New two-year California Health Interview Survey Public Use Files now available

The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) has released the 2021–2022 two-year cycle Public Use Files (PUFs). The PUFs are comprehensive data files that allow researchers and data users to look more closely at CHIS variables, and customize and run their own data analyses. Files are available in various statistical programming formats, including SAS, SPSS, and STATA. 

Unlike the single-year PUFs, the two-year PUFs have additional variables and more detailed indicators such as race and ethnicity variables in groups that otherwise may have smaller sample sizes (i.e., American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and other racial and ethnic subgroups). 

“The larger samples in the two-year Public Use Files enable researchers and other CHIS users to look at more granular data on racial and ethnic subgroups. A core focus of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research is understanding inequities in health and the social drivers of health on communities that are often hidden by combined or aggregated data,” said Ninez A. Ponce, PhD, MPP, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) and principal investigator of CHIS. “Looking at more detailed data allows stakeholders to look at health indicators and tailor support or outreach to groups who need help.” 

The PUFs are free and accessible to anyone via a brief application which can be filled out on our Two-Year PUF Application website. Please note you will need to create a login to view the PUF page. 

In addition to the CHIS PUFs, researchers can access a variety of publicly available CHIS data files and web tools. These CHIS data products include downloadable data sets and easy-to-read PDF documents. In addition, local county health departments can request data files specific to their county. For more information about accessing CHIS data, visit our CHIS data website.  
 

The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is the nation's largest state health survey and a critical source of data on Californians, as well as on the state's various racial and ethnic groups. Each year, CHIS interviews more than 20,000 households on a wide range of health matters, from use of and access to health care, to health conditions and behaviors, to a range of topics that influence health: public program participation, housing, income and employment, climate change, food, gun violence, adverse childhood experiences, and much more.