For general information about IHIS variables (such as JAUNDICEYRC) created from the pre-1997 condition records, see the User Note on Condition Records and Condition Variables.

Defining Jaundice Records and Identifying Persons with Jaundice

For all available years, persons who were asked a direct question about jaundice and who have a chronic jaundice condition record are given a "Yes" code for JAUNDICEYRC. Persons who were asked a direct question about jaundice but do not have a chronic jaundice record are given a code of "No." Persons who were not asked a direct question about jaundice, or for whom it is unknown whether they were asked such a question, are given a code of "NIU" (not in universe), regardless of whether they have a chronic jaundice record.

1975 and 1978

For 1975 and 1978, jaundice records were defined as those condition records with a code of "231" ("Jaundice [not for newborn]") in the variable DIAGR1 in the original NHIS public use files. This condition code value comes from NCHS's Diagnostic Recode #1: Diseases, Injuries, and Impairments, not from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. Additionally, to be considered "chronic," jaundice condition records must have a code of "1" ("Chronic") in the variable CACODE in the original NHIS public use files.

1979 to 1996

For 1979-1996, chronic jaundice records were defined as those condition records with a code of "7824" ("Jaundice, unspecified, not of newborn") in the variable CDICDCOD in the original NHIS public use files. This condition code value comes from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Revision 9. As with earlier years, to be considered "chronic," jaundice condition records must have a code of "1" ("Chronic") in the variable CACODE in the original NHIS public use files.

Weights
For 1975, JAUNDICEYRC should be weighted with PERWEIGHT.

For 1978 to 1981, JAUNDICEYRC should be weighted with CONDWT1.

For 1982 to 1996, JAUNDICEYRC should be weighted with CONDWT3.

Comparability

As with all of the person-level condition variables created by IHIS from condition records prior to 1997, the universe for JAUNDICEYRC is substantially different for 1978 forward than it is for years prior to 1978. Beginning in 1978, only persons living in 1/6 of households, rather than all persons, were asked a direct question about having jaundice in the past year. There is also a minor universe change between the sets of years 1978-1981 and 1982-1996. These changes require that different weight variables be used depending on which years of data are analyzed. See the "Description" tab for details.

Additionally, there is a change in the way "Yes" responses are coded over time. See the User Note on Condition Records and Condition Variables for details about the composite coding scheme employed by IHIS.

Universe

Availability

• 1975, 1978-1996

Weights

• 1975 : PERWEIGHT
• 1978-1981 : CONDWT1
• 1982-1996 : CONDWT3