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1994 National Health Interview Survey on Disability, Phase 1

The National Center for Health Statistics announces the first release of data from the 1994 National Health Interview Survey on Disability, Phase 1 (NHIS-D). The NHIS-D was a collaborative effort combining the interests in disability statistics of several different Federal offices and organizations.

Data collected as part of the NHIS-D included sensory, communication, and mobility problems; health conditions; activities of daily living; functional limitations; mental health; services and benefits; special health needs of children; early child development; education; relationship to respondent; and perceived disability.

One important goal of the NHIS-D was to develop a series of questionnaires that would provide a useful set of measures while maintaining a balance between social, administrative, and medical considerations involved in disability measurement. The NHIS-D is not limited to one definition of disability; therefore it will allow analysts from varying programs to combine data items in different ways to meet specific agency or program needs. It is designed to collect data that can be used to understand disability, to develop public health policy, to produce simple prevalence estimates of selected health conditions, and to provide descriptive baseline statistics on the effects of disabilities.

The NHIS-D is also available on a CD-ROM that includes a data set accessible through the Statistical Export and Tabulation System (SETS) retrieval software; an ASCII data set; questionnaires in .PDF format; and Adobe Acrobat software to read .PDF files.

Ordering information
The NHIS-D public-use data can only be ordered through the Division of Health Interview Statistics. Copies of the NHIS-D  SETS CD-ROM are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and/or National Technical Information Service (NTIS). As prices vary, call NTIS or GPO for current pricing.