Skip to content
Households
- Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
- Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) (National Institute on Aging)
- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The National Health Surveys of the BRFSS are a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices, and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury. For many states, the BRFSS is the only available source of timely, accurate data on health-related behaviors. BRFSS was established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); currently data are collected monthly in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. More than 350,000 adults are interviewed each year, making the BRFSS the largest telephone health survey in the world. States use BRFSS data to identify emerging health problems, establish and track health objectives, and develop and evaluate public health policies and programs. Many states also use BRFSS data to support health-related legislative efforts.
- Current Population Survey (Bureau of the Census). Annual March supplement includes questions on health insurance coverage which provide basis for estimates of number of uninsured nationally and by state. 1992-2012 data can be downloaded directly from Web.
- Demographic and Health Surveys (USAID). The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program is one of the world’s largest primary sources of information on women, men and their families in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) (National Institute on Aging)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and MEPS offers an annual series of national probability surveys providing nationally representative estimates of health care use, expenditures, sources of payment and insurance coverage for U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population. Includes 4 component surveys: a) household (5 rounds over 2-1/2 years, starting 1996); b) medical providers (validates household-reported information on use/charges); c) insurance (validates household-reported information on insurance coverage); and d) nursing homes (1996 survey of nursing homes/residents).
- MEPS Public Use Data Files
- National Health Interview Survey (HIS: NCHS). The Integrated Health Interview Series provides harmonized data and documentation for the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), i.e., 49 years of data over 12,000 integrated variables:
- Annual data from the 1960s to the present
- Easily linked to additional variables in NHIS public use data
- Comprehensive on-line documentation
- Absolutely free
- National Hospital Discharge Survey (Annual Summary)
- National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA: SAMHSA)
- National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS)
- Medicaid Data
- Medicare Statistics
- Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). PSID is a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of US individuals and families, ongoing since 1968. Annually collected data can be used for cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intergenerational analysis to study individuals or families. 1968-1992 data can be downloaded directly from Web site.