Description

STROKEVC indicates whether the person ever had a stroke. 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 STROKEVC) created from the pre-1997 condition records, see the User Note on Condition Records and Condition Variables.

Defining Stroke Records and Identifying Persons Who Had a Stroke

For all available years, persons who were asked a direct question about having a stroke and who have a chronic stroke condition record are given a "Yes" code for STROKEVC. Persons who were asked a direct question about having a stroke but do not have a chronic stroke record are given a code of "No." Persons who were not asked a direct question about a stroke, 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 stroke record.

For persons with a "Yes" response, our coding further identifies the type of stroke as a hemorrhage, occlusion/thrombosis/embolism, or as ill-defined cerebrovascular disease.

1972 and 1978

For 1972 and 1978, stroke records were defined as those condition records with any of the following codes in the variable DCICDCOD in the original public use files:

Beginning in 1979, NHIS began using ICD Revision 9 to code conditions. For 1979 to 1996, stroke records were defined as those condition records with any of the following codes in the variable DCICDCOD in the original public use files:

For 1978 to 1996, STROKEVC should be weighted with CONDWT5.

Related Stroke Variables
The nearest equivalent of STROKEVC for 1997 forward is STROKEV (Ever told had stroke). However, researchers should use caution when comparing prevalence estimates derived from these two variables, as the manner of collecting information about strokes differs greatly between the two. STROKEVC was created by recoding condition records that were generated in response to several different survey questions about health problems underlying disability, sick days, or contacts with health care practitioners. STROKEV, by contrast, is based on a direct question about whether the person ever had a stroke.

Comparability

As with all of the person-level condition variables created by IHIS from condition records prior to 1997, the universe for STROKEVC 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 ever having a stroke. This change requires 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

• 1972, 1978-1996

Weights

• 1972 : PERWEIGHT
• 1978-1996 : CONDWT5