User Guide

Getting Started

Sample Sizes: Number of HH and Personal Records in NHIS, by year.
Sample Design: Overview of the NHIS sample design.
Sampling Weights: Overview of sampling weights in the NHIS.
Variance Estimation: General guidance on analysis and variance estimation with NHIS data.
1992 Hispanic Oversample: Description of the 1992 Hispanic Oversample and Implications for Analyses Pooling 1991 and 1992
2019 NHIS Redesign: Information on the data collection and questionnaire changes introduced in 2019
General Instructions for Opening an IPUMS NHIS Extract on Your PC

Adjustment Factors for Income over Time: Historical Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
IPUMS Health Surveys Family Interrelationship Variables

Occupation and Industry Variables: Harmonized occupation and industry classifications for 1969 to the present
Condition Records and Condition Variables: Overview of individual-level variables constructed from pre-1997 condition records
Injury and Poisoning Supplement Variables: Overview of the Injury and Poisoning Supplement

Link NHIS Public Use Files to IPUMS NHIS Data: Link additional variables from the original NHIS public use files (that are not yet in the IPUMS NHIS system) to an IPUMS NHIS data extract.
Link Restricted Access NHIS Files to IPUMS NHIS Data: Information on using IPUMS NHIS data linked to restricted versions of NHIS data in a Federal Statistical Research Data Center.
Linking NHIS and MEPS Data: Information on using linked NHIS and MEPS data in a Federal Statistical Research Data Center.

Changes to the NHIS in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: 2020 COVID-Related NHIS Study Design Changes, Introduction of a Parallel Sample, and COVID-Related content
Summary and Key Insurance Variables: Guidance on Using NHIS Insurance Variables
Private Insurance Definitions: Changes in the NHIS Definition of Private Insurance
Insurance Data Collection: Changes in the NHIS Collection of Data on Insurance
Healthy People 2020: Selected Variables to Monitor the Healthy People 2020 Objectives
Variables to Monitor the Affordable Care Act: Variables designed to monitor the implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Washington Group Disability Measures: Guidance on Creating and Analyzing Disability Measures Using NHIS
Adult Functioning and Disability & Quality of Life Supplements: Overview of variables included in the AFD and QOL supplements
2018 Bridge Test: Overview of the NCHS-conducted test of the comparability of pre-2019 and 2019 forward trends
NHIS-NDI Linked Mortality File: Overview of NCHS linkage of NHIS respondants to the Nation Death Index