Table 4.
Restricted Data and Linkages to External Data Sources Available from Nationally Representative Surveys of the US Population
| Exact Dates | Mortality | Health care utilization | Geography | Socioeconomic position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRFSS, BRFSS-SMART | - | - | - | - | Industry and occupation* |
| HRS | Birthdate, interview date, death date | National Death Index, next-of-kin exit interviews | Veterans’ Affairs (2360 participants from 1999 to 2013) | Zip code | Social security, food access, crime, air quality, Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care |
| NAMCS | Patient birth date, encounter date | - | Data collected in surveyed encounter (public access), number of patient visits to provider’s practice in past 12 months (restricted access, 2007−present) | County | Provider and practice characteristics† |
| NHAMCS | Patient birth date, encounter date | - | Limited to data collected in surveyed encounter (public access) | County | Provider and hospital characteristics† |
| NHANES | Interview date, examination date | National Death Index‡ | Medicare, Medicaid claims | Latitude/longitude; census block, block group, tract; county; state | Housing assistance |
| NHIS | Birth date, interview date | National Death Index‡ | Medicare, Medicaid claims | Latitude/longitude; census block, block group, tract; county; state | Housing assistance |
| MEPS¶ | Dates of visits/home health events, diagnosis and procedure codes | - | Health insurance, charges, utilization | Latitude/longitude; census block, block group, tract; county; state | - |
| PSID | Dates from Medicare claims data; death date | National Death Index, manual research (e.g., next-of-kin contact, obituary search) | Medicare claims | Latitude/longitude; census block, block group, tract; county; state | Housing assistance |
*No linkages are listed on the National Center for Health Statistics website; however, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health states that restricted data on industry and occupation are available since 2013
†For example, provider year of birth, sex, number of providers in the practice, and availability of on-site tests and procedures (e.g., mammography, colonoscopy)
‡NHANES and NHIS offer both public and restricted mortality linkages; the former contains broad cause-of-death (e.g., cardiovascular disease) while the latter contains exact dates and ICD-9/10 level cause-of-death
¶Additionally, MEPS offers a restricted linkage to the original NHIS questions which were asked of the same participants in the year prior to their initial MEPS participation