The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #46387

Hanyu Ni, PhD, MPH and Jane F Gentleman, PhD. Division of Health Interview Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, 301 458 4141, HNi@cdc.gov

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the CDC, has been a primary source of information on the health status and health care utilization of the household population of the United States. In 1997, the content of the NHIS was redesigned and included many key measures of health currently needed by public health workers and health policy makers. To monitor the changes over time in leading health indicators, the NCHS recently developed a new data dissemination mechanism, the Early Release Program, using data from NHIS. The program provides timely estimates on the NCHS website 3-4 times a year for selected health measures, including health insurance coverage, usual place to go for medical care, unmet needs for medical care, influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccination, obesity, regular leisure-time physical activities, current smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, HIV testing, and general health status. For each selected health measure, the trend over time is provided, followed by the estimates by sex, age group, and race/ethnicity, and highlights. Excellent timeliness of release of these results is made possible by using partial-year NHIS data. For example, the program released quarterly estimates of influenza vaccination, which showed a significant drop and rebound in the vaccination level for the 2000-01 influenza season. When necessary for the purpose of comparison, age-sex-adjusted or age-adjusted percentages are provided. New measures will be added as work continues and in response to changing data needs. Feedback on this new data release mechanism is needed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• list leading health indicators that reflect the major public health concerns in the US;
• identify a new source to obtain the current information on leading health indicators for making health policy decisions and planning health programs;
• identify the trend and disparities in leading health indicators in terms of age, gender and race/ethnicity;
• identify the target population for public health intervention programs.

Related Web page: www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.