Health interview survey, 1981

This survey proposes to inform legislation regarding health expenditures, to monitor occurrence and severity of illness and disability, and to aid in the design of accident prevention programs and measure their success. Two principal concepts in the area of medical care include the physician visit and the classification of visits by type of service. Since the focus of the interview data is on the impact health matters have on the individual rather than on medical criteria, the concepts of morbidity, disability, and the use of services differ from those used in medical and scientific studies. Data include: the occurrence and severity of illness and disability, health care service use, patient visits to doctors or hospitals and operations, limitations on activities due to chronic or acute condition, frequency of medical or dental visits, current health status, insurance coverage, as well as demographic statistics.