Learn About the Surveys

The National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) provides information about CSHCN in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. In each state, telephone interviewers screened at least 3,000 households with children to identify CSHCN. In-depth interviews were conducted with the parents of 750 – 850 CSHCN per state in 2001 and again in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 NS-CSHCN

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Fast Facts about the National Survey: NS-CSHCN 2005/2006

Who sponsors the survey? Why is it sometimes called SLAITS? What changed in 2005/2006 from 2001? Quick answers to these and other questions about the survey.
PDF: 112KB

Guide to Topics and Questions Asked: NS-CSHCN 2005/2006

Catalog of the questions asked in each section of the 2005/2006 National Survey of CSHCN. This is a useful companion to the longer survey instrument.

Compare Outcomes and Indicators

Compare the results from the 2001 and 2005/2006 NS-CSHCN, and download documents highlighting changes between the two survey years.

List of Functioning Difficulties & Current Health Conditions

In 2005-06, the survey added a new section on health conditions and functioning difficulties. The intention of the addition of the list was cover as a broad range as potential in order to provide additional details about the CSHCN population.
PDF: 94KB

Number and Percentage of Households with CSHCN: NS-CSHCN 2005/2006

Summary table with weighted and unweighted numbers and percentages of CSHCN and by household for each state, the District of Columbia, and nationally.
PDF: 180KB

Sampling and Survey Administration Process: NS-CSHCN 2005/2006

A picture is worth a thousand words. This one-page diagram summarizes the sampling process and survey administration steps.
PDF: 164KB

Outcome Summary Tables from the 2005/2006 NS-CSHCN

These summary tables developed by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau provide background about the 6 MCHB Core Outcomes, as well as detailed tables and a summary of key differences from 2001.
PDF: 375 KB

National Survey of CSHCN - English Survey Instrument: NS-CSHCN 2005/2006

Download a PDF file of the Computer- Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) English version of the survey.
PDF: 931 KB

National Survey of CSHCN - Spanish Survey Instrument: NS-CSHCN 2005/2006

Download a PDF file of the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Spanish version of the survey.
PDF: 383 KB

Design and Operation of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, 2005/06

Technical report authored by National Center for Health Statistics describes the methodological details of the survey's sampling and data collection procedures.
PDF: 2,026 KB

2001 NS-CSHCN

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Fast Facts about the National Survey: NS-CSHCN 2001

Who sponsors the survey? Why is it sometimes called SLAITS? Quick answers to these and other questions about the survey.
PDF: 104 KB

Guide to Topics and Questions Asked: NS-CSHCN 2001

Catalog of the questions asked in each section of the National Survey of CSHCN. This interactive guide is a useful companion to the longer survey instrument.

Quick Guide to Data Query Topics: NS-CSHCN 2001

Overview of the topics you can search through the interactive data query for the National Survey of CSHCN. Includes tips on choosing a starting point, searching the data, and telling a story with your results!
PDF: 116 KB

Sampling and Survey Administration Process: NS-CSHCN 2001

A picture is worth a thousand words. This one-page diagram summarizes the sampling process and survey administration steps.
PDF: 216 KB

National Survey of CSHCN- Survey Instrument: NS-CSHCN 2001

Download a PDF file of the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) English version of the survey.
PDF: 923 KB

Number and Percentage of Households with CSHCN: NS-CSHCN 2001

Summary table with weighted and unweighted numbers and percentages of CSHCN and by household for each state, the District of Columbia, and nationally.
PDF: 108 KB

Identifying CSHCN for the National Survey

What screening process was used to identify children with special health care needs? PowerPoint presentation on the CSHCN Screener instrument, including testing and development. Use it as a resource for your own presentations.
PDF: 10,571 KB (document non-508 compliant)

Design and Operation of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, 2001

Technical report authored by National Center for Health Statistics describes the methodological details of the survey's sampling and data collection procedures.
PDF: 3,495 KB

SAS/SPSS Program Code

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2005/2006 SPSS Codebook

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) syntax and documentation used to create 15 Child Health Indicators, six Maternal and Child Health Bureau Outcome measures, as well as the major subgroup variables accessible from the Data Resource Center Interactive Data Query for the 2005/06 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.
PDF: 740 KB

2001 SAS Codebook

SAS statistical program code and documentation used to create 15 Child Health Indicators, five Maternal and Child Health Bureau Outcome measures, as well as the major subgroup variables accessible from the Data Resource Center Interactive Data Query for the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.
PDF: 520 KB

2001 SPSS Codebook

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) syntax and documentation used to create 15 Child Health Indicators, five Maternal and Child Health Bureau Outcome measures, as well as the major subgroup variables accessible from the Data Resource Center Interactive Data Query for the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.
PDF: 528 KB

Methods for analyzing complex sample survey data

Presentation from the National Center for Health Statistics with guidelines and examples of SAS, SUDAAN and STATA code for obtaining estimates of variability and statistical significance from the NSCH and NS-CSHCN.
PDF: 3MB (document non-508 compliant)

Help for Data Users

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Quick Guide to Getting Started

What steps do I take to begin a data query, start a new search or change topics? Click here for a step-by-step guide to using the interactive data query for the National Survey of CSHCN.
PDF: 94KB

Quick Guide to Saving and Using Results

Do you know that you can save your data search results in a personal online briefcase? This guide also provides pointers on saving results to your own computer, inserting data query tables and charts into other documents, and referencing your results.
PDF: 98KB

Quick Guide to Comparing All States

A one page step-by-step walk through of how to access a list of results for all states and sort based on your data point of interest.
PDF: 164KB

Other Resources

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Search the Data

Search data from the 2001 and 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.

Report Your Results

Identify successful strategies for sharing findings from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.

Examples of Data Use

Compelling stories and examples of ways others are using data from the Data Resource Center to make a difference!

Presentations Library

Presentations related to the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.

Selected Publications Using the NS-CSHCN and other national surveys.

National Survey of Children’s Health

Search the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health for indicators related to all aspects of health, insurance coverage, health care access, families and communities, safety and support, performance measures, and demographics.

National Center for Health Statistics

Presentations and Publications related to the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs and the National Survey of Children’s Health.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Many of the documents on this site are formatted with Adobe Acrobat. To download a copy of Adobe Reader please click on the above link.