The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. An ongoing annual survey combines interviews and physical examinations. The NHANES interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental,...

The Area Health Resources Files (AHRF) provide current as well as historic data for more than 6,000 variables for each of the nation's counties, as well as state and national data. They contain information on health facilities, health professions, measures of resource scarcity, health status, economic activity, health training programs, and socioeconomic and environmental characteristics. In addition,...

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a collection of health-related telephone surveys distributed to United States residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. BRFSS collects data in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories about U.S. residents regarding their health-related...

The National Health Interview Survey is a cross-sectional household interview survey. Sampling and interviewing are continuous throughout each year. The sampling plan follows a multistage area probability design that permits the representative sampling of households and noninstitutional group quarters (e.g., college dormitories). NHIS addresses topics such as health status, use of health services,...

The Decennial Census provides population estimates and demographic information on residents of the United States. The Census Summary Files contain detailed tables on responses to the decennial census. Data tables in Summary File 1 provide information on population and housing characteristics, including cross-tabulations of age, sex, households, families, relationship to householder, housing units,...

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal panel study that surveys a representative sample of more than 26,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years. The HRS explores the changes in labor force participation and the health transitions that individuals undergo toward the end of their work lives and in the years that follow, collecting information about income,...

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides a comprehensive body of data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, persons not in the labor force, hours of work, earnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics.

The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study is a prospective longitudinal epidemiological study conducted in four U.S. communities in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Minnesota. ARIC is designed to investigate the causes of atherosclerosis and its clinical outcomes, and variations in cardiovascular risk factors, medical care, and disease by race, gender, location, and date. ARIC...

The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is an ongoing cohort study dedicated to identifying common factors or characteristics that contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is a collaborative project of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Boston University. In 1948, an original cohort of 5,209 men and women between 30 and 62 years old were recruited from Framingham, MA. An Offspring Cohort...

The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is a population-based longitudinal study based in Jackson, Mississippi that investigates risk factors for cardiovascular disease among African Americans. It is a collaborative research project by the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson State University, and Tougaloo College. The primary objective is to investigate environmental and genetic factors associated...