• Component Description
• Eligible Sample
• Interview Setting and Mode of Administration
• Quality Assurance & Quality Control
• Data Processing and Editing
• Analytic Notes
• Codebook
  • SEQN - Respondent sequence number
  • RC2KX - Census 2010 Geocoder General Return Code
  • STM2KX - Census 2010 Geocoder Street Matcher RC
  • LVL2KX - Census 2010 Geocoder LAT/LONG Geocoding
  • LAT - Latitude (Decimal)
  • LON - Longitude (Decimal)
  • STATE2KX - Census 2010 FIPS State Code
  • CNTY2KX - Census 2010 FIPS County Code
  • CBSA - Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA)
  • UR2KX - Urban/Rural Indicator
  • TRACT2KX - Census 2010 Tract
  • BG2KX - Census 2010 Block Group
  • BLOCK2KX - Census 2010 Block ID
• Appendix 1. 1999-2018 GCP Match Census 2010

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

1999-2018 Data Documentation, Codebook, and Frequencies

Geocoded Data, NHANES 1999-2018, Census 2010 (GEO_2010)

RDC Only Data File: GEO_2010.xpt

First Published: March 2018

Last Revised: July 2021

Due to disclosure concerns, this dataset is not available publicly. Access may be obtained through the NCHS Research Data Center (https://www.cdc.gov/rdc).

Component Description

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducts interviews and health examinations on a nationally representative sample of approximately 5,000 people each year. During each 2-year cycle through 2017-2018, NHANES visited 15 locations each year. No information about geographic location was released to protect the identification of NHANES participants. State and county information could be obtained through the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC). It is desirable, however, to use a finer level of geography to spatially analyze the NHANES data and to answer various important research questions about the effect of geography on health.

Therefore, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) entered into an agreement with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to use its geocoding services to assign geographic codes to the NHANES address data. HUD geocoded the 1999-2018 NHANES data to the 2010 census.

Eligible Sample

All survey participants have a geocoded record.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

Addresses were collected for each household with at least one survey participant by trained interviewers using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system in the participant’s home or by telephone.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

After geocoding the NHANES data, HUD provides QC documentation (see Appendix 1).

Data Processing and Editing

The NHANES participant address data were submitted to HUD and, geo-enabled with latitude/longitude coordinates and other legal, statistical, and administrative geographies including census, postal, and other attributes, using the HUD Geocode Service Center (GSC) system.

Analytic Notes

Due to disclosure concerns, this dataset is not available publicly. Access may be obtained through the NCHS Research Data Center.

Only 30 locations are included in each 2-year NHANES cycle, analysts are urged to combine cycles to achieve greater geographic coverage and to assess if additional cycles are needed to achieve adequate statistical power. Generally, obtaining stable estimates for rare outcomes is not possible for sub-national geographic areas.

Please note the Census year for the geocoded file. Geographic linkage is done using the most recent decennial Census data available. Although most analyses are likely to use the most recent data available, some analysts may choose geocoded data linked to older Census data. The documentation accompanying the file should be carefully reviewed because Census variable names differ between geographic linkage file versions.

Codebook and Frequencies