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What
is The National Health Survey?
For
the past several years health care has
been the subject of intense public debate.
Unfortunately, in this debate and in
many efforts to improve health or reduce
the costs of care, there is a critical
lack of information about people's health
status and the health care they receive.
The
National Health Survey fills this gap
in our national information. Experts
in health status assessment, survey
methodology and community health intervention
have developed the first annual survey
of the status of the nation's health.
The National Health Survey establishes
a baseline for comparisons of health
status (both local and national), and
evaluations of health status improvement
efforts. The information gathered from
the survey, contained in The National
Health Survey Report, can be used by
health care and human service administrators,
managed care professionals, and purchasers
of care to aid in strategic decision
making, planning and evaluation.
What's
in The National Health Survey Report?
The
National Health Survey Report was written
to communicate the information collected
through The National Health Survey in
a concise and useable format. This document
is organized so the reader can approach
the information from several points
of view. Those interested in methodology
or increasing their understanding of
the conceptual and technical aspects
of population-based community health
status assessment can obtain such information
in the first chapter. Chapter II is
a presentation of key findings from
the data organized by topical areas
so that if a reader has a particular
interest, locating the desired information
is very straightforward. The third chapter
presents profiles of specific groups
of respondents so that the reader can
appreciate differences in responses
and health status measures by insurance
coverage groupings, educational attainment
levels and overall health status. In
addition, a factor analysis of respondents
expression of concern about a number
of community issues reveals some interesting
findings. Chapter IV discusses how health
status data can and has been applied
for several different purposes. Specific
examples from our experience are included.
How
Was The National Health Survey Conducted?
The
National Health Survey is based on responses
from a sample of more than 2,500 randomly
selected individuals from across the
United States to a 194-item survey instrument.
The survey was completed in July 1995
with a response rate of almost 70%.
The
National Health Survey represents the
state-of-the-art in both research methodologies
as well as health status assessment.
The survey addresses a broad range of
health status indicators such as education,
housing and employment. In addition,
questions in the following areas were
included in the survey: (CLICK on any
of the following topics for sample charts
and excerpts from The National Health
Survey Report)
Through
the cooperation of the
Medical Outcomes Trust, this survey
is one of the only national sample of
responses to the SF-12; the flagship
instrument in outcomes measurement.
The survey also incorporates questions
from the Group Health Association of
America's Consumer Satisfaction Survey
(used in HEDIS), the
Carter Center/CDC Health Risk Surveys,
as well as unique items developed specifically
for this survey.
The
Appendices include supporting and reference
information. A copy of the survey instrument,
the references for this document, a
discussion of how to interpret the data
tables, and a complete set of the data
tables are in the first section of the
Appendices. The next section includes
background information and comparisons
between The National Health Survey results
and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention's Consensus Health Status
Indicators as well as the Department
of Health and Human Service's Healthy
People 2000 Objectives for the Nation
that relate to these data. The last
section of the Appendices includes additional
information on our organization, Felix,
Burdine and Associates.
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