Welcome to the IHIS Intelligencer

As a registered IHIS data user, you are receiving this newsletter through the new IHIS listserv. Through this quarterly newsletter, IHIS users can now get the latest updates on data releases, website features, examples of research and teaching using IHIS, methodological tips, and upcoming workshops and exhibits. Please pass the newsletter along to friends, colleagues, and students who would find IHIS useful.

IHIS (http://www.ihis.us/) now contains approximately 12,000 consistently coded variables and covers the years from 1963 to 2010!

  • Data Release Adds 2010 Data
  • 5,000 New Variables in IHIS
  • Data Release Adds 1963-1968 Data
  • New Look for Variable Descriptions
  • Fill Your Data Cart
  • Selecting the Right Weight
  • Visit Us at Upcoming IHIS Events

News, October 2011

Data Release Adds 2010 Data
5,000 New Variables in IHIS
Data Release Adds Material for 1963-1968
New Look for IHIS Variable Descriptions
Fill Your Data Cart with the IHIS Extract System
Never a Dumb Question: Selecting the Right Weight
Visit Us at Upcoming IHIS Events

 

Data Release Adds 2010 Data

IHIS now includes data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. New topics covered in 2010 and now part of IHIS include: treatment for children with emotional difficulties; quality of life; and occupational health problems (i.e., asthma, dermatitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome). Also included in the 2010 survey are a wide range of variables related to cancer risk factors (such as family history), cancer testing, and cancer treatment.

 

5,000 New Variables in IHIS

On the advice of the IHIS Advisory Board, IHIS just added 5,000 new "preliminary variables" in its data release. A written description is not yet included for "preliminary variables," but other elements of the documentation (reporting who answered the question, the question wording, appropriate weights, the codes and frequencies, and the NHIS variable names and source files) are available. All variables included on the IHIS website can be included in a data extract. The preliminary variables can also soon be analyzed using the IHIS online tabulator. These additional integrated variables greatly expand the number of topics researchers can study using IHIS.

 

Data Release Adds Material for 1963-1968

IHIS now includes data from the historical public files from 1963 to 1968, created via a partnership between IHIS and staff at the National Center for Health Statistics. To increase comparability across years, IHIS staff reformatted the data from 1962-1967 to be in calendar year rather than fiscal year format, so these historical data differ from the NHIS public use files for the same period. With material extending from 1963 to 2010, IHIS makes it easy to study change in health behaviors, health care, and health status across nearly a half century.

 

New Look for IHIS Variable Descriptions

So users can select the level of detail they need, IHIS variable descriptions have a new format. Information on years available, comparability issues, universe, weights, codes and frequencies, survey text, and NHIS source variables now appears behind tabs at the top of variable descriptions. Users who want additional detail in a variable description can bring it up with a mouse click.

Ihis VarDescription

 

Fill Your Data Cart with the IHIS Extract System

It's easier than ever to make an IHIS data extract containing the years and variables you need. The IHIS extract system is now closely integrated with the variable display page. Users can add a variable to their "Data Cart" by clicking on the circle to the left of the variable name, select the samples they need (with all years as the default choice), and then proceed to "check out." Adding and/or subtracting variables and samples is easy. How to use the IHIS extract system is described in the IHIS FAQ.

 

Never a Dumb Question: Selecting the Right Weight

Guidance on using weights in IHIS is provided by a user note on weights and in the "weights" tab of the description of each variable. Here's an additional piece of advice: when combining variables with different suggested weights, use the most restrictive weight.

For example, users might wish to combine a variable available only for sample adults or sample children (e.g., ASTHMAEV, which takes SAMPWEIGHT ) with a variable available for all persons (e.g., SEX, available for all persons and thus taking PERWEIGHT). In such cases, a researcher should select the most restrictive weight (here, SAMPWEIGHT).

In some cases, the sampling for a single variable changes over time. For example, data on years spent in the U.S., YRSINUS, was collected for foreign-born sample adults in 1997 and for all foreign-born adults other years. The recommended weight for YRSINUS is thus SAMPWEIGHT for 1997 and PERWEIGHT in other years. To analyze all years of data for YRSINUS, researchers should create a new weight variable (e.g., NEWEIGHT) that has the value of SAMPWEIGHT in 1997 and the value of PERWEIGHT in other years.

If you have a question about using IHIS, you can e-mail ihis @umn.edu to receive individualized help from our user support staff.

 

Visit Us at Upcoming IHIS Events

Please visit the MPC/IHIS exhibit booth and presentations to talk to our staff. We would be happy to answer questions, to give a personalized demonstration of the IHIS website and tabulator, and to hear how you used IHIS and how we can improve.