Trends in Record Linkage Refusal Rates: Characteristics of National Health Interview Survey Participants Who Refuse Record Linkage

• Activity Number: 504
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics
• Author(s): Donna M. Miller*+ and Renee M. Gindi and Jennifer D. Parker
• Companies: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Keywords: administrative data ; refusal to link ; health survey ; NCHS ; NHIS ; Social Security Number

Abstract

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a principal source of information on health in the U. S. NHIS data are linked to administrative records from several federal agencies. Records are linked by matching personally identifiable information (PII, e.g. name, birth date, Social Security Number (SSN) and Medicare health insurance claim number (HIC)) collected from NHIS participants to the PII on the administrative records. Health-related data from the linked administrative records are then merged with the NHIS files. Before 2007, participants refusing to provide SSN and HIC were considered to have refused linkage. The refusal rate has increased over time, reducing the number of NHIS participants eligible for linkage. Beginning in 2007, NHIS attempted to decrease linkage refusal rates by requesting only the last four digits of SSN and HIC, adding a short introduction before asking for SSN and HIC and asking participants for permission to link to administrative records if SSN or HIC was not provided. We examine the impact of these changes on record linkage refusal rates and explore the additional influence of participant sociodemographic and health characteristics on refusal.