PERSONS WITH ACTIVITY LIMITATIONS: NON-RESPONSE AND PROXY RESPONSE IN THE U.S. NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY ON DISABILITY

Abstract

This article presents an application of survey non-response theory to a specific population with disabilities. From 1994 to 1997 the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) did a special, two-phase study of disability. This survey format allowed for response patterns of the disabled population to be operationalized into contact, cooperation and proxy/assisted versus self-response categories. Using these data, the authors investigated the effects of severity of activity limitation at first interview on response patterns at second interview, with statistical controls for other characteristics related to the response outcome. The statistical results of the study show that respondents with moderate or severe activity limitation are more likely than those with mild activity limitation to be contacted and to cooperate, yielding higher response rates. However, respondents with a higher degree of activity limitation are also more likely to have proxy/assisted responses at re-interview. Barriers to self-response in household surveys are discussed in the concluding remarks.

Citation

Hendershot, G.E., Colpe, L.J. and Hunt, P.C. (2003), "PERSONS WITH ACTIVITY LIMITATIONS: NON-RESPONSE AND PROXY RESPONSE IN THE U.S. NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY ON DISABILITY", Altman, B.M., Barnartt, S.N., Hendershot, G.E. and Larson, S.A. (Ed.) Using Survey Data to Study Disability: Results from the National Health Survey on Disability (Research in Social Science and Disability, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 41-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3547(03)03003-3