Description

GOUTYRC indicates whether the person had chronic gout 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 GOUTYRC) created from the pre-1997 condition records, see the User Note on Condition Records and Condition Variables.

Defining Gout Records and Identifying Persons with Gout

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

For 1969, 1976, and 1978-1981, chronic gout records were defined as those condition records with a code of "95" ("Gout") 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," gout records must have a code of "1" ("Chronic") in the variable CONDCODE (1969) or the variable CACODE (1976 and later) in the original NHIS public use files.

For 1982-1996, chronic gout records were defined as those condition records with a code of "103" ("Gout, including gouty arthritis") in the variable C1CONDRC in the original NHIS public use files. This condition code value comes from NCHS's Diagnostic Recode C: Chronic Conditions and Impairments.

Weights
For 1969 and 1976, GOUTYRC should be weighted with PERWEIGHT.

For 1978 to 1981, GOUTYRC should be weighted with CONDWT2.

For 1982 to 1996, GOUTYRC should be weighted with CONDWT1.

Related Gout Variables
The nearest equivalent of GOUTYRC available for 1997 forward is ARTHGOUTEV (Ever told you had gout). However, researchers should use caution when comparing prevalence estimates derived from these two variables, as both the manner of collecting information about gout and the reference period differ greatly between the two. GOUTYRC 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 in the past year. ARTHGOUTEV, by contrast, is based on a direct question about whether the person ever had the condition gout.

Comparability

As with all of the person-level condition variables created by IHIS from condition records prior to 1997, the universe for GOUTYRC 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 gout 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

• 1969, 1976, 1978-1996

Weights

• 1969, 1976 : PERWEIGHT
• 1982-1996 : CONDWT1
• 1978-1981 : CONDWT2