Each MEPS-HC interview consists of sections covering specific topics.
Each section contains a series of CAPI (computer-assisted personal interview)
computer screens with questions, interviewing instructions, and skip
patterns based on the specific topics. Major changes to sections are
made by calendar year, and data released on full-year files are based
on the questions being asked during that year (regardless of panel).
A complete listing of all changes to the MEPS-HC questionnaires over time is updated annually. This Consolidated Documentation of Changes file contains approximately 1,600 pages of charts tracking each item that has changed at least once since the initial MEPS-HC survey in 1996-97. This file is available on CD-ROM upon request to the MEPS Project Director.
MEPS-HC is a panel survey conducted over five rounds of data collection periods. Not all of the questionnaire sections are included in each round; some are periodically rotated in and out
of the survey. Go to the Data Collection Schedule (PDF, 44 KB) for MEPS supplements
for the specific panels and rounds in which particular topical supplements
have been or will be administered.
For
each interview, the questionnaire flow varies slightly. Go to Questionnaire context/flow for
the context/flow detailed specifications
for each panel, information
on the specific order in which sections were asked during each interview,
and for an example of how to reconstruct the structure of an
interview for a particular panel and round. Supplemental paper questionnaires
MEPS periodically administers paper
questionnaires to supplement the data collected by interviewers. These
questionnaires are available in both English and Spanish and include the
following:
Adult Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ): The SAQ is
administered to all household respondents 18 years old and older
during Round 4 of Panel
4 and Round 2 of Panel 5. The SAQ is a mail-back survey and includes
questions from the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS®),
the SF-12, the EuroQol 5D, and attitude items. The Adult SAQ was
first fielded in 2000.
The 2000 Parent Administered Questionnaire (PAQ). The
PAQ is a self-administered questionnaire administered to
parents of children under 18 years of age. The PAQ is a mail-back survey
fielded during Round 4 of Panel 4 and Round 2 of Panel
5 and
includes questions from the Consumer Assessment of Health
Plans (CAHPS®) and the Living with Illness Measure (LWIM). In
2001, the content of this PAQ was added as the Child Preventive
Health section of the CAPI instrument.
A Survey About Your Diabetes Care: The Diabetes Care Survey
(DCS). The DCS is a self-administered paper-and-pencil
questionnaire first fielded in 2000. Households receive a DCS
based on their response to a question in the Priority Condition
section of the CAPI instrument, which asks whether or not the
respondent was ever told by a doctor or health professional
that he/she had diabetes.
During the household interview, the
showcards assist MEPS respondents by providing them with paper versions
of definitions or response categories that pertain to specific questionnaire
items throughout the computer-assisted personal interview, or CAPI.
MEPS
also includes a Medical Provider Component (MPC) that covers hospitals,
physicians, home health care providers, and pharmacies identified
by MEPS-HC respondents. Its purpose is to supplement
and/or replace information received from the MEPS-HC respondents about
the health care that was provided to sampled household members in the course
of the survey year. The MPC data collection instruments are
designed to obtain information on both the medical and financial characteristics
of medical events.
Select medical provider data collection instrument and year:
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850