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

N/A.

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 2007-2008, is comparable to HUQ071 in NHANES 2003-2004, NHANES 2005-2006 and to question HUD070 in NHANES 2001-2002 and HUQ070 in NHANES 1999-2000.

Question HUQ080/HUD080 (questionnaire/data release file) asks how many times the survey participant spent one or more nights in the hospital during the past 12 months. For NHANES 2007-2008 an additional English instruction was added for interviewers to provide to survey participants. This stated: “Do not count total number of nights, just total number of hospital admissions for stays which lasted 1 or more nights.” The purpose of this instruction was to clarify the distinction between total numbers of admissions versus total number of nights. The former number is the one sought. There is the possibility that some answers given during previous survey cycles, may have reflected total nights rather than total admissions.

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 in NHANES 2001-2002 and NHANES 2003-2004. These questions were not included in NHANES 2007-2008, NHANES 2005-2006 or NHANES 1999-2000.

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, 2790 2790
2 Very good, 2513 5303
3 Good, 3032 8335
4 Fair, or 1445 9780
5 Poor? 366 10146
7 Refused 1 10147
9 Don't know 2 10149
. Missing 0 10149

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, 1669 1669
2 Worse, or 836 2505
3 About the same? 7159 9664
7 Refused 0 9664
9 Don't know 2 9666
. Missing 483 10149

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 8933 8933
2 There is no place 1183 10116 HUQ050
3 There is more than one place 32 10148
7 Refused 0 10148 HUQ050
9 Don't know 1 10149 HUQ050
. Missing 0 10149

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 1848 1848
2 Doctor's office or HMO 6607 8455
3 Hospital emergency room 258 8713
4 Hospital outpatient department 161 8874
5 Some other place 90 8964
7 Refused 0 8964
9 Don't know 1 8965
. Missing 1184 10149

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 1449 1449
1 1 1957 3406 HUQ071
2 2 to 3 2946 6352 HUQ071
3 4 to 9 2638 8990 HUQ071
4 10 to 12 604 9594 HUQ071
5 13 or more 546 10140 HUQ071
77 Refused 1 10141 HUQ071
99 Don't know 8 10149 HUQ071
. Missing 0 10149

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, 91 91
2 More than 6 months, but not more than 1 year ago, 80 171
3 More than 1 year, but not more than 3 years ago, 812 983
4 More than 3 years, or 418 1401
5 Never? 47 1448
7 Refused 0 1448
9 Don't know 1 1449
. Missing 8700 10149

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 1040 1040
2 No 9107 10147 HUQ085
7 Refused 0 10147 HUQ085
9 Don't know 2 10149 HUQ085
. Missing 0 10149

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 1025 1025
6 6 times or more 13 1038
77777 Refused 0 1038
99999 Don't know 2 1040
. Missing 9109 10149

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 638 638
2 No 8211 8849
7 Refused 0 8849
9 Don't know 0 8849
. Missing 1300 10149