Survey Results

Survey Items: Survey instrument item numbers for children 0-5 years: D5, D6c; for children 6-11 years: D5, D6c; for children 12-17 years: D5, D6c
Variables in public use data file: DECISIONS (2022) ; DECISIONS_R (2023); DISCUSSOPT; RAISECONC; BESTFORCHILD

Denominator: Children age 0-17 years who had a health care visit and needed decisions in the past 12 months

Numerator: Always or usually; Sometimes or never

Revisions and Changes: There have been changes in this measure since 2016. Changes could be in the way the item was worded, in the response options provided, or in other areas such as a skip pattern change, question placement changes, etc. For more information about the changes, click here.

Additional Notes: This measure is based on whether the child has a family who usually or always feels that doctors or other health care providers: 1) discuss with parents a range of options to consider for their child's health care or treatment; 2) make it easy to raise concerns or disagree with recommendations for the child's health; and 3) work together to decide health care and treatment choices would be best for the child. Children with a valid, positive response (usually or always) to at least one component and the remainder of the components were missing are categorized as families that feel they are partners in decision making.
In 2022, the denominator of this measure was children who had a health care visit in the past 12 months and presented in 3 categories including who did not need shared decision-making. Due to changes in the wording of the question in 2023, the prevalence estimate for children who needed decisions is not comparable with the 2022 NSCH. Therefore, the measure is displayed among children who had a health care visit and needed shared decision making.

Treatment of Unknown Values: Missing values may be due to non-response (i.e. a skipped item) or a “don’t know” response. The way these items are handled can vary by measure. For Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Measures, having missing values for all items in an indicator will lead to the case being given a missing value on the overall measure. For some other measures, if there is a missing value on any of the items, the case will be set to missing. How missing values are handled is documented in the "Additional notes" field above when required. Missing values are not included in the denominator when calculating prevalence estimates and weighted population counts displayed in the Interactive Data Query results table. In the majority of cases, the proportion of missing values is less than 5%. Exceptions are noted in the form of a Data Alert at the bottom of a results table. The exclusion of these values does not change the prevalence estimates (%) and only marginally affects the weighted population counts (Pop. Est.). To learn about the impact of the missing values on the population count estimates, click here.

History and Development:
About NSCH
The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), funded and directed by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is designed to provide annual national and state-level information on the health and well-being of children ages 0-17 years in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau administers the survey, oversees the sampling, and produces a final data set of survey results. HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) develops survey content in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and a Technical Expert Panel. The Technical Expert Panel consists of experts in survey methodology and children’s health, federal and state stakeholders, clinicians and researchers. In 2016, the NSCH underwent a significant redesign which combined content from both the NSCH and the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). Further information on that redesign can be found in “The Design and Implementation of the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health”.
The NSCH is conducted as a household survey, and one child per household is selected to be the subject for the detailed age-specific questionnaire. The respondent to this questionnaire is a parent or guardian who is living in the home and has knowledge of the sampled child. Survey participants complete either web-based or self-administered paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Data from the NSCH is used for scientific research, federal policy and program development, and state-level planning and performance reporting. Information is collected on factors related to the health and well-being of children, including access to and utilization of health care, receipt of care in a medical home, systems of care for CSHCN, family interactions, parental health, school and after-school experiences, and neighborhood characteristics.
More information about the survey can be found in the “About the National Survey of Children's Health” section of this website and HRSA’s MCHB website.