2007 NHHCS Medication Data

Medication data were collected in the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey. The PDF files below provide useful information about how these data were collected and provide resources to help data users analyze the medication data.

PDF Files

Persons with disabilities who experience problems accessing PDF files should contact nchsed@cdc.gov or call 301-458-4688.

The first file, the technical notes, contains information on how the medication data were collected and processed. The data dictionary gives the layout of the 534 variables in this public-use file. The remaining files provide key information to help data users 1) search for medications by brand and generic names and 2) analyze the medication data in the public-use file.

• Technical Notes for the 2007 NHHCS Medication Public-use File Cdc-pdf[PDF Version – 220 KB]

  The technical notes provide general information on how the medication data were collected and coded, how to download the Medication Public-use File, and how to link the Medication Public-Use File to the Current Home Health Patient and Hospice Discharge Public-use File. The appendices in the technical notes provide the license agreement for the proprietary Multum classification system used to assign therapeutic classes to the medications reported in the survey and provide the Multum Classification Directory of the therapeutic drug class(es) and their codes.

• 2007 NHHCS Data Dictionary: Medications Public-Use File Cdc-pdf[PDF Version – 268 KB]

  The data dictionary provides the variable name and type, length, file position, field description, and variable values for each field in the Medication Public-Use File

• Medication Code Key: PMCODE and Drug Name in 2007 NHHCS Cdc-pdf[PDF Version – 657 KB]

  This file provides the PMCODE that corresponds to each medication captured in the 2007 NHHCS. Pages 1-59 list the PMCODEs in ascending order. Pages 60-118 list the drug names in alphabetical order.

• Supplemental Drug Information Cdc-pdf[PDF Version- 1546 KB]

  This spreadsheet, which contains four tabs, provides important information on medications taken by home health care patients and hospice care discharges sampled in the 2007 NHHCS. In the Home Health Patient Estimates and the Hospice Discharge Estimates tabs, the first two fields show the drug code (PMCODE) and drug name. The next three fields provide drug characteristic codes for composition status, prescription status, and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) status. The remaining fields show if the medication was taken by any sampled home health care patients/hospice care discharges, giving the weighted and unweighted numbers of patients/discharges who took the given medication and the rate per 10,000. These numbers indicate if the medication(s) of interest has enough cases to perform meaningful analyses.

  The Home Health Patient Generic Dr and the Hospice Discharge Generic Drug tabs provide the generic name code (Drug ID) and the generic name for medication reported in the survey, in addition to the drug categories they belong to according to the Multum classification system.

  This file lists each therapeutic class in the NDC directory and the medications in the LTCDDS that fall within each class. This is a quick and easy reference to learn which medications are assigned to each therapeutic class.

Guidance on Search Criteria in the Drug Estimates and Characteristics PDF file

Drug Name: The specific medication name entered by the field interviewer, as told to him or her by the agency respondent. It corresponds with information provided in the home health care patient/hospice care discharge medication administration record. It may be a trade, brand, proprietary, or generic name, but not a drug class.

Drug Name Code (PMCODE): A unique NCHS-assigned, five-digit code that identifies each drug name recorded in the 2007 NHHCS. Drugs taken include pharmaceutical agents (by any route of administration-for prevention, diagnosis, or treatment), over-the-counter medications, and vitamin, mineral, herbal or nutritional supplements. Generic as well as brand name drugs are included.

Unweighted Number of Drug Mentions: The estimate of the number of home health care patients/hospice care discharges who took a pharmaceutical agent-by any route of administration-for prevention, diagnosis, or treatment. Generic as well as brand name drugs are included, as are nonprescription and prescription drugs. If this field is blank, then no home health care patients/hospice care discharges were recorded to have taken that drug.

Weighted Number of Drug Mentions: The unweighted number of drug mentions with the sample weight applied to it to provide the 2007 national estimate for the number of home health care/hospice care discharges who took a given medication.

Rate per 10,000: The number of home health care patients/hospice care discharges per 10,000 who took a particular drug, as identified by its drug name and code

Generic Name: The official name assigned to every drug entity by the United States Pharmacopeia/United States Adopted Names or other responsible authorities.

DrugID: A unique six-digit code that identifies the generic or ingredient name(s) of a drug.

Prescription (Rx) Status: A single-digit code designed to identify the legal status (prescription or nonprescription) of the drug entry.

DEA Status Code: A code used to denote the degree of potential abuse and federal control of a drug entry. The Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), by federal law, regulates controlled medications because of their significant potential for dependence or abuse and their possible diversion into illicit channels. The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 identifies each controlled drug according to one of five schedules. Schedule I drugs, like heroin and LSD, have a higher potential for abuse and no current accepted medical usefulness for treatment in the United States. Each successive schedule, II through V, reflects a decreasing degree of dependence and potential for abuse.

Composition Status Code: A single-digit code used to distinguish between single-ingredient and combination drugs.

Drug Category: A code, based on the Multum Lexicon, used to identify the therapeutic class(es) to which a drug ingredient belongs. The therapeutic category is identified by a three-digit code that ranges from 001 to 899.

Additional Information

For additional assistance about the Prescribed Medications Public-Use file and the PDF files containing medication estimates and drug characteristics for drugs in the public-use file, please contact the Long-term Care Statistics Branch at (301) 458-4747.