Survey Results

Survey Items: Survey instrument item number for children 0-5 years: A4, A4a-b, A5-A25, A30, A33; for children 6-11 years: A4(A4a-e)-A25, A30, A33; for children 12-17 years: A4(A4a-e)-A25, A30, A33
Variables in public use data file: ALLERGIES; ALLERGIES_CURR; ARTHRITIS; ARTHRITIS_CURR; K2Q40A; K2Q40B; BLOOD; K2Q61A; K2Q61B; CYSTFIB; K2Q41A; K2Q41B; DOWNSYN; K2Q42A; K2Q42B; GENETIC; HEART; HEART_CURR; HEADACHE; HEADACHE_CURR; K2Q38A; K2Q38B; K2Q33A; K2Q33B; K2Q32A; K2Q32B; K2Q34A; K2Q34B; K2Q36A; K2Q36B; K2Q60A; K2Q60B; K2Q37A; K2Q37B; K2Q30A; K2Q30B; K2Q35A; K2Q35B; K2Q31A; K2Q31B; K2Q43B; BLINDNESS

Denominator: Children age 0-17 years

Numerator: Does not have any current or lifelong health conditions; Has 1 current or lifelong health condition; Has 2 or more current or lifelong health conditions

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 is a composite measure of current or lifelong health conditions the child experiences from a list of 24 conditions asked in the survey: allergies (food, drug, insect or other), arthritis, asthma, blood disorders (such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia, or hemophilia), cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, Down Syndrome, epilepsy or seizure disorder, genetic or inherited condition, heart condition, frequent or severe headaches including migraine (3-17 years), Tourette Syndrome (3-17 years), anxiety problems (3-17 years), depression (3-17 years), behavioral and conduct problem (3-17 years), developmental delay (3-17 years), intellectual disability (3-17 years), speech or other language disorder (3-17 years), learning disability (also known as mental retardation; ) (3-17 years), Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (3-17 years), Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD or ADHD) (3-17 years), hearing problems, and vision problems. In most cases, in order to be counted towards a current or lifelong condition, parents had to answer yes to 2 questions about the particular condition: 1) have they ever been told by a health care professional or educator that the child has the condition, and 2) whether the child currently has the condition. However, children who were ever told by a health care professional that they had blood disorders, cystic fibrosis, genetic or inherited conditions, or Down-Syndrome were counted toward the measure as these are considered lifelong conditions. The questions about hearing and vision problems were reported by parents on whether the child has “deafness or problems with hearing” or “blindness or problems with seeing, even when wearing glasses”. Please note that throughout the NSCH, all information about children's health conditions is based on parent recollection and is not independently verified.

Changes to the survey items on brain injury/concussion in the 2020 NSCH rendered it no longer indicative of a current or lifelong condition, and it was dropped from the list being tallied for this composite. The survey items regarding substance use disorder were dropped from the 2020 NSCH entirely.

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.