• Component Description
• Eligible Sample
• Interview Setting and Mode of Administration
• Quality Assurance & Quality Control
• Data Processing and Editing
• Analytic Notes
• References
• Codebook
  • SEQN - Respondent sequence number
  • OCD150 - Type of work done last week
  • OCQ180 - Hours worked last week at all jobs
  • OCQ200 - Check Item
  • OCQ210 - Usually work 35 or more hours per week
  • OCD230 - Industry group code: current job
  • OCD240 - Occupation group code: current job
  • OCQ260 - Description of job/work situation
  • OCD270 - Number of months working in the main job
  • OCQ290G - Smell tobacco smoke at work
  • OCQ290Q - # Hrs/day smell tobacco smoke at work
  • OCQ295 - Wear hearing protection, current job?
  • OCQ340 - Ever exposed to loud work noise 3+months
  • OCQ350 - Currently exposed to loud noise at work
  • OCQ360 - Avg # hours loud noise exposure now
  • OCQ370 - Check Item
  • OCQ380 - Main reason did not work last week
  • OCD390G - Kind of work you have done the longest
  • OCD390 - Occupation group code: longest job
  • OCD395 - Duration of longest job (months)
  • OCQ400 - Check Item
  • OCQ410 - Check Item
  • OCQ420 - Loud job noise: ever exposed, 3 months?
  • OCQ430 - Loud job noise: 3 months on longest job?
  • OCQ440 - # hours/day constant loud noise on job
  • OCQ450 - Wear ear protection during work
  • OCQ460 - Check Item
  • OCD470G - Kind of job held when had asthma
  • OCD470 - Occupation group code: job asthma began
  • OCD480 - Industry group code: job asthma began
• Appendix A

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

2003-2004 Data Documentation, Codebook, and Frequencies

Occupation (OCQ_C)

Data File: OCQ_C.xpt

First Published: January 2008

Last Revised: NA

Component Description

The Occupation Questionnaire Section (prefix OCQ; questions OCD.150 to OCD.480) contains personal interview data on employment and variables relating to the work environment.

OCQ Section Topics:

• Data for Sample Person’s Current Job (OCD230-OCD270): weekly hours worked, public vs. private sector, industry and occupation group codes, duration of employment.
• Data for the Sample Person’s Longest Job (OCD390G-OCD 395): occupation group codes, duration of employment.
• Data for the Sample Person’s “Asthma Job” (OCD470G-OCD 480): for adults reporting a diagnosis of asthma (MCQ010=1), the industry and occupation group codes for the specific job held when the asthma began are provided. This designated job may or may not be related to the onset of a Sample Person’s asthma.
• Exposure to Workplace Tobacco Smoke
• Hearing Protection Use in the Workplace
• Workplace Noise Exposure History

Eligible Sample

In the 2003-2004 survey, the OCQ Questionnaire was administered to survey participants 16+ years of age. For minors, questions were answered via a proxy respondent, generally a parent or guardian.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

In-person household interview.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

During the 2003-2004 data collection cycle, monthly QC checks were performed on the Occupation questionnaire data collection process and specific interviewer retraining was performed as appropriate.

Data Processing and Editing

A subject’s questionnaire interview responses were entered into a pentop computer and then uploaded into a computerized database in the same manner as other sections of the Sample Person Questionnaire. The data was then edited for completeness, consistency, and illogical values. Industry and occupation text data were then coded by trained coders using the U.S. Census Bureau’s Census 2000 Indexes of Industry and Occupations.1 For public release, recoded variables for industry and occupation groups were constructed, closely following the pattern established for reporting industry and occupation groups in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (see NHANES 1999-2000 Occupation Questionnaire documentation, Appendix B).

Analytic Notes

In general, analysts are advised to carefully review question wording in the OCQ codebook to make sure they understand question skip patterns and the definitions employed for Occupation-related variables. Many OCQ questions need to be considered as an integral part of data collection for other Questionnaire sections (AUQ, HIQ, SMQ) and Exam or Laboratory Components (for example Audiometry-AU). Appendix A lists a SAS™ program to provide value labels for the Industry and Occupation groups designated for the Sample Person’s current, longest, and “asthma” jobs (Note that military occupations are not permissible entries for NHANES current job data because the survey covers only the civilian, non-institutionalized population. However, civilian employees of the armed forces may be included. Military occupations are valid entries for a participant’s longest or “asthma” job data.)

Current Job Information:

The primary focus of the OCQ Questionnaire is data collection for the participant’s work within the previous week, i.e. the participant’s Current Job. The participant’s Current Job is defined as the main paid job worked within the last week, including work on a family farm. When an individual currently worked multiple jobs, the participant was asked to designate a main job for the interview. Data collected included:

• The Number of Hours Worked Last Week- All Jobs
• Whether the Participant Usually Works 35 or More Hours/Week
• Sector Of Employment (Private, Public) for Current, Main Job
• Number Of Months Working On Current, Main Job
• (If not working) The Main Reason The Participant Did Not Work Last Week

Longest Job Information:

By design, the survey collected data on both industry and occupation for a subject’s current and “asthma” job, but only data on occupation was collected for the subject’s longest job. Therefore industry information is not available for the participant’s designated longest job. Some industry information is available in instances where the longest job is the same as the current job, or was the armed forces (OCD390G=2 or 3). Also, in some instances industry for the longest job can be inferred from the Sample Person’s longest occupation. Previous survey research has shown a moderate correlation exists between a respondent’s current and longest reported jobs.²

“Asthma” Job Information:

For respondents reporting a diagnosis of asthma (MCQ010=1), the industry and occupation designation for the specific job held when the asthma began were captured. This employment history may be, but is not necessarily related to the onset of a participant’s asthma. OCD470G, the ”gate” question for this series, records whether this “asthma” job was the same as the respondent’s current or longest job, or if the respondent was not working at that time. If the respondent was working, but not with either the current or longest designated job; OCD470 and OCD480 record the pertinent occupation and industry information.

Data on Workplace Tobacco Smoke Exposure:

Data for exposure to workplace tobacco smoke is collected only for the participant’s Current Job. Exposure to tobacco smoke is defined as whether the participant can smell tobacco smoke at work. Also collected is the number of hours/day of workplace tobacco exposure (OCQ290Q). A value of “0” in OCQ290Q signifies that workplace exposure to tobacco smoke occurred, but was less than one hour per day. These OCQ questions are logically related to SMQ Questionnaire data and laboratory data for serum cotinine.

Data on the Use of Personal Protective Equipment at Work:

For NHANES 2003-2004, only data on the use of protective hearing devices was collected.

Workplace Noise Exposure History:

For the NHANES Survey, workplace noise exposure is defined as on-the-job noise so loud that the participant has to speak in a raised voice to be heard. Data analysts should be aware that the participant’s history of hearing disorders as well as the participant’s exposure history for non-occupational loud noise (i.e. from firearms, power tools or loud music) and the non-occupational use of hearing protection is
located elsewhere in the AUQ questionnaire segment.

Lifetime Work Noise Exposures:

Data on lifetime exposure to loud job noise for greater than 3 months is collected in OCQ.340 and OCQ.420, which must be combined for any overall analysis (OCQ.340 collects this data for the currently employed; OCQ420 collects the data for participants not currently employed).

Workplace Noise in Current Job:

For the participant’s Current Job, OCQ.350 collects data on the presence or absence of job noise exposure, and OCQ.360 collects the average number of hours/week. The use of hearing protection devices on the participant’s Current Job is collected in OCQ.295.

Noise Exposure in the Participant’s Longest Job:

For the participant’s Longest Job, exposure to loud job noise for greater than 3 months is collected in the series OCQ.430, OCQ.440 and OCQ.450 (presence/absence of exposure; hours/day exposed; and whether protective hearing devices were worn, respectively). The duration of the participant’s Longest Job is recorded in OCD395.

A systematic review of Occupational Data collected in the variety of NCHS surveys is summarized by in the NCHS Occupation and Health Data Guide.³

References

• Burnett CA, Crouse WE. Agreement of latest and longest occupation and industry as reported in the 1980 National Health Interview Survey. J Occup Med. 1989 Apr;31(4):339-46.
• Detailed information on the Census 2000 Indexes of Industry and Occupations is available at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/ioindex.html. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/ioindex.html
• Wagener DK. Occupation and Health Data Guide: Bibliographies and Data Sources From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics. No. 2. May 1993. 36 pp. (PHS) 93-1308.

Codebook and Frequencies