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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Deborah D. Ingram, PhD, Kimberly A. Lochner, PhD, and Christine S. Cox, MA. OAEHP, National Center for Health Statistics, 4411 ElmSt., Chevy Chase, MD 20815, 301-458-4733, DDIngram@cdc.gov

The National Center for Health Statistics recently conducted a mortality follow-up for 15 years of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). For the NHIS years 1986-2000, eligible respondents at least 18 years of age at the time of their interview had their vital status ascertained through December 31, 2002 by linkage with the National Death Index (NDI). The NDI is a central computerized data base of all certified deaths in the United States since 1979. Since the NHIS is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States, the linked mortality files provide the opportunity to conduct studies designed to investigate the association of a variety of health factors with mortality. To determine the extent to which the mortality experiences of the NHIS cohorts can be generalized to the U.S. population, we compared the survival probabilities and cause-of-death distributions of each NHIS annual cohort for the years 1986 to 1999 to those derived from U.S. vital statistics data for age-race-sex specific subgroups during the same time period. Mortality experiences also are examined at various lengths of follow up to determine how deviations from national data change with length of the passive follow-up. Our analyses also address whether the ability to follow certain population subgroups deteriorates over time, and whether the mortality experience of NHIS cohorts becomes more similar or more dissimilar to that of the U.S. population with increasing follow-up time.

Learning Objectives:

• This talk will review some basic survival analysis methodology and will apply that methodology to examine the success of the passive followup of 14 years of the National Health Interview Survey. At the end of the talk, the participant will have a basic understanding of the survival methodology used in the evaluation, an understanding of the results of that evaluation, and an appreciation for the usefulness of the NHIS linked mortality file to investigate associations between various health factors and mortality.

Keywords: Biostatistics, Mortality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation