Background Information

The release of provisional data from the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey (NMFS) represents a 6-year collaborative project between the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and various Federal agencies, State and local governments, colleges and universities, and private associations and organizations. The 1993 NMFS is the sixth in a series of surveys, first initiated by NCHS in the early 1960's, to provide additional information related to the mortality experience of the United States beyond that obtained through the vital registration of deaths.

The 1993 NMFS uses a multicomponent approach to survey design in that the current provisional data are drawn from two independent sources, the death certificate and the proxy respondent questionnaire. The survey is based on a sample of 22,957 death certificates that represent 2,215,000 individuals aged 15 years and over who were residing and died in the United States in 1993, excluding South Dakota. South Dakota declined to participate in the NMFS due to State law restricting the use of death certificate information. An 83-percent response rate was achieved for the proxy respondent component.

The tables presented in these Web pages are based on response frequencies to a few of the over 1,100 data items collected on such topics as: underlying and multiple cause of death; utilization of health care services; health care payment sources; access to care; health conditions; cognitive functioning; functional limitations; use of assistive devices; medical implants; motor vehicle and driving behavior; use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; access to firearms; sociodemographic information; place of death and circumstances of injury; organ donation; life events and activities; problem behaviors; income and assets; and respondent background characteristics.