TUS-CPS Linkages

TUS data files can be used to assess trends in tobacco control efforts, including both formal workplace and informal home restrictions on smoking; attitudes towards smokefree policies; and the advice of a doctor, dentist, or other health professional to stop smoking.

Because of the large sample size for most survey items, analyses can be done at either the national or state level, and in some cases for areas smaller than the state level. The large sample size also affords the opportunity to study tobacco control heath disparities.

Linkages to Current Population Surveys (CPS) and Supplements

One of the unique aspects of the TUS is its ability to link to other datasets and CPS supplements to enrich analysis and answer other important research questions. Because of the CPS’ panel design, a subset of persons who were in a sample for any given month of TUS-CPS fielding (e.g., July 2014, January 2015, or May 2015) can be linked with other CPS Basic and Supplement data from surveys conducted within about + /-15 months of a TUS-CPS. Datasets that can be linked to the TUS include:

• Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement: Provides data concerning family characteristics, household composition, marital status, education attainment, health insurance coverage, foreign-born population, previous year’s income from all sources, work experience, receipt of noncash benefit, poverty, program participation, and geographic mobility.
• Voting and Registration: Provides demographic information on persons who did and did not register to vote. Also measures number of persons who voted and reasons for not registering.
• Food Security: Provides data that will measure hunger and food security. It provides data on food expenditure, access to food, and food quality and safety.
• Computer and Internet Use: Provides information about household access to computers and the use of the Internet.
• American Time Use Supplement (ATUS): Measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socializing. The ATUS to the CPS is especially useful for exploring how smokers identified in the TUS-CPS utilize their time as determinants of smoking cessation and tobacco use.

Tobacco Longitudinal Mortality Study

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) recently funded the linkage of the 1993-2018 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Census Population Survey (TUS-CPS) with the National Death Index (NDI), with co-sponsorship from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the U.S. Census Bureau. The resulting database, the Tobacco Longitudinal Mortality Study (TLMS), comprises the largest combined dataset of U.S. adults with approximately 1.6 million records and includes data on tobacco use behaviors, tobacco related health disparities, and economic and health insurance data related to tobacco use.

TLMS data offers the tobacco control scientific community an exciting opportunity to expand research exploring long-term patterns of tobacco product use and associated morbidity and mortality. Linkage will also allow preliminary assessment of mortality outcomes among e-cigarette users, as the TUS-CPS began capturing e-cigarette data in 2014.

To gain access to the TLMS dataset, interested investigators must submit a Research Proposal to U.S. Census Bureau Principal Investigator, Dr. Norman J. Johnson, or other Sponsor listed on the Census Sponsors and Investigators page. Approval is determined within a two-week time period by the Federal TLMS Steering Committee, consisting of FDA CTP, NCI, NHLBI, and Census. Once approved, investigators may access the TLMS dataset through:

1. The online Public Use File, which features aggregated data;
2. Regional Research Data Centers (RDCs)*;
3. Physical travel to the U.S. Census Bureau site*;
4. Collaboration with a Federal TLMS Steering Committee member*; and/or
5. The Restricted Use File available via the Census RODAS online tool*.

Several videos, including those detailing applications of the TLMS, the TLMS study design, and the research proposal process, are available on the Census Bureau’s website at https://www.census.gov/about/adrm/mortality-workshop/resources.html. For questions about the TLMS or the application process, contact Carolyn.Reyes-Guzman@nih.gov.

*These dataset access methods require investigators to apply for and obtain Special Sworn Status (SSS) through Dr. Norman J. Johnson (Norman.J.Johnson@census.gov). The process involves a background investigation, online training, confidentiality agreement, and fingerprinting, and may take several months.

National Longitudinal Mortality Study

The National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) consists of a database developed for the purpose of studying the effects of demographic and socio-economic characteristics on differentials in U.S. mortality rates. The NLMS is a unique research database in that it is based on a random sample of the non-institutionalized population of the United States. It consists of U.S. Census Bureau data from Current Population Surveys, Annual Social and Economic Supplements and a subset of the 1980 Census combined with death certificate information to identify mortality status and cause of death. The study currently consists of approximately 3.8 million records with over 550,000 identified mortality cases, through 2011. For information on variables and subject matter content, view the NLMS Reference Manual.

Health Disparities Calculator

HD*Calc is statistical software designed to generate multiple summary measures to evaluate and monitor health disparities. HD*Calc was created as an extension of SEER*Stat that allows the user to import SEER data or other population-based health data, such as National Health Survey sample data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) or the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and calculate any of eleven disparity measures.