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| Data system | Data collection and design | Government or sponsoring agency | Immigration variables | Period of data availability | Number of records or sample size | Subnational analysis | Advantages | Disadvantages |
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| National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) | Period data; temporal; death and birth registration; complete count administrative data | National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Decedent’s nativity/immigrant status; maternal nativity status derived from place-of-birth variable | 1900 through 2011 | 2.5 million deaths and 4.0 million births annually | Regions, census divisions, states, counties, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas | Large number of vital records; race/ethnicity detail; geographic detail; long-term time trend; various health, mortality, and birth outcome measures | No data on several key immigration-related variables, for example, duration of US residence, naturalization, and English-language proficiency |
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| National Linked Birth and Infant Death Files | Longitudinal; cohort; complete count administrative records | National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Mother’s nativity/immigrant status | 1985 to 2009 | 30,000 to 40,000 infant deaths are linked to a cohort of more than 4 million births each year | Regions, census divisions, states, and counties | Large population size; ethnic detail; extensive infant mortality analysis by age, cause of death, and medical risks | No data on duration of US residence, naturalization, language, or legal status |
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| National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) | Longitudinal; census and CPS records linked prospectively to deaths by cause of death and cancer incidence records | National Institutes of Health, US Census Bureau and National Center for Health Statistics, CDC | Nativity/Immigrant status; country/region of birth | 1973 to 2008 | 2.7 million CPS records at baseline and 341,343 deaths during the 23-year mortality followup | State-level analysis possible for selected cohorts | Large sample size; self-reported race/ethnic detail; longitudinal; mortality by cause of death | Only a subset of the dataset is available as public-use file |
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| National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) | Surveillance conducted by health practitioners and laboratories at local, state, and national levels. State epidemiologists report cases of notifiable diseases to CDC, which tabulates and publishes these data on a weekly and annual basis | Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | It varies by specific disease or surveillance subsystem. For example, the Tuberculosis Surveillance System collects country of birth, year of arrival to the US, and country of birth for primary guardian(s), among others. For other notifiable diseases, no immigration variables are collected | 1912 to present | It varies by disease and over time; for example, from 1 case of anthrax disease to 1.4 million Chlamydia trachomatis infections reported in 2011 | Regions, states, and counties | National system; race/ethnicity detail; geographic detail; long-term time trend; various health outcome measures | Underreporting, state differences in surveillance approaches, changes in disease definitions, changes in the list of notifiable diseases over time and by state, and missing information |
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| National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) | Cross-sectional; sample survey; telephone survey | Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and National Center for Health Statistics, CDC | Parents’ and children’s nativity/immigrant status; duration of residence in the US; English language proficiency | 2003-2004, 2007-2008, and 2011-2012 | Approximately 102,353 children under age 18 in 2003-2004, 91,642 in 2007-2008, and 95,677 children in 2011-2012 | Regions, census divisions, and states | Large sample size; state-specific analyses; large number of health and behavioral indicators | All data based on parental reports; ethnic detail not available on the public-use file |
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| National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) | Cross-sectional; temporal; sample survey; in-person interview data | National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC | Children’s and adults’ nativity/immigrant status; duration of residence in the US; naturalization status; English language proficiency | 1957 to 2012;
immigrant status first became available in the 1976
survey
| Approximately 100,000 children and adults annually | Four broad census regions only (northeast, midwest, south, and west) | Large sample size; race/ethnicity detail; long-term time trend; extensive sociodemographic, behavioral, health, and morbidity indicators | No geographic detail; data on most Asian subgroups suppressed on public-use file; no language variables; no information on immigrants’ legal or refugee status |
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National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) | Cross-sectional; temporal; sample survey; in-person interview data | National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC | Children’s and adults’ nativity/immigrant status; duration of residence in the US | 1976 to 2010; periodic survey from 1976 to 1998; and continuous survey since 1999 | Approximately 10,000 children and adults in each wave | None | Clinical examination data; medical and lab test results; measured height and weight | Small sample size; limited ethnic detail; no geographic detail; no language variables; no immigrants’ legal or refugee status variable |
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American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata
Sample (ACS) | Cross-sectional; sample survey; in-person interview | US Census Bureau | Nativity/immigrant status; parents’ nativity status; detailed country-of-birth information; duration of residence in the US; naturalization status; English language ability; languages spoken at home | From 2000 to 2011 | More than 3 million records in the annual sample | Regions, census divisions, states, and counties (on summary files) | Large sample size; extensive race/ethnicity detail; detailed country-of-birth information; language; naturalization status; duration of US residence | No health variables other than disability and health insurance coverage |
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