Welcome Survey Participant

You or a member of your family may have a chance to take part in an important national telephone survey that provides information to help guide the nation’s health policies.

Since 1994, the National Immunization Survey (NIS), conducted by the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases and the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has provided the public with important statistics about childhood immunization and related health matters.

The NIS is conducted for the CDC by the NORC at the University of Chicago. If you have any questions about the National Immunization Survey (NIS), please call NORC toll free at 1-866-999-3340.

CDC also conducts the National Immunization Survey - Teen (NIS-Teen) about adolescents 13 to 17 years of age. The NIS-Teen asks questions similar to the NIS about vaccinations received during childhood.

The National Immunization Survey and the NIS-Teen include a request for parental or guardian permission to contact the medical providers who may have given vaccinations to the children, to obtain shot date information.

Periodically, CDC conducts the National Immunization Survey - Adult (NIS-Adult) following the National Immunization Survey of young children. The NIS-Adult asks person who are 18 and older about their recent experiences with and opinions about influenza, pneumococcal, human papillomavirus (HPV), tetanus diphtheria (Td), tetanus diphtheria pertussis (Tdap), shingles, hepatitis B and hepatitis A immunizations.

In June of 2009, a novel strain of the flu known as the 2009 H1N1 flu or “swine flu” was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The development and rapid spread of illness from the 2009 H1N1 flu virus has become a major public health concern, and H1N1 flu vaccination has been recommended this flu season for certain target groups initially, followed by the general public. In order to monitor and evaluate flu vaccination efforts among adults and children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting the National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey.

The National Flu Survey collects data to measure the number of influenza vaccinations received by adults and children in selected local areas and nationwide, and where people receive their flu vaccinations, American's knowledge on the effectiveness and safety of flu vaccines, and why some people choose not to get vaccinated against the flu. This survey was previously conducted in November 2010 to provide timely information on how many vaccinations had taken place and respondent's intent to get vaccinated mid-way through the 2010–2011 influenza season. The survey is being repeated in March 2011 to measure flu vaccinations received during the rest of the season.

In addition to the immunization-related surveys, CDC also conducts other health-related surveys of households using the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) mechanism.

• The National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) uses the same telephone numbers as the National Immunization Survey. The CSHCN Survey is for children under 18 years of age and asks about a wide range of health-related topics including experiences with health care, health conditions that impact the child and the family, services needed and used, satisfaction with health-related services, and health care coverage. This survey was first conducted in 2001 and was repeated in 2005-2006 and 2009-2010.
• The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) was conducted in 2003 and 2007, and will be repeated in 2011. It asks general questions about the health and well-being of children under 18 years of age, including information about medical homes, family interactions, parental health, school and after-school experiences, and neighborhood safety.
• There are other SLAITS survey modules that have also been conducted on specific health related topics or on special sub-populations. All survey modules (including the NSCH and CSHCN Survey) can be found on the website.

All of these surveys are conducted in households across the country by telephone. The telephone numbers are randomly selected by a computer using scientific methods so it is possible that unlisted numbers may also be contacted. For telephone numbers that can be matched to addresses, a letter from the Director of the National Center for Health Statistics that describes the survey is mailed before a telephone interview is conducted. Households are not asked to participate in all of these surveys; most households participate in only one survey. Surveys are assigned to telephone numbers using random assignment, and sometimes depend on the age group of the household members. Participation is voluntary and no information that identifies any individual will ever be released. All survey responses and personal data are kept confidential in accordance with strict regulations. Data are analyzed and statistical results are published in reports to benefit public health.

This Web site is for information purposes only, and is not meant to substitute for any information that the interviewer will provide to survey participants.