The National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD)
NSHD Domains (scroll to bottom of this page)
Using the National Survey on Health and Disability Panel to Document the COVID-19 Pandemic Experiences of Working-Age Americans with Disabilities
This project builds upon the success of the existing National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD) and develops partnerships with other NIDILRR-funded projects to develop survey questions, analyze data using appropriate methods, and assure activities are conducted in a rigorous and timely fashion. Use of the well-established NSHD provides the opportunity for collecting longitudinal data. The NSHD has been fielded four times to date, in 2018, 2019/2020, 2021 and 2022.
Objectives include:
- Develop, pilot, and administer the fourth wave of the NSHD with COVID-19 supplement (Summer 2022) with the established NSHD sample and analyze using appropriate methods, with comparisons to the general population;
- Conduct structured interviews with selected NSHD participants (Fall 2022-Winter 2023) to fully understand a variety of pandemic experiences across diverse racial/ethnic, sexual, gender, geographic, age, employment, and disability groups;
- Conduct a call for proposals for additional questions from other NIDILRR researchers (Spring 2023); and
- Administer the fifth wave of NSHD (Winter 2023/24), including questions from other NIDILRR researchers, addressing issues identified via Year 2 interviews, and new pandemic-related issues as they arise.
Findings will be used to develop policy briefs, consumer resources, scholarly journal articles, and specific policy and practice recommendations to address identified pandemic-related issues that affect the health and function, employment, and/or community living of Americans with disabilities. Anticipated outcomes of project activities include increased knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 and improved policies and practices.
DOMAINS of the NSHD
The table below provides brief descriptions of the domains of the NSHD. Please note not all domains are included in every wave. If you would like more specific information about questions or items included in the NSHD, please contact Noelle Kurth at pixie@ku.edu.
| Domain | Brief description |
| Disability | ACS-6, open-ended disability item; has lasted or will last more than a year; age of onset; respondent self-categorized disability type |
| Health status | Physical, mental and overall health; tobacco use, primary sources of care, frequency of routine medical care |
| Transportation | Access; types used |
| Housing | Type; stability of living situation; accessibility; problems (e.g. lack of heat, water, presence of mold, pests, etc.) |
| Community Participation | Leisure and community activities; social isolation and loneliness |
| Personal Assistance Services (PAS) | Use of paid and unpaid PAS; unmet PAS needs; PAS impact on employment |
| Public benefits | Receipt of SSI, SSDI, SNAP/food stamps, Section 8/HUD housing, child care subsidies, unemployment, LIEAP, TANF |
| Employment | Working for pay or self-employed; hours worked per week; employment longevity; income from employment |
| Current insurance coverage | Type (Employer-sponsored, Medicare, Medicaid, Marketplace, TRICARE); number of months with coverage in past year; use of Indian Health Services; out-of-pocket costs; adequacy of provider network |
| No health insurance coverage | Length of time without insurance; reasons for no insurance; services needed but unable to receive; out-of-pocket costs |
| Unmet health care needs | By type of service (doctors, specialists, prescriptions, dental, mental health, DME, PT, OT, prosthetics); reasons for unmet need by type of service |
| Income | individual income from employment; household size; annual household income (based on % of FPL) |
| Demographics | age; SOGI; race; ethnicity; education level; marital status; parental status; living situation; veteran status; felony |
| Proxy completion | Type of proxy (family member, PAS, service provider, etc.); how proxy assisted respondent |
| COVID-19 testing | Access, results, date of most recent positive test; multiple infections; severity, long-term effects |
| COVID-19 preventive measures | availability of PPE; impact of stay-at-home orders; vaccination status (including boosters), problems accessing vaccines |
| Lifestyle and behavioral changes due to COVID-19 | Frequency of going out of the home; accessing food, medications, health care services, etc. |
| Economic impact of COVID-19 | changes in employment, household income, ability to pay bills, increase in debt, etc. |
| Long COVID | doctor diagnosed v. not doctor diagnosed; impact of Long COVID on usual activities (driving, sleep, mental health, fatigue, mood, caring for others. caring for self, etc.) |
IHDPS staff working on this project:
Jean P Hall, PI--jhall@ku.edu
Noelle K Kurth, Co-PI--pixie@ku.edu
Kelsey Shinnick Goddard, Project Coordinator--ksg@ku.edu
Funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR, #90IFRE0050)