The NLSY97 provides data for understanding the health trajectories of respondents by gathering information on various aspects of physical and mental health, health practices and knowledge, health insurance coverage, and linkages to external data sources like the National Death Index (NDI). This introduction outlines key health-related topics available in the dataset.
Physical health
The NLSY97 collects data on physical health, including functional limitations and self-reported general health status. Topics such as body weight, height, chronic health conditions and pain, medical treatment and hospitalizations, and workplace injuries/illness are also covered. The Physical Health section includes Health-at-Age-29 and Health-at-Age-38/39 questions tracking physical and mental health conditions as the cohort progresses through age-related milestones.
Mental health
The Mental Health section encompasses self-reported measures, including a short version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). Some of these measures were collected as part of the Health-at-Age 29 and Health-at-Age 38/39 series listed in the Physical Health section. The Mental Health section also includes questions about mental and emotional problems, mental health treatment, and out-of-the-ordinary stressor.
Health practices and knowledge
In round 1, the NLSY97 collected information on health-related behaviors (such as diet, exercise, and seatbelt use) and respondents’ understanding of health risks associated with smoking, alcohol consumption, and pregnancy. Additionally, the NLSY97 has periodically asked questions covering nutrition, dental hygiene, and exercise. See Health Practices and Knowledge for more details on these topics. Information about time spent on the computer, watching television, and sleeping can be found in the Time Use section.
Health insurance
The Health Insurance section outlines data collected on health plans/insurance as part of the Health section of the questionnaire and from fringe benefit questions in the Employer Supplement.
National Death Index (NDI)
The NLSY97 incorporates data from the NDI to track mortality and cause of death among respondents. The National Death Index section lists the available NDI variables. The public release data contains a variable for whether the respondent is deceased, while the remaining NDI variables are part of the restricted-use Geocode data file. Information about applying to use restricted-use Geocode data is available on the BLS Restricted Data Access page.