What is the National Health Interview Survey? The National
Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a continuous, nationwide in-
person survey of approximately 35,000 households, or about
87,500 persons, in the civilian non-institutionalized
population. The NHIS over samples African-American and Hispanic
respondents. NCI periodically sponsors a Cancer Control
Supplement (CCS) which is administered to a randomly selected
sample of The NHIS serves as the main source of data on health.
It has historically been used for monitoring health patterns and
trends, and tracking progress towards national goals. Data from
NHIS also are widely used for research and policy analyses.
First administered in 1957, the NHIS consists of two parts: - a
core set of basic health and demographic questions on a broad
range of topics; and - one or more sets of supplemental
questions on specific health topics, including cancer. The NHIS
is conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
of the Centers for Disease Control and Preve