Category: Diseases and Conditions

From Once a Year to On Demand, DVS Rewrites the Rules of Mortality Surveillance

Paul Sutton

Suppose, after years of being able to look back and see only where you had been, you were suddenly able to see exactly where you are, right now, in a clearer, more revealing light. That’s a fair description of the position the Division of Vital Statistics (DVS) finds itself in. Thanks to innovative approaches to data warehousing, Read More >

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Dr. Anne Driscoll: Liberia Deployment “Unforgettable and Enlightening”

Curious children gather when CDC & county health teams visit their village.

NCHS Senior Service Fellow Dr. Anne Driscoll deployed to Liberia from November 16 to December 12, 2014, as part of CDC’s Ebola response. She partnered with the Bomi County health team, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, Global Communities, International Organization for Migration, Liberian Red Cross Society, and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to improve Read More >

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Dr. Joseph Woodring Returns from Battling Ebola in Liberia

Dr. Joseph Woodring (LCDR, USPHS) in Liberia

NCHS Senior Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Woodring (LCDR, USPHS) deployed to Liberia from October 15 to November 14, 2014, as part of CDC’s Ebola Response. Serving on two county health teams (Nimba and Sinoe), he worked alongside health care workers from Liberia’s Ministry of Health, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, Africare, Global Communities, Read More >

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Director’s Corner—NCHS and Public Health

Charles Rothwell, NCHS Director

Monday, April 7, marks the beginning of National Public Health Week. For the past 20 years, the American Public Health Association has observed National Public Health Week as a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation’s health. This makes it a good time reflect Read More >

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Ask the Expert: Dr. Kathryn Porter

Dr. Kathryn Porter

Since 1991, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has collected and stored genetic specimens for future studies. Among other considerations, whether, when, and for which biologic measures the results should be reported back to individual survey respondents is a growing concern. NCHS has developed an action plan for reporting individual results; however, the Read More >

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Ask the Expert: Dr. Julia Holmes, Health, United States

Dr. Julia Holmes

Since 1975, Health, United States has presented national trends on the health of the Nation, including infant mortality, life expectancy, morbidity and health status, risk factors such as smoking and obesity, utilization of health care, health insurance coverage, supply of health care resources, and national expenditures for health. Compiled annually by the National Center for Read More >

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Nosologists: What Do They Do and Why Is It Important?

Medical coders Celia Dickens, Tyringa Crawford, and Holly Lambert pose behind a manual. They are part of a select group; around the world there are only a few mortality coders.

“How many causes of death are there?” The question makes the experts from the Division of Vital Statistics (DVS) share looks and smiles as they point towards enormous binders. A death certificate often includes a series of conditions that led to the death of an individual. Each condition has a code and is tracked on Read More >

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NHANES’ MEC Collects Health Data

Faye McDonald Smith The Mobile Exam Center (MEC) is an important part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which, since 1999, is conducted annually to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. NHANES conducts interviews at the home and exams at the MEC. These data Read More >

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New Survey Measures the Fitness of America’s Youth

Physical Activity

The NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NYFS), conducted as a separate survey alongside the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), is receiving an enthusiastic response from its young participants. For the NYFS team in the Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, attaining good response rates is critical to the program’s success. The NYFS, funded Read More >

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New Interactive Report

interactive health united states

Interactive Health, United States, 2011, In Brief, is a new interactive version of Health, United States, 2011, In Brief . It was developed jointly with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institutes of Health. The new interactive report provides text, charts, and tables from Health, United States, 2011. Additional data from the full Health, Read More >

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Ask the Expert: Dr. David Huang

Dr. David Huang

[Editor’s note: NCHS is responsible for monitoring and analyzing data for the HHS Healthy People program. In addition, about one-third of the program’s objectives use NCHS-collected data. We spoke with Dr. David Huang of the Office of Analysis and Epidemiology (OAE) about the Healthy People program.]   Q. Healthy People 2010: Final Review comes out Read More >

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In the News

Consumer Reports Cites NHANES Research in Articles on Arsenic in Food, Juice An in-depth report in the November 2012 issue of Consumer Reports relies extensively on data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The report, “Arsenic in your food,” exposes the presence of arsenic, a potent human carcinogen, in nearly every food product category—particularly rice and rice-based Read More >

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On the Path to Understanding Autism

Data Brief 97, “Diagnostic History and Treatment of School-aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Special Health Care Needs,” published in May 2012, is available for download from the NCHS website.   A collaborative effort between NCHS, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has provided Read More >

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National Leaders in Health Research to Address National Conference on Health Statistics

Dr. Harold Luft

Three nationally recognized leaders in the fields of health care research, statistics, and policy will deliver keynote addresses to the 2012 National Conference on Health Statistics, held August 6-8, at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.  The Conference is a biennial event produced by NCHS.   Dr. Harold Luft, of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Read More >

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