Adding biological measure collection to a household survey can increase the usefulness of the survey data. Between 2020 and 2021, two major federal household health surveys, both conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics—the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey—planned and conducted a pilot study to examine the feasibility of adding physical measurements and biological measure collection to NHIS. NHIS’s large nationally representative sample can be used to calculate national and subnational estimates of health conditions and healthcare access and use, but it does not collect physical measurements or biospecimens. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in addition to an in-person survey, also includes a comprehensive physical examination that collects both physical measurements and biospecimens but does so with a smaller sample.
