SUMMARY OF NHIS DATA FILE AVAILABILITY
As of July, 2009
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data files are available as follows:
ONLINE ----------------------------------------------------------
The following NHIS data files are available online:
1963-2008 - all files
1982-1994 - Corrected condition files
1990-1996 - Family's Imputed Annual Income +/- $20,000 Variable
2008 - Draft versions of questionnaires (English & Spanish)
Draft versions of flash cards and field representative
manual
Users may download the files at no charge. For downloading instructions, go to the Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation page at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/quest_data_related_1997_forward.htm
Click on the link that contains the year of interest and then click on
README File under the year desired (for year 2004 and beyond, first click on
Data Release under the year desired).
ASCII CD --------------------------------------------------------
The following NHIS data files are on ASCII CD (SETS software not included). Users may order these CDs by sending a request to or by calling the NCHS Data Dissemination Branch at 301-458-4636 or toll-free at
866-441-6247:
1969: Series 10, No. 1H
Warning: No fields in the data files that are labeled as "binary format" should be used due to conversion errors when the CD was created. All of these data fields can be constructed from fields that are available in "character" format (i.e., standard format).
1970: Series 10, No. 2H
1971: Series 10, No. 3H
1972: Series 10, No. 4H
1973: Series 10, No. 5H
1974: Series 10, No. 6H
1975: Series 10, No. 7H
1976: Series 10, No. 8H
1977: Series 10, No. 9H
1978: Series 10, No. 10H
1979: Series 10, No. 11H
1980: Series 10, No. 12H
1981: Series 10, No. 13H
1982: Series 10, No. 14H
1983: Series 10, No. 15H
1984: Series 10, No. 16H
1985: Series 10, No. 17H
Warning: 1985 ASCII CD Series 10, No. 17H was re-issued in November 2001 in order to replace an incorrect version of the Condition file. Before using this CD for the Condition file, verify that the CD
cover states Re-issued: November 2001.
1986: Series 10, No. 18H
1990-1996: Series 10, No. 9A (Family Resource/Income variables only)
1994: Series 10, No. 8A (Disability Phase I and II only)
1995: Series 10, No. 10A (Disability Phase I and II only)
1995: Series 10, No. 10C (not including Disability files)
1996: Series 10, No. 11A (not including Family Resources file)
1997: Series 10, No. 12A
1998: Series 10, No. 13A
1999: Series 10, No. 14A
2000: Series 10, No. 15A
2001: Series 10, No. 16A
2002: Series 10, No. 17A
No "ASCII" CDs will be issued for data years 2003 and beyond.
SETS CD ---------------------------------------------------------
The following NHIS data years are on CDs containing SETS (Statistical Export and Tabulation System). Users may order by sending a request to or by calling the NCHS Data Dissemination Branch at
301-458-4636 or toll-free at 866-441-6247:
1987: Series 10, No. 1 (re-issued July 1993)
1988: Series 10, No. 2 (re-issued December 1994)
1989: Series 10, No. 3
1990: Series 10, No. 4
1991: Series 10, No. 5 (re-issued September 1995)
(not including Drug&Alcohol file)
1992: Series 10, No. 6
Notice: The zdsign92.dat file provided on the 1992 NHIS SETS CD is inconsistent with the 1992 NHIS data and should not be used.
1993: Series 10, No. 7
1994: Series 10, No. 8 (Disability files only)
1994: Series 10, No. 9 (not including Disability files)
1995: Series 10, No. 10 (not including Disability files)
Warning: 1995 SETS CD Series 10, No. 10 was re-issued in May 2000 in order to correct a problem concerning missing records in the 'Year 2000 Objectives' supplement data file. If this supplement file is to be used, verify that the CD cover shows: Re-issued: May 2000.
1995: Series 10, No. 10B (Disability files only)
(re-issued November 1999)
1996: Series 10, No. 11 (not including Family Resources file)
1997: Series 10, No. 12 (not yet available)
1998: Series 10, No. 13 (not yet available)
1999: Series 10, No. 14 (not yet available)
2000: Series 10, No. 15 (not yet available)
2001: Series 10, No. 16B (not yet available)
2002: Series 10, No. 17B (not yet available)
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National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) LINKING files are available as follows:
The following MEPS/NHIS (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey/National Health Interview Survey) linkage files are available:
1996 MEPS & 1995 NHIS Link File
1997 MEPS & 1995-1996 NHIS Link File
1998 MEPS & 1996-1997 NHIS Link File
1999 MEPS & 1997-1998 NHIS Link File
2000 MEPS & 1998-1999 NHIS Link File
2001 MEPS & 1999-2000 NHIS Link File
2002 MEPS & 2000-2001 NHIS Link File
2003 MEPS & 2001-2002 NHIS Link File
2004 MEPS & 2002-2003 NHIS Link File
See Household Component-National Health Interview Survey Linked Files at the following site for ordering instructions:
http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/more_info_download_data_files.jsp#hc-nhis
Or visit the NHIS MEPS information page at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/nhismep.htm
NHIS Linked Mortality Data, Medicare Enrollment and Claims data (CMS) and Social Security Benefits History data (SSA) are available via the NCHS Research Data Center at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/r&d/nchs_datalinkage/data_linkage_activities.htm
1985-2001 NHIS households that are in large Metropolitan statistical Areas (MSAs) have MSA codes available in linkage files that can be downloaded from the Internet. To obtain these files, click on the desired year at:
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/MSA/NHIS/
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This pdf file is currently available at:
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Datasets/NHIS/summary.pdf