Is there a crosswalk variable/strategy to link IPUMS MEPS/NHIS to restricted-use counterparts in Census RDC?

HEALTH SURVEYS
1

Hello,

I am currently applying for access to use the restricted-use versions of the NHIS and MEPS available at the Census Research Data Center (RDC) located at the University of Kentucky. I wanted to know if there is a way to link the syncronized versions of the data from IPUMS to the geographic identified versions at the RDC. More specifically, I wanted to know if there was a variable to facilitate merging between the common datasets or if there was a manual somewhere that outlines a procedure on how to do so. Thank you so much for your help.

Joseph Benitez, PhD

Assistant Professor

Department of Health Management & Policy

College of Public Health

University of Kentucky

joseph.benitez@uky.edu

2

Linking keys and associated cross-walk files to enable this sort of task are available upon request from AHRQ. Contact information available at this page will help in gaining access to these files. We have several staff who have some experience linking restricted use data to IPUMS Health Surveys data. So, if you have any questions once you get started on this, feel free to contact us.