2019 NHAMCS Questionnaires, Datasets, and Documentation

At a glance

  • Find survey methods, questionnaires, and other resources used to collect 2019 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data.
  • Access important technical information to help you understand, analyze, and use 2019 NHAMCS data.

Overview

Resources on this page provide information about the 2019 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data collection, its participants, and its protocols, as well as analytic notes and references. They will help you understand, analyze, and use the 2019 NHAMCS data.

Emergency departments

On February 3, 2022, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released a new version of the public use data file. The updated file includes the emergency department weight variable (EDWT) only on the first record for each hospital (based on the HOSPCODE variable). The initial file release included this variable on all emergency department records.

Traditionally, NCHS has released the NHAMCS public use file with the EDWT only on the first record for each hospital. It is easier to produce facility-level estimates when the EDWT variable is present on only one record for each emergency department. To calculate facility-level estimates correctly, download the revised version of the file. Visit-level estimates are unaffected.

Public use file

Masked design variables

NHAMCS public use data files for 1992–2022 contain sample design variables in masked form. The 2000–2022 public use files included masked sample design when first released.

Beginning with the 2002 public use files, two new masked design variables were added to the file. These new masked design variables should be used with statistical software that assumes a single stage of sampling. Since 2003, NHAMCS has only included these two masked design variables for variance estimation. Data users who wish to combine years of data from 2003 and beyond with years prior to 2002 will need to create these two variables for each file prior to 2002.

Find instructions for creating these variables in Using Ultimate Cluster Models with NHAMCS Public Use Files.

Survey instruments

Resources

Looking for earlier NHAMCS resources?‎

Visit the CDC Archive to find older questionnaires, datasets, and documentation for public use, and supporting materials for restricted data