Making Your Customized IPUMS MICS Data File

January 25, 2024January 24, 2024 by mpcblog

By Anna Bolgrien

The newest IPUMS data collection, IPUMS MICS, has many similarities with other IPUMS microdata collections. However, there is one major difference: the IPUMS MICS Data Extract System only uses Stata.

Yes, you read that right. Users of IPUMS MICS must use Stata to open and create their customized data file.

Let’s start with how using IPUMS MICS is the same as using other IPUMS microdata collections.

If you are an IPUMS user, you will find the process of browsing the variables, looking at documentation, and adding samples to your data cart completely familiar. If you are not familiar with IPUMS, you can read more about browsing and selecting variables.

However, when you finish choosing variables and samples in IPUMS MICS and click “Create Extract,” things start to look different.

Normally, you could change the data format, but the only option currently available for IPUMS MICS is a .dat (fixed-width text) file format.

Introducing the MEPS Prescribed Medicines Data

December 11, 2023November 20, 2023 by mpcblog

By Julia A. Rivera Drew

The Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is a short panel survey collecting information for a nationally representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population. Since 1996, the MEPS has collected information on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics; health status; medical conditions; and health care access, utilization, and expenditures.

Based on information provided by a family respondent about each family member at each interview, AHRQ produces a dataset of all reported fills of prescribed medicines purchased by family members during the calendar year (including refills). For example, if a prescription was filled monthly, there would be 12 records for that specific prescribed medicine (DRUGID) in the annual file. The prescribed medicines data includes information such as the medication name (RXNAME), national drug code (RXNDC), therapeutic classification (MULTC1), when the person began taking the medication (RXBEGMM and RXBEGYR), amounts paid (RXFEXPTOT), and source of payment (RXFEXPSRC).

IPUMS MEPS provides a harmonized and integrated version of the MEPS Household Component data, including data from the prescribed medicines files.

2022 ATUS Eating and Health Module Data: New Variables and Updates

December 11, 2023November 7, 2023 by mpcblog

By Annie Chen & Sarah Flood

The American Time Use Survey Eating and Health Module, funded by the Economic Research Service, asks a series of questions related to grocery shopping, food preparation, and nutrition. The most recent module was fielded in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic and was previously fielded in 2006 to 2008 and 2014 to 2016. The 2022 Eating and Health Module, set to be fielded again in 2023, asks new questions, asks similar questions in different ways than previously fielded modules, and contains additional variables of high interest to researchers.

New Variables in 2022

The 2022 ATUS Eating and Health Module asks a series of new questions related to exercise/physical activity, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and food quality. The food quality questions are especially interesting because they provide researchers with the opportunity to assess relationships between food quality and time use, which hasn’t been possible previously with these data. This is the first time that the ATUS has asked any information about respondents’ food intake on the ATUS diary day. The module is also responsive to changes in shopping behavior during the pandemic, specifically online grocery shopping and grocery delivery/pickup options. The shopping and meal preparation enjoyment questions might allow for comparisons to the ATUS Well-Being Module (fielded in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2021).