Survey
description
The Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA) is a collaborative effort of the
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the National Institute on
Aging. The study is conducted by NCHS, and the data are collected by the
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Baseline information for the LSOA came from the
Supplement on Aging (SOA), a supplement to the 1984 National Health
Interview Survey. The SOA was based on a probability sample of 16,148
persons 55 years of age and over living in the community, and the data
were obtained through personal interviews in the household.
The focus of the SOA
was on housing, including barriers and ownership; social support,
including number and proximity of living children and recent contacts in
the community; retirement, including reasons for retirement and sources of
retirement income; and measures of disability, including activities of
daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and ability to
perform work-related activities. The sample for the LSOA came from the
7,541 persons on the SOA who were 70 years of age and over in 1984.
Reinterviews were conducted in 1986, 1988, and 1990 using three methods of
interviewing: telephone interviewing using computer-assisted telephone
interviewing; mail questionnaires; and telephone interviews using paper
questionnaires.
The study was designed
to make data on the oldest and on people moving into that age group
available to the research community; to describe the continuum from
functional independence in the community through dependence, including
institutionalization, to death; to measure change in the functional status
and in the living arrangements of older Americans; to provide mortality
rates according to demographic, social, economic, and health
characteristics; and to provide measures of health care use for
individuals over time.
In addition to the
interview data, the LSOA includes data from record matches. The LSOA
matched survey records with three record data bases: The National Death
Index (NDI), the computerized records of deaths in the United States
maintained by NCHS; the multiple-cause-of-death file maintained by NCHS;
and the Medicare Automated Data Retrieval System maintained by the Health
Care Financing Administration.
Data
file description
The latest version of the LSOA Public Use Data is Version 4. This CD-ROM
contains three files: one for persons, one for Medicare Part A Hospital
Records, and one for Medicare Part A and Part B Other Use Records.
Information for the Version 4 files was obtained from:
1984
NHIS, SOA, and Health Insurance Supplement
to the NHIS;
1986, 1988, and 1990 telephone interviews with mail
follow-up;
1984-89 National Death Index Match;
1985-90 Medicare records match.
Weights to produce
national estimates are also on the files.
List
of data file variables at a glance
1984 National Health
Interview Survey Demographic
characteristics (age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, veteran
status, major activity, education, and family income)
Limitation of activities (long term)
Restriction of activities (2 weeks)
Bed-days (previous year and 2 weeks)
Chronic conditions and impairments (long term)
Acute conditions (2 weeks)
Doctor visits (previous year and 2 weeks)
Hospital stays and days (previous years)
1984 Health
Insurance Supplement
Health insurance coverage for hospital care and doctor visits
Whether insurance is public or private
Receipt of Medicaid, military retirement, Veteran's Administration
pensions, and eligibility for veteran's medical care and disability
compensation
1984 Supplement
on Aging
Family structure and living arrangements
Relationships and social contacts
Use of community services
Occupation and retirement (sources of income)
Health conditions and impairments
Activities of daily living (ADLs)
Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)
Who provided help with ADLs and IADLs
Nursing home stays
Opinions about one's own health
LSOA interviews
Living arrangements and change
Institutionalization
Occupation
Changes in physical limitations
ADLs
IADLs
Difficulty with physical movements
Nursing home stays since last interview
Hospital stays in past year
Contacts with doctors in past year
Hospital and nursing home stays before death
Economic information (1990 only)
Medicare
matches
Hospitalizations covered by Medicare
Date
of discharge
Diagnoses
Surgical
procedures
Length
of stay
Other
care covered by Medicare
Home
health care visits
Hospice
Outpatient
National Death
Index match
Fact of death
Date of death
Certainty about match
Death
certificate information
Underlying cause of death
Multiple cause of death (up to eight)
Whether an autopsy was performed
Usual occupation
Business or industry
_______________________________________________________ 1National
Death Index data include fact of death; date of death; and match status
code.
Geographic
coverage
The LSOA is representative of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S.
population 70 years of age and over in 1984. Baseline geographic
indicators include the four major Census regions (Northeast, Midwest,
South, West); type of primary sampling unit (based on 1970 Census); and
1980 County Adjacency Codes.
Data
availability
The LSOA data is available as follows from both GPO and NTIS. As
order numbers and prices vary, please check with GPO
and NTIS
for current information.
1NDI data
include fact of death; date of death; and match status code.
Related
reports
A detailed description of the survey and summary tables are published in
reports of the Vital and Health Statistics, Series 1
and 3.
Contact
Julie Dawson Weeks
Division of Epidemiology
Office of Analysis, Epidemiology, and Health Promotion
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Mailstop 6226
Hyattsville, MD 20782-2003
(301) 458-4562