The Design and Implementation of the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health
Open accessAbstract
Introduction Since 2001, the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA MCHB) has funded and directed the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) and the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN), unique sources of national and state-level data on child health and health care. Between 2012 and 2015, HRSA MCHB redesigned the surveys, combining content into a single survey, and shifting from a periodic interviewer-assisted telephone survey to an annual self-administered web/paper-based survey utilizing an address-based sampling frame. Methods The U.S. Census Bureau fielded the redesigned NSCH using a random sample of addresses drawn from the Census Master Address File, supplemented with a unique administrative flag to identify households most likely to include children. Data were collected June 2016-February 2017 using a multi-mode design, encouraging web-based responses while allowing for paper mail-in responses. A parent/caregiver knowledgeable about the child's health completed an age-appropriate questionnaire. Experiments on incentives, branding, and contact strategies were conducted. Results Data were released in September 2017. The final sample size was 50,212 children; the overall weighted response rate was 40.7%. Comparison of 2016 estimates to those from previous survey iterations are not appropriate due to sampling and mode changes. Discussion The NSCH remains an invaluable data source for key measures of child health and attendant health care system, family, and community factors. The redesigned survey extended the utility of this resource while seeking a balance between previous strengths and innovations now possible.
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Both surveys ran every four years until 2016, when they merged into one annual survey.
“These surveys were each conducted every four years until 2016, when the surveys were combined into a single, annual survey”
From Over a Century of Leadership for Maternal and Child Health in the United States: An Updated History of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (2025) · cites this paper as Ghandour et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Ghandour, R. M., Jones, J. R., Lebrun-Harris, L. A., Minnaert, J., Blumberg, S. J., Fields, J., Bethell, C., & Kogan, M. D.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Health and Human Services (US)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- United States Census Bureau (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ghandour, Reem M.
- Venue
- Maternal and Child Health Journal
- Published
- 2018-05-09
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1093-1102
- ISSN
- 1092-7875 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-6628
- PMC
- PMC6372340
- OpenAlex
- W2800121673
- Cited by
- 253
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 8 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 52.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Maternal and Child Health Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (CC999999)
- Health Resources and Services Administration
- Maternal and Child Health Bureau
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Studies
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques
- Keywords
- National Survey of Children's Health, survey redesign, child health, children with special health care needs, address-based sampling, online surveys, response rate, survey incentives, contact strategies, health care utilization, family and community factors
- MeSH terms
- Child Health, Adolescent, Child, Child Health Services, Child, Preschool, Family Characteristics, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Research Design, Disabled Children, Children with Disabilities
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