The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) collects annual medical and demographic information from a sample of hospital discharge records across the United States. It includes patient demographics, admission and discharge details, diagnoses, procedures, and hospital characteristics, with medical information coded using ICD-9-CM. The dataset for 1998 was produced by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics.
Use Cases
- Analyze patient demographic trends based on sex, age, race, and marital status variables.
- Study hospital admission and discharge patterns based on dates and status at discharge.
- Research disease prevalence and surgical procedure frequency based on ICD-9-CM coded diagnoses and procedures.
- Evaluate hospital operational characteristics based on bedsize, ownership, and region data.
- Assess healthcare payment systems based on sources of payment information.
Strengths
- Includes a standardized medical coding system (ICD-9-CM) for diagnoses and procedures.
- Collects multiple data categories: patient demographics, hospital events, and hospital characteristics.
- Data is sourced from a national survey conducted by a federal health statistics agency.
Limitations
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
Provenance
- Source
- United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics
- Collection Method
- Annual survey collecting information from a sample of hospital discharge records.
- Time Range
- 1998
- Geography
- United States