Newly Released Health and Housing Data Products from HUD and NCHS

March 9, 2021  

Newly Released Health and Housing Data Products from HUD and NCHS

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) is pleased to announce the updated release of HUD administrative data linked with National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) survey data.

Updated Linked NCHS-HUD Files
The updated linked NCHS-HUD files provide follow-up data through 2019 and are available for multiple NCHS surveys, including the 1999-2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the 1999-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The linked files combine health and socio-demographic information from NCHS surveys with administrative HUD data on pubic and assisted housing programs. These data enable researchers to examine relationships between housing status and health. Major features of the updated NCHS-HUD files include: (1) three more years of follow-up; (2) the inclusion of one additional cycle of NHANES (2017-2018) and two additional years of NHIS (2017-2018); (3) use of an enhanced linkage algorithm that increased the numbers of persons eligible for linkage.

The National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS)
HUD is also pleased to announce the availability of a new data resource that, for the first time, links health care claims and electronic health records, collected as part of the NHCS, with HUD's largest housing assistance program data. This linkage expands the analytic utility of the NHCS (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhcs/index.htm) by augmenting it with up to three years of HUD program participation data for 2014 and 2016 NHCS patients receiving federal housing assistance. In addition, NHCS patient records are linked to mortality data, which includes cause of death information, and Medicare enrollment and health care claims data. All of these linked sources can be combined to answer key research questions.

Data Access
Due to confidentiality requirements, this release of these files is restricted use. External researchers can submit a research proposal to the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC) to access and analyze the files through the NCHS RDC or at a federal statistical RDC managed by the U.S. Census Bureau.