Survey Results

Survey Items: Survey instrument item number for children 0-5 years: K1-K4; for children 6-11 years:K1-K4; for children 12-17 years: K1-K4
Variable in public use data file: FPL (derived)

Denominator: Children age 0-17 years

Numerator: Household income 0-99% FPL; Household income 100-199% FPL; Household income 200-399% FPL; Household income 400% FPL or greater

Revisions and Changes: There have been no substantive changes to this measure since 2016.

Additional Notes: The child’s household poverty level is derived from responses on the survey question about family income and number of family members. The poverty level variable had 15.3% (2018) – 17.6% (2019) missing values, which may result in biased estimates. Therefore, the missing values were imputed by the Census Bureau. The impact of missing values on population count estimates is available on the DRC website.
The 2018 and 2019 NSCH topical public use files provided by the Census Bureau contains 6 imputed FPL (FPL_I1-FPL_I6) variables. A data file and documentation containing all six imputations for the household poverty level variable is available on the United States Census Bureau website: https://census.gov/programs-surveys/nsch.html.
The poverty level variable povlev4_1819 in the DRC NSCH combined data set was generated using a single imputation value from the 2018 and 2019 data files (FPL_I1). Please note that poverty level estimates and confidence intervals based on single imputed income values may differ slightly from those obtained using multiple imputation methods. All six imputed poverty level variables are available in the DRC combined data set for users who wish to estimate multiple imputed poverty level.

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 NPMs and NOMs, 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 2%. 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.