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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Secondary Data Sources for Public Health
A Practical Guide
Secondary data play an increasingly important role in epidemiology and public health research and practice; examples of secondary data sources include national surveys such as the BRFSS and NHIS, claims data for the Medicare and Medicaid systems, and public vital statistics records. Although a wealth of secondary data is available, it is not always easy to locate and access appropriate data to address a research or policy question.
This practical guide circumvents these difficulties by providing an introduction to secondary data and issues specific to its management and analysis, followed by an enumeration of major sources of secondary data in the United States. Entries for each data source include the principal focus of the data, years for which it is available, history and methodology of the data collection process, and information about how to access the data and supporting materials, including relevant details about file structure and format.
Sarah Boslaugh received her PhD from the City University of New York and her MPH from Saint Louis University. She is currently a Performance Research Analyst for BJC Healthcare in Saint Louis and an Adjunct Professor at the Washington University School of Medicine. She previously worked as a biostatistician and methodologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, and the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. She has also written An Intermediate Guide to SPSS Programming: Using Syntax for Data Management (2004) and is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Epidemiology (2007).
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Practical Guides to Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Series advisors Susan Ellenberg, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Robert C. Elston, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Brian Everitt, Institute for Psychiatry, King’s College London Frank Harrell, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Jos W. R. Twisk, Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre, Amsterdam
This is a series of short and practical but authoritative books for biomedical researchers, clinical investigators, public health researchers, epidemiologists, and nonacademic and consulting biostatisticians who work with data from biomedical and epidemiological and genetic studies. Some books are explorations of a modern statistical method and its application; others focus on a particular disease or condition and the statistical techniques most commonly used in studying it.
This series is for people who use statistics to answer specific research questions. The books explain the application of techniques, specifically the use of computational tools, and emphasize the interpretation of results, not the underlying mathematical and statistical theory.
Published in the series Applied Multilevel Analysis, by Jos W. R. Twisk
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Secondary Data Sources for Public Health
A Practical Guide
Sarah Boslaugh
BJC Healthcare
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sa˜o Paulo
Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA
www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521870016
c Sarah Boslaugh 2007
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2007
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Boslaugh, Sarah.
Secondary data sources for public health : a practical guide / Sarah Boslaugh.
p. ; cm. – (Practical guides to biostatistics and epidemiology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-87001-6 (hardback)
ISBN-10: 0-521-87001-1 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-69023-2 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-521-69023-4 (pbk.)
1. Public health – Research – Statistical methods. 2. Epidemiology – Research –
Statistical methods. I. Title. II. Series.
[DNLM: 1. Data Collection – United States. 2. Epidemiology – United States.
3. Public Health – United States. WA 950 B743s 2007]
RA409.B66 2007
362.1072 7–dc22
2006034301
ISBN 978-0-521-87001-6 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-69023-2 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Contents
Preface Acknowledgments
page ix xi
1
An Introduction to Secondary Data Analysis
1
What Are Secondary Data?
1
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data Analysis
3
Locating Appropriate Secondary Data
5
Questions to Ask About Any Secondary Data Set
8
Considerations Relating to Causal Inference
10
2
Health Services Utilization Data
12
The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
13
The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
16
The National Hospital Discharge Survey
17
Other National Health Care Survey Data Sets
19
The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
22
The Medical Expenditures Panel Survey
25
The National Immunization Survey
28
The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program
31
3
Health Behaviors and Risk Factors Data
34
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
34
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
39
Monitoring the Future
43
4
Data on Multiple Health Topics
47
The National Health Examination Survey and the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey
47
v
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
vi
Contents
The National Health Interview Survey
53
The Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health
56
The Longitudinal Studies of Aging
57
The State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey
60
5
Fertility and Mortality Data
65
The National Vital Statistics System
66
The Compressed Mortality File
70
The National Death Index
71
The National Mortality Followback Survey
73
The National Maternal and Infant Health Survey
and Longitudinal Followup
76
The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System
78
The National Survey of Family Growth
79
6
Medicare and Medicaid Data
83
The Medicare Denominator Record Files
85
The Standard Analytical Files
86
The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review Files
86
The Prospective Payment System Files
87
Other Medicare Research Identifiable Files
88
Medicare Public Use Files
89
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
91
The Medicare Health Outcomes Survey
94
Medicaid Data
96
7
Other Sources of Data
100
The U.S. Census
101
The Area Resource File
104
The General Social Survey
106
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
107
The Henry A. Murray Research Archive
108
The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods
109
Web Portals to Statistical Data
111
Adverse Events and Clinical Trials Information
112
Data Sets Commonly Used in Teaching
113
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
vii
Contents
Appendix I: Acronyms
115
Appendix II: Summary of Data Sets and Years Available
119
Appendix III: Data Import and Transfer
123
Bibliography
129
Index
137
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Preface
Secondary data analysis – meaning, in the broadest sense, analysis of data collected by someone else – plays a vital role in modern epidemiology and public health research and practice. This is partly because of the emphasis on population-based studies that is common to both fields. For instance, few individual researchers could hope to collect data sufficient to evaluate changes in the health status or health behaviors on a national scale. Fortunately, a wealth of data on health and related subjects, collected on a broad scale and over many years, is available for public use. However, locating secondary data appropriate to address a particular research question is not always easy, partly because an abundance of data is available and also because those data were collected by many different entities and are stored in many different locations. My primary purpose in writing Secondary Data Sources for Public Health is to facilitate use of those data sets in epidemiologic and public health research.
Chapter 1 introduces the topic of secondary data analysis, discusses some of its advantages and disadvantages, describes a general process for locating appropriate data to address a research question, and suggests some types of information that the researcher should try to acquire about any secondary data set being considered for analysis. Chapters 2 through 7 discuss the major secondary data sets and data archives available for studying health issues in the United States. These chapters are organized thematically, so Chapter 2 discusses health service utilization data; Chapter 3, health behaviors and risk factors data; Chapter 4, data sets dealing with multiple health topics; Chapter 5, fertility and mortality data; Chapter 6, Medicare and Medicaid data; and Chapter 7, other sources of data. The bibliography is organized by chapter and lists a
ix
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
x
Preface
number of works, primarily theoretical and methodologic, relating to secondary data analysis and the data sets discussed. Appendix I lists the acronyms used in this volume, with the full name of the entity referred to and, if applicable, places the acronym in context. For instance, a term may be used primarily in conjunction with a particular data set, or a data set may be part of a larger project. Appendix II summarizes the data sets discussed in this volume, including the years for which data are available. Appendix III discusses data import and transfer.
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been written without the assistance and support of many individuals. In particular, I thank Elena Andresen for introducing me to secondary data analysis when I was a student at the Saint Louis University School of Public Health and for her steadfast belief in my abilities; Rand Ross at Washington University for helping me preserve my sanity; Neil Salkind, my agent at Studio B, for his unflagging support; Lauren Cowles, my editor at Cambridge University Press, for her patience and encouragement; and my husband, Dan Peck, for being there through it all.
xi © Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Secondary Data Sources for Public Health
A Practical Guide
Secondary data play an increasingly important role in epidemiology and public health research and practice; examples of secondary data sources include national surveys such as the BRFSS and NHIS, claims data for the Medicare and Medicaid systems, and public vital statistics records. Although a wealth of secondary data is available, it is not always easy to locate and access appropriate data to address a research or policy question.
This practical guide circumvents these difficulties by providing an introduction to secondary data and issues specific to its management and analysis, followed by an enumeration of major sources of secondary data in the United States. Entries for each data source include the principal focus of the data, years for which it is available, history and methodology of the data collection process, and information about how to access the data and supporting materials, including relevant details about file structure and format.
Sarah Boslaugh received her PhD from the City University of New York and her MPH from Saint Louis University. She is currently a Performance Research Analyst for BJC Healthcare in Saint Louis and an Adjunct Professor at the Washington University School of Medicine. She previously worked as a biostatistician and methodologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, and the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. She has also written An Intermediate Guide to SPSS Programming: Using Syntax for Data Management (2004) and is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Epidemiology (2007).
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Practical Guides to Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Series advisors Susan Ellenberg, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Robert C. Elston, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Brian Everitt, Institute for Psychiatry, King’s College London Frank Harrell, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Jos W. R. Twisk, Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre, Amsterdam
This is a series of short and practical but authoritative books for biomedical researchers, clinical investigators, public health researchers, epidemiologists, and nonacademic and consulting biostatisticians who work with data from biomedical and epidemiological and genetic studies. Some books are explorations of a modern statistical method and its application; others focus on a particular disease or condition and the statistical techniques most commonly used in studying it.
This series is for people who use statistics to answer specific research questions. The books explain the application of techniques, specifically the use of computational tools, and emphasize the interpretation of results, not the underlying mathematical and statistical theory.
Published in the series Applied Multilevel Analysis, by Jos W. R. Twisk
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Secondary Data Sources for Public Health
A Practical Guide
Sarah Boslaugh
BJC Healthcare
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sa˜o Paulo
Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA
www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521870016
c Sarah Boslaugh 2007
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2007
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Boslaugh, Sarah.
Secondary data sources for public health : a practical guide / Sarah Boslaugh.
p. ; cm. – (Practical guides to biostatistics and epidemiology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-87001-6 (hardback)
ISBN-10: 0-521-87001-1 (hardback)
ISBN-13: 978-0-521-69023-2 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-521-69023-4 (pbk.)
1. Public health – Research – Statistical methods. 2. Epidemiology – Research –
Statistical methods. I. Title. II. Series.
[DNLM: 1. Data Collection – United States. 2. Epidemiology – United States.
3. Public Health – United States. WA 950 B743s 2007]
RA409.B66 2007
362.1072 7–dc22
2006034301
ISBN 978-0-521-87001-6 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-69023-2 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Contents
Preface Acknowledgments
page ix xi
1
An Introduction to Secondary Data Analysis
1
What Are Secondary Data?
1
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data Analysis
3
Locating Appropriate Secondary Data
5
Questions to Ask About Any Secondary Data Set
8
Considerations Relating to Causal Inference
10
2
Health Services Utilization Data
12
The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
13
The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
16
The National Hospital Discharge Survey
17
Other National Health Care Survey Data Sets
19
The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
22
The Medical Expenditures Panel Survey
25
The National Immunization Survey
28
The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program
31
3
Health Behaviors and Risk Factors Data
34
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
34
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
39
Monitoring the Future
43
4
Data on Multiple Health Topics
47
The National Health Examination Survey and the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey
47
v
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
vi
Contents
The National Health Interview Survey
53
The Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health
56
The Longitudinal Studies of Aging
57
The State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey
60
5
Fertility and Mortality Data
65
The National Vital Statistics System
66
The Compressed Mortality File
70
The National Death Index
71
The National Mortality Followback Survey
73
The National Maternal and Infant Health Survey
and Longitudinal Followup
76
The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System
78
The National Survey of Family Growth
79
6
Medicare and Medicaid Data
83
The Medicare Denominator Record Files
85
The Standard Analytical Files
86
The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review Files
86
The Prospective Payment System Files
87
Other Medicare Research Identifiable Files
88
Medicare Public Use Files
89
The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey
91
The Medicare Health Outcomes Survey
94
Medicaid Data
96
7
Other Sources of Data
100
The U.S. Census
101
The Area Resource File
104
The General Social Survey
106
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
107
The Henry A. Murray Research Archive
108
The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods
109
Web Portals to Statistical Data
111
Adverse Events and Clinical Trials Information
112
Data Sets Commonly Used in Teaching
113
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
vii
Contents
Appendix I: Acronyms
115
Appendix II: Summary of Data Sets and Years Available
119
Appendix III: Data Import and Transfer
123
Bibliography
129
Index
137
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Preface
Secondary data analysis – meaning, in the broadest sense, analysis of data collected by someone else – plays a vital role in modern epidemiology and public health research and practice. This is partly because of the emphasis on population-based studies that is common to both fields. For instance, few individual researchers could hope to collect data sufficient to evaluate changes in the health status or health behaviors on a national scale. Fortunately, a wealth of data on health and related subjects, collected on a broad scale and over many years, is available for public use. However, locating secondary data appropriate to address a particular research question is not always easy, partly because an abundance of data is available and also because those data were collected by many different entities and are stored in many different locations. My primary purpose in writing Secondary Data Sources for Public Health is to facilitate use of those data sets in epidemiologic and public health research.
Chapter 1 introduces the topic of secondary data analysis, discusses some of its advantages and disadvantages, describes a general process for locating appropriate data to address a research question, and suggests some types of information that the researcher should try to acquire about any secondary data set being considered for analysis. Chapters 2 through 7 discuss the major secondary data sets and data archives available for studying health issues in the United States. These chapters are organized thematically, so Chapter 2 discusses health service utilization data; Chapter 3, health behaviors and risk factors data; Chapter 4, data sets dealing with multiple health topics; Chapter 5, fertility and mortality data; Chapter 6, Medicare and Medicaid data; and Chapter 7, other sources of data. The bibliography is organized by chapter and lists a
ix
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
x
Preface
number of works, primarily theoretical and methodologic, relating to secondary data analysis and the data sets discussed. Appendix I lists the acronyms used in this volume, with the full name of the entity referred to and, if applicable, places the acronym in context. For instance, a term may be used primarily in conjunction with a particular data set, or a data set may be part of a larger project. Appendix II summarizes the data sets discussed in this volume, including the years for which data are available. Appendix III discusses data import and transfer.
© Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87001-6 - Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide Sarah Boslaugh Frontmatter More information
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been written without the assistance and support of many individuals. In particular, I thank Elena Andresen for introducing me to secondary data analysis when I was a student at the Saint Louis University School of Public Health and for her steadfast belief in my abilities; Rand Ross at Washington University for helping me preserve my sanity; Neil Salkind, my agent at Studio B, for his unflagging support; Lauren Cowles, my editor at Cambridge University Press, for her patience and encouragement; and my husband, Dan Peck, for being there through it all.
xi © Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
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