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N V S S National Vital Statistics System logoNational Vital Statistics System
NCHS Home | NVSS Home | Birth Data | Mortality Data
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The National Vital Statistics System is the oldest and most successful example of inter-governmental data sharing in Public Health and the shared relationships, standards, and procedures form the mechanism by which NCHS collects and disseminates the Nation's official vital statistics. These data are provided through contracts between NCHS and vital registration systems operated in the various jurisdictions legally responsible for the registration of vital events--births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths. In the United States, legal authority for the registration of these events resides individually with the 50 States, 2 cities (Washington, DC, and New York City), and 5 territories (Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). These jurisdictions are responsible for maintaining registries of vital events and for issuing copies of birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates.

Standard forms for the collection of the data and model procedures for the uniform registration of the events are developed and recommended for nationwide use through cooperative activities of the jurisdictions and NCHS. The process for implementing the latest revisions of the birth and death certificates and the fetal death report is now underway. The final 2003 revised certificates and accompanying technical information are available. NCHS has procedures for collection, coding, editing, and transmitting multiple race and Hispanic original data. NCHS also produces training and instructional material, as well as a automated mortality medical data system for coding and classifying cause-of-death information from death certificates.

CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics is working with State partners represented by the National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems and the Social Security Administration to fundamentally re-engineer the processes through which vital statistics are produced in the U.S., including implementation of the 2003 revised certificates. The primary objective is to improve the timeliness, quality, and sustainability of the decentralized vital statistics system, along with collection of the revised and new content of the 2003 certificates, by adopting technologically sophisticated yet cost-effective model IT systems based on nationally developed standards and models. Information on the re-engineering activities and technical documents are available at the NAPHSIS web site, as well as at the NCHS certificate revision web site.

Additional programs related to the National Vital Statistics System include the Linked Birth and Infant Death Data Set, the National Survey of Family Growth, the Matched Multiple Birth Data Set, National Death Index, National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, and the National Mortality Followback Survey.

Through the National Vital Statistics System, data on vital events are now published in electronic form: Vital Statistics of the United States, National Vital Statistics Reports (formerly the Monthly Vital Statistics Report), and other selected reports. The special report U.S. Vital Statistics System provides an overview and history of the data system. For details, see related pages on specific vital events or related programs. Copies of birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates may be obtained directly from the States; see Where to Write for Vital Records.

Micro-Data Release Program

In addition to the published documents cited above, NCHS also makes available electronic micro-data files containing individual vital-event records. Public-Use versions of these files are provided on CD-ROM for Births, Deaths, Fetal Deaths, Linked Birth/Infant Death , and Matched Multiple Births. In order to prevent disclosure of individuals and institutions, beginning with the 1989 data year for Births and Deaths Public-Use files, NCHS has excluded (a) geographic identities of counties, cities, and metropolitan areas with less than 100,000 population and (b) exact day of birth and death. Fetal Deaths and Linked Birth/Infant Death Public-Use files exclude identities of counties, cities, and metropolitan areas less than 250,000 population, as well as exact dates. The Matched Multiple Births file excludes geographic identifiers below the national level as well as exact dates. Public-Use files can be requested by using the standard procedures for requesting vital statistics Public-Use files found at Publications and Information Products. Also see NCHS Public-Use Data File Program and NCHS’s Data Release Policy for more information on NCHS policy, including data use restrictions.

Customized (i.e., Non-Public-Use) files are defined as any files not included in the definition of Public-Use files as stated above. These would include files that identify all counties or smaller cities, or files that provide exact dates of birth or death, or combinations of these. To gain access to a customized vital statistics data file, researchers must send a letter, email, or fax with a complete description of the proposed use of the data, including why the data being requested are needed, the exact data items being requested, how the data will be utilized, who will be utilizing the data, and the time frame in which it will be needed, to:

Mailing Address:
Charles Rothwell
Director of Vital Statistics (DVS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Health Statistics
3311 Toledo Road
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
Email: CRothwell@cdc.gov
Phone/Fax: 301-458-4468 / 301-458-4034

The Director will acknowledge receipt of the request and review it. During the review period, the requestor may be contacted by the Director or his delegate to obtain clarification or additional information. If a request is to be denied, the requestor will be so notified by official letter from the Director. If a request is approved, the Director will often determine, for reasons of confidentiality, that it is not appropriate for NCHS to physically release a customized data file directly to the requestor. Such requests will be referred to the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC), which allows for controlled access to the data files without their release. The RDC has specific procedures that must be followed and data requestors are charged for their services.

Following approval of the request by the Director, Data User Agreements must be completed and signed by data requestors before customized data files are released or otherwise made available through the RDC. The Data User Agreement defines the specific requirements and restrictions on the use and disposal of the data by the requestor.  DVS staff will follow-up with data requestors, insuring that Data User Agreements are completed correctly and properly executed, creating the data files, and monitoring their disposition.

Populations Used to Calculate Vital Rates

To permit the calculation of race-specific vital rates for 2000 and beyond and for revised vital rates for 1991-99 (using intercensal population estimates), the National Center for Health Statistics, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and the Census Bureau, has released bridged-race estimates of the U.S. resident population.

U.S. Public Use ICD-9/ICD-10 Comparability File

Data pertaining to causes of death are classified and coded according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). This system is revised about every 10 years. The United States implemented the latest (tenth) revision of the ICD (ICD-10) starting with mortality data for 1999. Implementing a new revision of this system helps the national mortality system stay abreast of advances in medical science and terminology. This implementation, however, may introduce changes to mortality trend data for certain causes of death. This may be due to changes in the classification of medical conditions or in the rules that determine selection of the underlying cause of death. In order to estimate the effect of these changes on cause-specific mortality data, NCHS has performed a study of the comparability (also called a bridge-coding study) between ICD-9 and ICD-10, based on the 1996 public use multiple cause-of-death data file. This study produced a double-coded file, using both the ICD-9 and ICD-10 classification systems (ICD-9/ICD-10 Comparability File), which is now available as a public-use file.

 

NCHS Home | NVSS Home  | Birth Data | Mortality Data
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National Death Index | 2003 Revisions of the US Vital Certificates
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NCHS Definitions | Contact us


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This page last reviewed October 12, 2004

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Health Statistics
Hyattsville, MD
20782

(301) 458-4000