National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS)
The National Long-Term Care Survey is a longitudinal survey designed to study changes in the health and functional status of older Americans (aged 65+). It also tracks health expenditures, Medicare service use, and the availability of personal, family, and community resources for caregiving.
The NLTCS survey population consists of a sample of 35,789 people drawn from national Medicare enrollment files in 1982 that has been augmented with subsequent samples of approximately 20,000 Medicare enrollees obtained by adding 5,000 people passing age 65 between successive surveys done approximately every five years. This technique ensures a large, nationally-representative sample at each point in time. Both elderly in the community (including those not impaired) and those residing in institutions are represented in the samples. The survey is administered by the U.S. Census Bureau using trained interviewers, and the response rate is above 95 percent for all waves.Division of Behavioral and Social Research Health Studies Population Studies Long Term Care DBSR National Long-Term Care Study United States Census Bureau Health Databases