National Center for Health Statistics Guidelines for Analysis of Trends.

Many reports present analyses of trends over time based on multiple years of data from National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) surveys and the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Trend analyses of NCHS data involve analytic choices that can lead to different conclusions about the trends. This report discusses issues that should be considered when conducting a time trend analysis using NCHS data and presents guidelines for making trend analysis choices.

Health characteristics of Medicare traditional fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage enrollees: 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey linked to 2007 Medicare data.

Background: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) records have been linked to health care use and expenditure information from Medicare records. Claims data are generally available only for traditional fee-for-service (FFS) enrollees and not for Medicare Advantage enrollees. Differences in health characteristics between Medicare Advantage and traditional FFS enrollees could affect conclusions from analyses of the linked files that are restricted to traditional FFS enrollees.

Drug poisoning deaths in the United States, 1980-2008.

In 2008, the number of poisoning deaths exceeded the number of motor vehicle traffic deaths and was the leading cause of injury death for the fi rst time since at least 1980. During the past three decades, the poisoning death rate nearly tripled, while the motor vehicle traffic death rate decreased by one-half. During this period, the percentage of poisoning deaths that were caused by drugs increased from about 60% to about 90%.

Health insurance affects diagnosis and control of hypercholesterolemia and hypertension among adults aged 20-64: United States, 2005-2008.

Lack of health insurance presents a barrier to obtaining routine preventive care and early diagnosis and management of chronic conditions. In 2005-2008, approximately 23% of adults aged 20-64 had no health insurance. Hypercholesterolemia (high total cholesterol or taking medication to lower cholesterol) and hypertension (high blood pressure or taking medication to lower blood pressure) are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, particularly when untreated and uncontrolled and are common among nonelderly adults.

Heart disease and stroke statistics--2011 update: a report from the American Heart Association.

Unlabelled: Each year, the American Heart Association (AHA), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies, brings together the most up-to-date statistics on heart disease, stroke, other vascular diseases, and their risk factors and presents them in its Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update. The Statistical Update is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, healthcare policy makers, media professionals, the lay public, and many others who seek the best national data available on disease morbidity and mortality and the risks, quality of care, medical procedures and operations, and costs associated with the management of these diseases in a single document. Indeed, since 1999, the Statistical Update has been cited more than 8700 times in the literature (including citations of all annual versions).

Perinatal outcomes for Asian, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander mothers of single and multiple race/ethnicity: California and Hawaii, 2003-2005.

Objectives: We examined characteristics and birth outcomes of Asian/Pacific Islander (API) mothers to determine whether differences in outcomes existed between mothers of single race/ethnicity and multiple race/ethnicity.

Methods: We used data from California and Hawaii birth certificates from 2003 through 2005 to describe variation in birth outcomes for API subgroups by self-reported maternal race/ethnicity (single versus multiple race or API subgroup), and we also compared these outcomes to those of non-Hispanic White women.

Results: Low birthweight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB) varied more among API subgroups than between mothers of single versus multiple race/ethnicity.

Increase in fatal poisonings involving opioid analgesics in the United States, 1999-2006.

Data from the National Vital Statistics System Mortality File. From 1999 through 2006, the number of fatal poisonings involving opioid analgesics more than tripled from 4,000 to 13,800 deaths. Opioid analgesics were involved in almost 40% of all poisoning deaths in 2006.

Health insurance coverage trends, 1959-2007: estimates from the National Health Interview Survey.

Objectives: This report presents long-term trends in the number and percentage of persons under age 65 years with different types of health insurance coverage and with no coverage. It documents changes in how the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has collected information about coverage over almost 50 years. It also compares recent trends in coverage estimates based on the NHIS and the U.

State, regional, and national estimates of health insurance coverage for people under 65 years of age: National Health Interview Survey, 2004-2006.

Objectives: This report presents state, regional, and national estimates of the percentages of persons under 65 years of age who were uninsured, who had private health insurance coverage, and who had Medicaid or State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coverage.

Methods: The estimates were derived from the Family Core component of the 2004-2006 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Three years of data were combined to increase the reliability of estimates.

Self-reported age-related eye diseases and visual impairment in the United States: results of the 2002 national health interview survey.

Objectives: We sought to establish national data on the prevalence of visual impairment, blindness, and selected eye conditions (cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration) and to characterize these conditions within sociodemographic subgroups.

Methods: Information on self-reported visual impairment and diagnosed eye diseases was collected from 31,044 adults. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates and odds ratios with logistic regression using SUDAAN.

Financial barriers to mammography: who pays out-of-pocket?

Objective: This study investigates how out-of-pocket payments for mammograms vary according to the characteristics of women and the states where they reside.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis for women >or=40 years using data from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Cancer Control Module linked with state characteristics. Descriptive tabulations and logistic regressions were used to examine characteristics associated with out-of-pocket payment for a woman's most recent mammogram for the subset of approximately 7000 women reporting a mammogram within the past 2 years.

Methodologic implications of allocating multiple-race data to single-race categories.

Objective: To illustrate methods for comparing race data collected under the 1977 Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directive, known as OMB-15, with race data collected under the revised 1997 OMB standard.

Data Sources/study Setting: Secondary data from the 1993-95 National Health Interview Surveys. Multiple-race responses, available on in-house files, were analyzed.