Table of Contents

Component Description

The Hospital Utilization and Access to Care section (variable name prefix HUQ) provides SP level interview data on self-reported health status and access to health care topics.

Eligible Sample

All survey participants respond to this section. HUQ020 was asked of participants 1 year and older. HUQ090 was asked of participants 4 years and older.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

The Hospital Utilization and Access to Care questionnaire was done before the physical examination, in the home, using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing-CAPI (interviewer administered) system. Persons 16 years of age and older and emancipated minors were interviewed directly. A proxy provided information for survey participants who were under 16 years of age and for individuals who could not answer the questions themselves.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in defining key terms used in the questionnaire.

Data Processing and Editing

One person had a response to HUQ090 which was changed to a mising value. This person should not have answered HUQ090 based upon automated consistency checks, but did so because of their response to an earlier survey question which was subsequently changed.

Analytic Notes

HUQ010: This identical question is asked in the Current Health Status section of the Mobile Examination Center (MEC) CAPI Interview questionnaire (HSD010). There is a small difference in administration of the two questions: participants age 12-15 have proxy responses in the household questionnaire but provide self-reported responses for the MEC interview. Many participants of all ages gave different responses to this question in the household compared to the MEC, so analysts should consider which of the two versions of the question to use in analyses.

Question HUQ071, in NHANES 2009-2010, is comparable to HUQ071 in NHANES 2003-2008, and to question HUD070 in NHANES 1999-2002. For NHANES 2001-2002, there wasn’t a limit to the number of responses that could be given for HUQ080 (number of overnight hospitalizations in past 12 months). In all other cycles of the continuous NHANES, the derived question, HUD080, was given an upper limit of “6 or more.” Data users will need to recode HUQ080 to make it comparable to HUD080 when comparing the 2001-2002 data to the other 2-yr cycles.

Questions on long-term care (HUQ081-HUQ089) were included only in NHANES 2001-2002 and NHANES 2003-2004. These questions were not included in other NHANES cycles.

All other similarly named questions are comparable between the two surveys.

Although these data were collected as part of the household questionnaire, if they are merged with the MEC exam data, exam sample weights should be used for the analyses.

Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues. Both of these are available on the NHANES website.

Codebook and Frequencies

SEQN - Respondent sequence number

Variable Name:
SEQN
SAS Label:
Respondent sequence number
English Text:
Respondent sequence number.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS

HUQ010 - General health condition

Variable Name:
HUQ010
SAS Label:
General health condition
English Text:
{First/Next} I have some general questions about {your/SP's} health. Would you say {your/SP's} health in general is . . .
English Instructions:
CAPI INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY "FIRST" IF SP AGE IS >= 16 YEARS.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Excellent, 2594 2594
2 Very good, 2718 5312
3 Good, 3384 8696
4 Fair, or 1528 10224
5 Poor? 310 10534
7 Refused 0 10534
9 Don't know 3 10537
. Missing 0 10537

HUQ015 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
HUQ015
English Instructions:
CHECK ITEM HUQ.015: IF SP AGE >= 1, CONTINUE. OTHERWISE, GO TO HUQ.030.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS

HUQ020 - Health now compared with 1 year ago

Variable Name:
HUQ020
SAS Label:
Health now compared with 1 year ago
English Text:
Compared with 12 months ago, would you say {your/SP's} health is now . . .
Target:
Both males and females 1 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Better, 1793 1793
2 Worse, or 843 2636
3 About the same? 7472 10108
7 Refused 1 10109
9 Don't know 0 10109
. Missing 428 10537

HUQ030 - Routine place to go for healthcare

Variable Name:
HUQ030
SAS Label:
Routine place to go for healthcare
English Text:
Is there a place that {you/SP} usually {go/goes} when {you are/he/she is} sick or {you/s/he} need{s} advice about {your/his/her} health?
English Instructions:
CAPI INSTRUCTION: IF SP AGE < 12, DISPLAY "YOU" IN THE FOURTH DISPLAY AND DON'T DISPLAY THE "S" IN THE FIFTH DISPLAY.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 9258 9258
2 There is no place 1239 10497 HUQ050
3 There is more than one place 38 10535
7 Refused 1 10536 HUQ050
9 Don't know 1 10537 HUQ050
. Missing 0 10537

HUQ040 - Type place most often go for healthcare

Variable Name:
HUQ040
SAS Label:
Type place most often go for healthcare
English Text:
What kind of place {do you/does SP} go to most often: is it a clinic, doctor's office, emergency room, or some other place?
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Clinic or health center 2484 2484
2 Doctor's office or HMO 6287 8771
3 Hospital emergency room 278 9049
4 Hospital outpatient department 155 9204
5 Some other place 90 9294
7 Refused 0 9294
9 Don't know 2 9296
. Missing 1241 10537

HUQ050 - #times receive healthcare over past year

Variable Name:
HUQ050
SAS Label:
#times receive healthcare over past year
English Text:
{During the past 12 months, how/How} many times {have you/has SP} seen a doctor or other health care professional about {your/his/her} health at a doctor's office, a clinic, hospital emergency room, at home or some other place? Do not include times {you were/s/he was} hospitalized overnight.
English Instructions:
CAPI INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY "12 MONTHS" ONLY IF SP'S AGE IS >= 1.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 None 1398 1398
1 1 2039 3437 HUQ071
2 2 to 3 3237 6674 HUQ071
3 4 to 9 2626 9300 HUQ071
4 10 to 12 635 9935 HUQ071
5 13 or more 587 10522 HUQ071
77 Refused 1 10523 HUQ071
99 Don't know 14 10537 HUQ071
. Missing 0 10537

HUQ060 - How long since last healthcare visit

Variable Name:
HUQ060
SAS Label:
How long since last healthcare visit
English Text:
About how long has it been since {you/SP} last saw or talked to a doctor or other health care professional about {your/his/her} health? Include doctors seen while {you were} {he/she was} a patient in a hospital. Has it been . . .
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 6 months or less, 50 50
2 More than 6 months, but not more than 1 year ago, 88 138
3 More than 1 year, but not more than 3 years ago, 799 937
4 More than 3 years, or 427 1364
5 Never? 32 1396
7 Refused 0 1396
9 Don't know 2 1398
. Missing 9139 10537

HUQ071 - Overnite hospital patient in last year

Variable Name:
HUQ071
SAS Label:
Overnite hospital patient in last year
English Text:
{During the past 12 months, were you/{Was/was} SP} a patient in a hospital overnight? Do not include an overnight stay in the emergency room.
English Instructions:
CAPI INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY "12 MONTHS" ONLY IF SP'S AGE IS >= 1. DISPLAY "WAS SP" WITH LEADING CAPS, IF SP'S AGE IS <1.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 1088 1088
2 No 9447 10535 HUQ085
7 Refused 1 10536 HUQ085
9 Don't know 1 10537 HUQ085
. Missing 0 10537

HUD080 - #times overnite hospital patient/last yr

Variable Name:
HUD080
SAS Label:
#times overnite hospital patient/last yr
English Text:
How many different times did {you/SP} stay in any hospital overnight or longer {during the past 12 months}? (Do not count total number of nights, just total number of hospital admissions for stays which lasted 1 or more nights.)
English Instructions:
CAPI INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY "12 MONTHS" ONLY IF SP'S AGE IS >= 1. ENTER NUMBER.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Hard Edits:
1 to 6
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 to 5 Range of Values 1070 1070
6 6 times or more 18 1088
77777 Refused 0 1088
99999 Don't know 0 1088
. Missing 9449 10537

HUQ085 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
HUQ085
English Instructions:
BOX 2. CHECK ITEM HUQ.085: IF SP AGE >= 4, CONTINUE. OTHERWISE, GO TO END OF SECTION.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 150 YEARS

HUQ090 - Seen mental health professional/past yr

Variable Name:
HUQ090
SAS Label:
Seen mental health professional/past yr
English Text:
During the past 12 months, that is since {DISPLAY CURRENT MONTH} of {DISPLAY LAST YEAR}, {have you/has SP} seen or talked to a mental health professional such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse or clinical social worker about {your/his/her} health?
Target:
Both males and females 4 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 702 702
2 No 8553 9255
7 Refused 1 9256
9 Don't know 2 9258
. Missing 1279 10537