


           THE SECOND LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF AGING (LSOA II)  
                   Public-use Linked Mortality File					    

		         Updated December 11, 2013
 
                   PUBLIC-USE DATA RELEASE

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WARNING - DATA USE RESTRICTIONS! Read Carefully Before Use

The Public Health Service Act (Section 308 (d)) provides that 
the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics 
(NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may be 
used only for the purpose of health statistical reporting and
analysis.

Any effort to determine the identity of any reported case is 
prohibited by this law.

NCHS does all it can to assure that the identity of data 
subjects cannot be disclosed.  All direct identifiers, as well 
as any characteristics that might lead to identification, are 
either omitted from the data file or perturbed to prevent
re-identification. Any intentional identification or 
disclosure of a person or establishment violates the assurances 
of confidentiality given to the providers of the information.
Therefore, users will:

       1. Use the data in these data files for statistical 
          reporting and analysis only.

       2. Make no use of the identity of any person or 
          establishment discovered inadvertently and advise the 
          Director, NCHS, of any such discovery (301-458-4500).

       3. Not link these data files with individually 
          identifiable data from other NCHS or non-NCHS data 
          files.

By using these data, you signify your agreement to comply with 
the above-stated statutorily based requirements.



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INTRODUCTION

NCHS has conducted a mortality linkage of The Second Longitudinal
Study of Aging (LSOA II) with the National Death Index (NDI). 
The LSOA II is a prospective survey of 9,447 civilian 
non-institutionalized persons 70 years of age and over at the 
time of their baseline interview. This baseline interview, also
known as the Second Supplement on Aging (SOA II), was conducted
in 1994-1996. The LSOA II followed this cohort of older persons
through two follow-up interviews, in 1997-1998 and 1999-2000. 
Linkage of the LSOA II survey participants with the NDI provides
the opportunity to conduct studies designed to investigate the 
association of a variety of health factors with mortality. 


DATA FILE DESCRIPTION

The LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File contains information 
based upon the results from a probabilistic match between the NCHS 
National Death Index (NDI) records, as well as previously identified 
deaths collected during The Second Longitudinal Study of Aging. The 
LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File provides mortality follow-up 
data from the date of LSOA II survey participation (1994-2000) through 
December 31, 2006. All LSOA II participants aged 70 years of age and 
over are included on the Linked Mortality File. Additional variables 
provided on the file include: eligibility status, assigned vital status, 
quarter and year of death and cause of death.

MORTALITY LINKAGE METHODOLOGY DOCUMENTATION

NCHS employed a methodology for the LSOA II Linked Mortality File 
that was similar, but not identical, to the standard methodology 
offered by the NDI. The matching methodology document contains 
detailed information regarding the methodology utilized for the
linkage. Users are urged to carefully read this document to gain
a better understanding of the matching methodology employed to
link LSOA II records to death records in the NDI. The matching 
methodology document can be found at this web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/matching_methodology_lsoa2_final.pdf

LSOA II PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE SAMPLE PROGRAMS

There are two sample programs provided to assist researchers when reading
in the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File.

The first sample program provides data input statements. By using the 
ASCII data file (.DAT file) as input to the program, other types of
data files (e.g. SAS, SPSS) can be created. The LSOA II sample ASCII
input statement program that reads in the LSOA II Public-use Linked
Mortality File can be found at this web site:

ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/datalinkage/linked_mortality/lsoa2_sample_ascii_pgm_2010.sas

The second program provides researchers using STATA with code to read
in the data file and run their analyses using the STATA software. The 
LSOA II sample STATA program that reads in the LSOA II Public-use
Linked Mortality File can be found at this web site:

ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/datalinkage/linked_mortality/lsoa2_sample_stata_ascii_pgm_2010.do

NOTE TO STATA USERS: If STATA users click on the "Sample STATA Program" link,
STATA may attempt to automatically run the program, resulting in an error message.
To avoid getting an error message, we suggest STATA users save the program by right
clicking on the link "Sample STATA Program" and select the "Save Target As" option.


FILE NAME	               FILE DESCRIPTION		                 FORMAT (KB)

lsoa2_mort_public_use_2010.dat LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File  ASCII  314


DOWNLOADING THE LSOA II PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE

To download the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File, go to
the web site: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage/mortality/lsoaii_linkage.htm

Scroll down to the link named, "LSOA II Linked Mortality Public-use Data file".
Right click on the link and select "Save Target as...". A “Save as” 
screen will appear and you will need to select and input a location 
where to save the data file on your computer. It is also important
that the box "Save Type as" reads ".dat Document". This will ensure
that the data file is saved to your computer in the correct format.

LSOA II PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE DOCUMENTATION

There is a data file layout (also called data dictionary) associated
with the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File. The data file 
layout is in PDF format that can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat software.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader Software can be downloaded from the Adobe 
Acrobat Web site at:

http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html

The data file layout for the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File
can be found at this web site: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/lsoa2_file_layout_public_2010.pdf


LSOA II PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE RECORD SEQUENCE

All records on the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File have been
sorted by the LSOA II person level PUBLICID. Detailed instructions are 
provided showing the construction of the LSOA II PUBLICID at this web site: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/lsoa2_file_layout_public_2010.pdf

MERGING THE LSOA II PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE TO OTHER PUBLIC-USE LSOA II FILES

To merge data from the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File to other 
public-use LSOA II data files, the PUBLICID variable provided on the Linked 
Mortality File should be used. User should review the Detailed Notes for 
Selected Variables in the file layout to construct the PUBLICID at the web site: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/lsoa2_file_layout_public_2010.pdf


CONTACT INFORMATION

For additional information on LSOA II data linkage products, please visit the
NCHS data linkage web page at:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage_activities.htm


For additional information on LSOA II data products:

   E-mail  : lsoa@cdc.gov
   Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/lsoa/lsoa2.htm


For additional information on other NCHS data products:

   Phone   : 800-CDC-INFO
   E-mail  : nchsquery@cdc.gov
   Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs


Although the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality File was carefully 
edited, errors may be detected. Please e-mail the NCHS Data Linkage 
Staff at datalinkage@cdc.gov if any errors are detected in the LSOA II
Public-use Linked Mortality File data or documentation. 

STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY

This material has been cleared for public distribution by 
CDC/ATSDR and will be authentic if obtained directly from 
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/.  CDC/ATSDR takes 
all effort to assure the authenticity of electronically 
distributed documents.  However, in all instances where the 
electronic and official agency record differ, the authenticity 
of the official agency record is controlling.


Guidelines for Citation of the LSOA II Public-use Linked Mortality Data

With the goal of mutual benefit, the National Center for Health 
Statistics (NCHS) requests that recipients of data files cooperate
in certain actions related to their use.  Any published material 
derived from the data should acknowledge NCHS as the original source.
The suggested citation to appear at the bottom of all published 
tables is as follows:

Source: National Center for Health Statistics 

When cited in a bibliography, the citation should read:

National Center for Health Statistics. Office of Analysis and
Epidemiology, Public-use Second Longitudinal Study of Aging
(LSOA II) Linked Mortality File, 2010.  Hyattsville, Maryland.
(Available at the following address: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage/mortality/lsoaii_linkage.htm)

The published material should also include a disclaimer that credits
any analyses, interpretations, or conclusions reached to the author
(recipient of the data file) and not to NCHS, which is responsible
only for the initial data.  Consumers who wish to publish a technical
description of the data should make an effort to insure that the 
description is not inconsistent with that published by NCHS.




