NIDCD is adding a new component to the 2008 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) by sponsoring inclusion of questions on balance/vestibular problems and history of recent falls. The NHIS is a large, annual population-based health survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The NHIS is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian, non-institutionalized, household population of the United States. It has been conducted continuously since its inception in 1957. The NHIS is currently designed to collect information from approximately 40,000 households each year and includes an over-sample of the Black and Hispanic populations. The last time questions on chronic (3+ months) problems with dizziness and/or balance were included in the NHIS was as part of the 1994 95 Disability Supplement. A decade earlier in the mid-1980s, a few questions on the impact of dizziness/balance problems on daily activities (quality of life issues) were asked in a prior NIHS Supplement. There have not been any standard questions in the core NHIS questionnaire on balance/vestibular problems. The new balance/vestibular questions module will be administered to the sample adult, derived from randomly selected households following the NHIS/NCHS procedure. Other content in the 2008 NHIS will include an NEI-funded module on vision loss. NCHS will also include a batch of questions probing daily activity and functional limitations in the 2008 NHIS that will be useful in interpretation and analysis of the balance/vestibular questions. A recent web citation on dizziness and balance problems stated that approximately 9 million to 15 million people in the US suffer from recurrent bouts of dizziness. This prevalence range is in line with, and probably based on, the earlier 1994 95 NHIS Disability Supplement supported by the Institute. For 2008, the balance/vestibular questions have been developed jointly by NIDCD staff (with help from expert consultants) and NCHS staff. We have a shared interest in developing prevalence estimates and in obtaining information on the functional impact of balance/vestibular impairments (e.g., impact on working, in social settings, etc.), access to and use of different treatment options, risk factors for balance/vestibular impairments besides age/aging , and co-morbidities, including hearing-related impairments such as tinnitus and hearing loss.
