Sponsor

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Mode of Administration

Manual sample selection and abstraction of inpatient medical records by field personnel or automated data collection through the purchase of electronic files from commercial abstracting sources, States, or hospitals.

Survey Sample Design

The NHDS utilizes a three-stage probability design that includes primary sampling units (PSUs) used for the 1985–94 NHIS, hospitals within PSUs, and discharges within hospitals. The largest hospitals were selected with certainty. The annual number of records included in the survey is approximately 300,000.

Response Rates

The survey response rate averages between 92 and 95 percent annually.

Primary Survey Content

Variables collected include: age; gender; race; ethnicity; admission and discharge dates (length of stay); discharge status; source of payment; hospital size, ownership, and region; from 1-7 diagnoses coded using the ICD-9-CM; and, from 0-4 procedures using the ICD-9-CM.

Population Targeted

Hospital discharges from short-stay noninstitutional hospitals and general and children’s general hospitals regardless of length of stay, exclusive of military and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs hospitals, located within the 50 States and the District of Columbia.

Demographic Data

Patient’s age, gender, race, and ethnicity.

Years Collected

1965 to present.

Schedule

Annual.

Geographic Estimates

National, four U.S. Census Bureau regions.

Notes

Data on race are not available for some hospitals because the hospitals provide data from billing forms that do not include race as a required item. A comparison of NHDS data with data for those who reported being hospitalized in the NHIS indicated that under reporting for whites was about 30 percent in 1992; the difference for African Americans was not statistically significant. Hispanic origin is not reported for 75 percent of the NHDS records in 1992. (Kozak, L.J. Under reporting of race in the National Hospital Discharge Survey. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, No. 265. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 1995.)

Contact Information

Data system homepage:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/hdasd/nhds.htm

Data system phone: 301-458-4321

Agency homepage:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs

Agency phone: 301-458-INFO (4636)

References

Graves, E.J., and Owings, M.F. 1996 Summary: National Hospital Discharge Survey. Advance data from Vital and Health Statistics. No. 301. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 1998.

Haupt, B.J., and Kozak, L.J. Estimates from two survey designs: National Hospital Discharge Survey. NCHS. Vital and Health Statistics 13 (111), 1992.

National Center for Health Statistics. Detailed diagnoses and procedures: National Hospital Discharge Survey. NCHS. Vital and Health Statistics 13, Published annually.