NCHS Data

National Health Interview Survey Data
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Institution

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is a pertinent body that informs the authority making key decisions regarding the health care system of the United States as it provides statistical information on various dimensions of health. Thereby, using the information, relevant bodies and authorities are able to make feasible and relevant plans and appropriately allocate resources to improve health. Using household interviews, the U.S. Census Bureau, which is the agent mandated with the responsibility of conducting the National Health Interview Survey, enables healthcare authorities to track various dimensions of health in relation to achievement of national health objectives. This paper, therefore, aims to discuss these dimensions that are used to describe the health of America’s noninstitutionalized population.
There are nine dimensions that are included in the national health interview survey: “health status and limitations,” “selected health conditions,” “utilization of health care,” “health insurance,” “immunizations,” “poisonings and injuries,” “functioning versus disability,” “access to care,” and “health behaviors” (Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), 2018a). The Healthy People 2020 indicates that the health status and associated limitations are determined by evaluating the life expectancy, prevalence of chronic diseases, lost years of potential life, unhealthy days when one is not physically and mentally fit, self-reports of health status, and limited activity (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2018).

Health access data helps to understand the efficiency of a health care system because utilization is largely dependent on the ability of a health system to address the needs of the population within it (University of Manitoba, 2010).
Health insurance data indicates health insurance coverage and coverage on the basis of private or public. This data is pertinent in determining a population’s access to health. Nonetheless, the access to health care data also indicates the healthcare settings that individuals are more likely to visit in search of health care services (“Health insurance and access to care,” 2017). Data on selected health conditions is based on the known leading causes of death in the United States: diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease and other diseases that are found to be prevalent in the studied population compared to another or others (Galinsky, Zelaya, Barnes, & Simile, 2017).
Injuries and poisoning data refers to data on injuries and poisons that have occurred to a family member three months prior to the survey, and the conditions have received medical attention. Supplemental information in reference to the cause and circumstances around which the injury or poisoning occurred as well as associated effects are part of the data (CDC, 2015). Data on health behavior is common because health-related behavior is strongly correlated to the onset of disease. Data on health behaviors help to understand the etiology of ailments, for example, when certain ailments are found to be more prevalent among tobacco smokers than non-tobacco smokers, such behavior is deemed to be a danger to one’s health. As a result, policymakers and decision-makers are put to the task of establishing ideal strategies to eliminate tobacco use.
Functioning and disability data helps to determine the proportion of the population that has a disability in relation to productivity. Such kind of data is important because it helps to understand the kind of disability because not all disabilities impede an individual’s abilities. Thereby, laws and acts that protect individuals with disability against discrimination have been formulated. Immunization data helps to understand vaccination coverage by providing information about the populations that have received vaccines and the vaccines that are administered (CDC, 2018b).
It is, therefore, apparent that all the dimensions of health described herein are important as they define a person’s health. Planners and decision-makers use the data to devise strategies to ensure populations remain healthy and a lesser burden is placed on a nation’s economy.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2015). NHIS-Injury Summary. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/injury/injury_interview.htm.
CDC. (2018a). Survey and data collection systems. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/surveys.htm#tabs-2-1.
CDC. (2018b). Vaccination coverage among adults in the United States, National Health Interview Survey, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/coverage/adultvaxview/pubs-resources/NHIS-2016.html.
Galinsky, A. M., Zelaya, C. E., Barnes, P. M., & Simile C. (2017). Selected health conditions among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults: United States, 2014. NCHS data brief, no 277. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Health insurance and access to care. (2017). NCHS fact sheet. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/factsheets/factsheet_hiac.pdf.
University of Manitoba. (2010). Term: Health care utilization. Retrieved from http://mchp-appserv.cpe.umanitoba.ca/viewDefinition.php?definitionID=102752.