Table 1.

Description of national surveys on key methodology parameters

	2016 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH)	2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)	2016 Monitoring the Future (MTF)
General Survey Information
Survey sponsor	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics	National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Survey administrator	U.S. Census Bureau	U.S. Census Bureau	University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research
Website	https://mchb.hrsa.gov/data/national-surveys	https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis	https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/monitoring-future
Brief description	The NSCH examines the health and health care of noninstitutionalized U.S. children aged 0–17 y, including a breadth of sociodemographic, family, school, and neighborhood factors that might relate to the well being of children. National and state-level estimates are possible.	The NHIS monitors a broad range of health topics among the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population, including children aged 0—17 y. Information is collected on health status, illness, disability, and health care access. Data are weighted to produce national estimates.	The MTF measures drug and alcohol use and related attitudes among students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grade attending U.S. public and private schools. Information is also collected on additional topics, such as demographic and family background, health-related symptoms and medical treatment, and values/attitudes about various societal aspects. Data are nationally representative.
Periodicity	Data collected annually since 2016 (between 2003 and 2016, data were collected every 4 y)	Data collected annually on children since 1997 (head injury only assessed in 2016)	Data collected annually since 1991 (since 1975 for 12th grade only)
Reporting source	Parent or other primary caregiver who resides in the household and is knowledgeable with the child’s health and health care	Parent or knowledgeable adult who resides in the household	Student
Mode of administration	Self-administered Web or paper questionnaires	In-person household interviews by trained interviewers using computer-assisted personal interviewing	Self-administered paper questionnaires
Sampling frame	The NSCH sampling frame is developed from two Census Bureau data sources: the Master Address File (an up-to-date inventory of all household addresses in the U.S.) and a file of administrative flags (including information about number of children in a household by age, poverty, and Internet access).	The NHIS sampling frame consists of three nonoverlapping parts: the unit frame (a list of addresses purchased from a vendor); the area frame (geographic areas that do not have city-style addresses, and geographic areas where the unit frame was not considered to be a sufficient sampling resource); and the college dormitory frame (college residence hall spaces in the NHIS sample primary sampling units).	The MTF uses a multistage sampling procedure. Stage 1 is the selection of geographic areas within four regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West). Stage 2 is the random selection of public and private middle and secondary schools. Stage 3 is the selection of students within each school.
Weighting, poststratification	Weights adjusted for nonresponse, households with more than one child, and population controls. Poststratified by state, race, ethnicity, sex, age, family poverty ratio, household size, parental education, and special health care needs status.	Weights are based on design, ratio, nonresponse, and poststratification adjustments.	Corrective weighting is used to account for the unequal probabilities of selection that occur at each stage of the 3-stage sampling procedures (geographic areas, high school, and individual students).
Information about 2016 survey administration
Survey administration timeframe	June 2016–February 2017	January 2016–December 2016	Spring 2016
Total sample size	50,212 children 0–17 y	11,107 children 0–17 y (Sample Child File)	13,088 8th, 10th, and 12th graders
Number of children ages 3–17 y	43,283	9247	N/A
Number of adolescents 13–17 y	17,783	3392	10,985
Use of incentives	33% of households received $5, 33% received $2, and 33% received no incentive	None	Payments to schools that participate
Response rate	40.7% overall response rate, 69.7% topical questionnaire conversion interview completion rate*	61.9% final response rate, 92.3% conditional response rate†	90% for 8th graders, 88% for 10th graders, 80% for 12th graders
Proxy versus self-report	Proxy	Proxy	Self-report
Questionnaire item assessing lifetime concussion/head injury	“Has a doctor or other health care provider ever told you that this child has … Brain Injury, Concussion, or Head Injury?” Respondents were not provided any additional definitions or context for the question.	“In his/her lifetime, has (child name) ever had a significant head injury or concussion?”	“Have you ever had a head injury that was diagnosed as a concussion?”
Response options	Yes	Yes	Yes, once
	No	No	Yes, more than once No
Concussion/head injury prevalence among 3–17-year olds	3.6%	7.0%	N/A
Concussion/head injury prevalence among 13–17-year olds	6.5%	10.2%	18.3%

^*The interview completion rate is the proportion of screened households with children who initiated the survey that went on to complete the topical questionnaire.

^†The conditional response rate is the number of completed sample child interviews divided by the total number of eligible sample children.