Veterans Health Information Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation
In the NHIS household composition and family core sections of the questionnaire, Veteran status is established along with other socio-demographic characteristics. Veterans were defined as adults (aged 18 and over) who had ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, military Reserves, or National Guard and are not currently on full-time active duty with the Armed Forces. Whether a respondent is characterized as a veteran is based on response to the questions, “[fill: Is anyone in the household/Are you/Is alias] now on full-time active duty with the Armed Forces?” and “Have you ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, military Reserves, or National Guard?”.
Additionally, the Sample Adult Core collects information on period of military service, oversees deployment, health conditions, functional limitations, health behaviors, and access to and use of health care services from one randomly selected adult per family. Estimates of these health outcomes by Veteran status and other characteristics are obtained from the Sample Adult Core.
[Note: The content and structure of the NHIS was significantly updated in the 2019 questionnaire redesign, click here for more information. Questions regarding Veteran status remain in the survey but from 2019 onwards are asked of sample adult given that the family core section has been removed.]
Data and Survey Documentation
The data are available in the 2018 (and prior years) Person and Sample Adult public use files. All NHIS survey information can be accessed from the portion of the NHIS website titled ‘Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation’. Links to questionnaires and other survey-related documents (such as survey description document) are found in subsection ‘Data, Questionnaires, and Related Documentation’ and by scrolling down to the year of interest. For data and documentation (other than the questionnaires and the survey description), click on “Data Release” for the year of interest.