Investigation of Nonresponse Bias: Hispanic Health and Nutrition ExaminationSurvey

摘要

The topic of the present paper is an evaluation of response status for Hispanicsselected for examination in the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES), conducted from July 1982 through December 1984. Despite response rates of 87,79, and 89 percent at the household interview stage for Mexican American, Cuban, and Puerto Rican subsamples of the HHANES and intensive efforts of persuasion, only 76, 61, and 75 percent of sample persons for these groups, respectively, were examined. Consequently, the potential for a sizable bias exists in the estimates from these subsamples. Using data from HHANES and from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), efforts have been made to examine possible demographic and health-related differences between examined and nonexamined persons.