The public-use versions of the NHIS Linked
Mortality Files were subjected to data perturbation techniques to reduce the
risk of respondent re-identification while increasing the accessibility of
NCHS micro data files. Synthetic data was substituted for the actual date
and underlying cause of death data for selected decedent records.
Information regarding vital status was not perturbed. The restricted-use versions of the NHIS Linked Mortality Files are not subjected to
data perturbation techniques. NCHS has conducted a comparative
analysis of results obtained from the public-use and restricted-use
NHIS Linked Mortality Files.
List of variables at a glance
NHIS Public-use ID
Eligibility status
Final mortality status
Quarter of death
Yearof death
113 Underlying cause of
death codes (ICD-9 and ICD-10)
Adjusted sample weights
New PSU defined for NHIS
1986-2000
New Strata defined for NHIS
1986-2000
Multiple Cause of Death
Flags
Data file technical
characteristics
The NHIS
Linked Mortality Public-use data filesareavailable in
ASCII file formats. The following list provides the number of
file records per survey.