Survey
description
The Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES) was a nationwide
probability sample of approximately 16,000 persons, 6 months-74 years of age. Hispanics
were included in past health and nutrition examinations, but neither in sufficient numbers
to produce estimates of the health of Hispanics in general, nor specific data for Puerto
Ricans, Mexican-Americans, or Cuban-Americans.
Data tapes from the HHANES are generally organized by the data collection method
(e.g., Child Sample Person Questionnaire or Dental Examination). The data files comprising
the HHANES include a number of demographic and socioeconomic variables on each tape,
including age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, and marital status.
List of data
file variables at a glance Adolescent
and adult history questionnaire, ages 12-74 years (Tape no. 6521, Version 2)
Demographic characteristics, acculturation, cardiovascular conditions, health condition
list, diabetes, functional impairment, digestive disease, health services utilization,
hypertension, meal programs, pesticide exposure, smoking, vision, hearing, reproductive
health, and selected conditions.
Alcohol
consumption, ages 12-74 years
(Tape no. 6533)
Demographic characteristics and alcohol consumption information.
Blood and
urine assessments, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6511, Version 3)
Demographic characteristics and a variety of biochemical and hematologic assessments.
Body
measurements, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6501, Version 2)
Demographic characteristics, skeletal breadths, skinfolds, circumferences, heights,
length, weights, and handedness.
Child history
questionnaire, ages 6 months-11 years (Tape no. 6522, Version 2)
Demographic characteristics, birth data, health conditions, dental, anemia, functional
impairment, health services, meal programs, school attendance, language use, tuberculosis,
weight, immunizations, pesticide exposure, vision, and hearing.
Dental
health, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6505, Version 2)
Demographic characteristics, dental examination, self-described condition of teeth and
gums, trouble biting or chewing, why and when last visited dentist or dental hygienist,
dental insurance. Dental exam includes tooth counts, surface codes (each tooth), caries,
periodontal index, oral hygiene, orthodontic treatment, severe malocclusion, and dental
status.
Depression
measures, ages 20-74 years (Tape no. 6523, Version 2)
Demographic characteristics, Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) items, diagnostic
variable for major depressive episode, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
(CES-D) items, CES-D total score, and CES-D caseness score.
Diabetes and
OGTT data, ages 20-74 years (Tape no. 6506)
Demographic characteristics, medical history information related to diabetes, data from a
glucose challenge questionnaire, and plasma glucose values with computed time intervals.
Dietary
practices, food frequency, and total nutrient intake, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no.
6525, Version 3)
Demographic characteristics are listed for all persons. Dietary practices data include
information on diets and eating habits. Food frequency data include frequency of
consumption of foods from over 50 food groupings. Total nutrient intakes based on one
24-hour recall are also included.
Drug abuse,
ages 12-74 years (Tape no. 6543)
Demographic characteristics; use of selected barbiturates, sedatives, marijuana, hashish,
inhalants, and cocaine.
Gallbladder
and ultrasound data, ages 20-74 years (Tape no. 6504)
Demographic characteristics, medical history information related to digestive disease, and
results of an examination of the gallbladder performed by ultrasound.
Hearing, ages
6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6502)
Demographic characteristics, medical history information related to hearing, findings from
a brief physician's examination of the ear, and results of audiometric testing.
24-hour
recall, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6526)
Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are listed for persons 6 months 74 years. A
separate record for each food item consumed by each person contains the amount of
calories, protein, total fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, carbohydrates, dietary fiber,
alcohol, vitamin A, carotenes, alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, thiamin, riboflavin,
niacin, vitamin B6, folacin, vitamin B12, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc,
copper, sodium, and potassium. The tape also contains a description of the food, ingestion
period, approximate time of consumption, and food source.
Measurements
and interpretation of electrocardiograms (Tape no. 6540)
Demographic characteristics are listed for persons 20-74 years. Tape also contains the
folllowing items: summary diagnoses Minnesota Code, Cardiac Infarction/Injury Score, left
ventricular (LV) mass and LV Mass Index, heart rate and basic electrocardiogram (ECG)
interval and mean axis measurements, ECG wave amplitude and duration measurements.
Physician's
examination, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6509, Version 2)
Demographic characteristics, physical examination including skull, ears, nose, lips,
pharynx, eyes, neck, pulse, blood pressure, chest, heart, abdomen, Tanner staging,
extremities, joints, neurologic evaluation, back, gait, varicose veins, physician's
impression of overall health status, and diagnostic impressions with the Eighth Revision,
International Classification of Diseases.
Vision, ages
6-74 years (Tape no. 6507)
Demographic characteristics, medical history information related to vision, findings from
a brief physician's examination of the eyes, and results from near and distant vision
tests.
All files are fixed-length, blocked files. Characteristics for each file, including number
of records, record length, block size, and number of reels, are provided below.
Title
Record
length
Number of
records
Adolescent and adult history questionnaire, ages 12-74 years (Tape no. 6521,
Version 2)
300
9,643
Alcohol consumption, ages 12-74 years (Tape no. 6533)
560
11,643
Blood and urine assessments, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6511, Version 3)
460
11,653
Body measurements, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6501, Version 2)
500
11,653
Child history questionnaire, ages 6 months-11 years (Tape no. 6522, Version 2)
850
4,046
Dental health, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6505, Version 2)
820
11,653
Depression measures, ages 20-74 years (Tape no.
6523, Version 2)
520
11,653
Diabetes and OGTT data, ages 20-74 years (Tape
no. 6506)
600
5,815
Dietary practices, food frequency, and total
nutrient intakes, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6525, Version 3)
900
11,653
Drug abuse, ages 12-74 years (Tape no. 6543)
450
11,653
Gallbladder ultrasound data, ages 20-74 years
(Tape no. 6504)
560
5,815
Hearing, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no. 6502)
700
11,653
24-hour recall, ages 6 months-74 years (Tape no.
6526)
750
175,110
Measurements and interpretation of
electrocardiograms (Tape no. 6540)
1,017
5,815
Physician's examination, ages 6 months-74 years
(Tape no. 6509, Version 2)
860
11,653
Vision, ages 6-74 years (Tape no. 6507)
600
11,653
Geographic
coverage The population for this study consisted of Mexican-Americans living in the five
southwestern States (Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California);
Cuban-Americans living in Dade County, Florida; and Puerto Ricans living in portions of
New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Sample sizes and response rates are:
All data tapes available from HHANES contain data collected over the entire course of
the survey, July 1982-December 1984. Data from this study are only available on tape.
Other studies related to this survey are NHANES I, NHANES II, NHANES IIIand NHES, Cycle 1, Cycle
2, and Cycle 3.
ach HHANES data tape is accompanied by printed documentation. The documentation
contains the tape content and technical information about the use of HHANES data,
including the discussion of possible sources of error, use of sampling weights, and
variance estimation procedures. Notes are provided to explain certain items included on
the tape that are not self-explanatory or documented elsewhere.
A detailed description of the design and operation of the HHANES is in Vital and
Health Statistics, Series 1, No. 19. This
report includes a discussion of the rationale and purpose of the survey, the sampling
plan, quality control measures used, analytic methods, and some of the cross-cultural
aspects of the survey. The actual data collection instruments used are included in an
appendix to the report. Researchers contemplating the use of HHANES data tapes are urged
to become familiar with the content of this report before planning any analyses. Reports
that relate to the data are available in Vital and Health Statistics, Series 11, Nos. 239 and 240;
and Series 2, No. 111.