N C H S - Catalog of Electronic Data Products - Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA)

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.

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

Type of file	Number of records
Interview and National Death Index¹ data	7,527
Medicare Part A Hospital	12,470
Medicare Part A and B, Other Use	5,011

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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.

Product	Year
LSOA, Version 4 CD-ROM
Interview data	1984, 1986, 1988, 1990
NDI data¹	1989
Medicare Part A, Hospital Record	1990
Medicare Part A and B, Other Use	1990

Diskettes: Match data
NDI data¹	1991
Multiple cause-of-death data	1989
Medicare Part A, Hospital record	1991
Medicare Part A and B, Other use record	1991

CD-ROM: LSOA, Version 5
Interview data	1984, 1986, 1988, 1990
NDI data¹	1990
Medicare Part A, Hospital record	1991
Medicare Part A and B, Other use record	1991

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