

THE THIRD NATIONAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION EXAMINATION SURVEY (NHANES III) 
                   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 Third National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) with the National 
Death Index (NDI). Linkage of the NHANES III survey participants 
with the NDI provides the opportunity to conduct a vast array of 
outcome studies designed to investigate the association of a wide 
variety of health factors with mortality. This is the second in a 
series of planned mortality linkages for the NHANES III survey.


DATA FILE DESCRIPTION

The NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File contains information 
based upon the results from a probabilistic match between NHANES III
and the NCHS National Death Index (NDI) records.  The NHANES III Public-
use Linked Mortality File provides mortality follow-up data from the 
date of NHANES III survey participation (1988-1994) through December
31, 2006. All NHANES III participants are included on the Public-use
Linked Mortality file. Variables provided on the file include: 
NHANES III sequence number, eligibility status, assigned vital status,
mortality source, person months of follow-up from interview date, 
person months of follow-up from MEC/home exam date, and the 113 
underlying and multiple causes of death.   


MORTALITY LINKAGE METHODOLOGY DOCUMENTATION

NCHS employed a methodology for the NHANES III 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 NHANES III 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_nhanes3_final.pdf


NHANES III PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE SAMPLE PROGRAMS

There are two sample programs provided to assist researchers when reading
in the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality ASCII 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 NHANES III sample ASCII
input statement program that reads in the NHANES III Public-use Linked
Mortality File can be found at this web site under "Sample Programs":
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage/mortality/nhanes3_linkage.htm

The second program provides researchers using STATA with code to read
in the data file and run their analyses using the STATA software. The 
NHANES III sample STATA program that reads in the NHANES III Public-use
Linked Mortality File can be found at this web site under "Sample Programs":
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage/mortality/nhanes3_linkage.htm


FILE NAME	                FILE DESCRIPTION		               FORMAT   (KB)

NHANES3_MORT_PUBLIC_USE.ASCII   NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File    ASCII    x,xxx 


DOWNLOADING THE NHANES III PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE

To download the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File, go to
the web site: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage/mortality/nhanes3_linkage.htm.
Scroll down to the link named "NHANES III 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.

NHANES III PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE DOCUMENTATION

There is a data file layout (also called data dictionary) associated
with the NHANES III 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 NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality 
File can be found at this web site: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/nh3_file_layout_public_2010.pdf


NHANES III PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE RECORD SEQUENCE

All records on the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File have
been sorted by the NHANES III sequence number (SEQN). Additional 
instructions regarding the NHANES III sequence number are provided at
this web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/nh3_file_layout_public_2010.pdf


MERGING THE NHANES III PUBLIC-USE LINKED MORTALITY FILE TO OTHER PUBLIC-USE NHANES III FILES

To merge data from the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File to 
other public-use NHANES III files, users should use the SEQN provided 
on the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File. Users should refer
to the Detailed Notes for Selected Variables in the file layout to
view additional notes on the SEQN variable at the web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/nh3_file_layout_public_2010.pdf


Users who want to combine the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File
with other public-use NHANES III data files should: 

1. Refer to the readme files for the specific NHANES III public-use data
file they want to merge to the NHANES III Public-use Linked Mortality File. 

2. Note the number of records in the NHANES III public-use data files. The
Household Questionnaire Files contain data for all NHANES III interviewees
while the Examination Data Files contain data only on examinees. The NHANES
III Public-use Linked Mortality File contains 33,994 records for survey
participants who were interviewed and examined.

3. Review the Analytic Guidelines for the NHANES III public-use data files
at the web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/nh3_mort_analytic_guidelines.pdf

4. Review the Weighting and Estimation Methodology for the public-use
NHANES III data files to ensure the proper use of survey weights when 
weighting the NHANES III data. Please refer to the web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes3/cdrom/NCHS/MANUALS/WGT_EXEC.PDF

5. Refer to the detailed notes on the NHANES III Sequence Number when
merging the NHANES III public-use survey files to the NHANES III Public-use
Linked Mortality File at the web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/datalinkage/nh3_file_layout_public_2010.pdf


CONTACT INFORMATION

Updates about new data releases, publications, or errors will be 
sent to members of the NHANES Listserv.  To join, visit the  
website at:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/nhanes_listserv.htm

For additional information on NHANES III 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 NHANES III data products:

   Phone   : 301-458-4567
   FAX     : 301-458-4028
   E-mail  : nhaneslist@cdc.gov
   Internet: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/nh3data.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 NHANES III 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 NHANES III 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 NHANES III 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 Third National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey Linked Mortality File, 2010.  Hyattsville, Maryland. (Available at 
the following address: 
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/data_linkage/mortality/nhanes3_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.






