1986 National Hospital Discharge Survey: U.S. Hospital Use Estimates

1994 estimates of non-Federal short-stay hospital use in the United States, including numbers and rates of discharges, diagnoses, and procedures. The data was collected through the annual National Hospital Discharge Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. Diagnoses and procedures are coded according to the ICD-9-CM classification system.

Use Cases

• Analyze hospital discharge rates based on patient age and sex mentioned in the description.
• Study geographic variation in hospital use based on the region of hospital data.
• Examine average lengths of stay for specific diagnostic categories as described.
• Investigate trends in diagnoses and procedures using ICD-9-CM codes.

Strengths

• Data is collected through a national survey conducted annually since 1965, suggesting a consistent methodology.
• Estimates are presented by age, sex, and geographic region, providing demographic breakdowns.
• Diagnoses and procedures use the standardized ICD-9-CM coding system.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The data is from 1994, which may limit its relevance for current analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Center for Health Statistics

Collection Method

Medical abstract data collected through the National Hospital Discharge Survey.

Time Range

1994

Geography

United States