| Summary: | <p>The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The main objective of the NHIS is to monitor the health of the United States population through the collection and analysis of data on a broad range of health topics. </p> <p>The NHIS contains many similar questions every year. The repeated items are called "core questions." Beginning with a new NHIS design in 1997, these core questions were divided into three components -- Family, Sample Adult, and Sample Child. </p> <p>The 2012 NHIS data release consists of six core data files, a paradata file, the three Disability Questions Tests files, a Functioning and Disability file, and two Complementary and Alternative Medicine files. Users may see the Survey Description document for more details. </p> <p>The 2012 NHIS contains the core questions, as well as enhanced questions on health care access and utilization. Supplemental topics are covered in the following questionnaires: the Family questionnaire covers subjects of food security; the Sample Adult questionnaire covers subjects of immunization, complementary and alternative medicine, non-cigarette tobacco use, voice, speech, and language; and the Sample Child questionnaire covers subjects of mental health, mental health services, immunization, complementary and alternative medicine, balance, voice, speech, and language. Along with the 2012 NHIS core data files are the Disability Questions Tests 2012 files which contain person-level data collected via a field test of six disability questions. These supplemental questions appeared on the NHIS, at the end of the Family, Sample Adult, and Sample Child Cores. </p> <p>The Disability Questions Tests 2012 files are released as three separate files. A fourth disability supplement was also fielded in 2012 as part of the Sample Adult Core and is called "Adult Functioning and Disability Level." </p> <p>The Adult and Child Alternative Health Supplement files were intended to expand on knowledge of alternative medical services. Questions focus on how often various types of alternative therapies are used, the associated costs, and the reasons they are used. </p> <p>Lastly, the Paradata Level file contains information about the survey and data collection processes; included are data on response rates, keystrokes, interview times, and number of contact attempts. </p>
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