Non-Substantive Change Request

Nonsubstantive Change Request

Application Form and Related Forms for the

Operation of the National Death Index

OMB No.0920-0215

(Expires 12/31/2019)

Contact Information:

Lillian Ingster, Ph.D.

Director, National Death Index

Division of Vital Statistics

National Center for Health Statistics

3311 Toledo Road, Room 7315

Hyattsville, Maryland 20782

Phone: 301-458-4286

Email: [email protected]

February 13, 2019

Table of Contents

1. Circumstances Making the of Collection Information Necessary

2. Purpose and Use of Information Collection

12. Estimate of Annualized Burden Hours and Cost

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

ATTACHMENTS

A –Updated National Death Index (NDI) Application Form

B- Changes to the currently approved NDI Application Form

Non-Substantive Change Request

Application Form and Related Forms for the Operation of the National Death Index

This is a nonsubstantive change request for the National Death Index (NDI) program (OMB Number 0920-0215, Exp. Date December 31, 2019). For one of the three currently approved forms (the NDI Application Form), formatting and minor question rewording modifications designed to enhance the document flow have been introduced that will reduce the total burden for that form from 4.5 to 4 hours and the overall burden for the entire project from 507 hours to 457. The updated NDI Application Form is captured as Attachment A and the changes to the currently approved NDI Application are highlighted in Attachment B.

1. Circumstances Making the of Collection Information Necessary

The National Death Index (NDI) and the services it provides are authorized under 42 USC

242k (Section 306 of the Public Health Service Act) which mandates that NCHS collect

mortality data and which permits NCHS to support epidemiological research and to furnish

mortality information.

The NDI is a central, computerized index of death record information designed to assist in

the mortality ascertainment activities of investigators conducting prospective and retrospective studies in health and medical research. The NDI contains identifying information on all U.S. decedents since 1979 and is compiled from electronic data submitted to NCHS by the state vital statistics offices via contractual agreements.

Investigators use the NDI to determine whether persons in their studies may have died. If so, the NDI user is provided with the corresponding dates of death, names of states in which the deaths occurred and the related death certificate numbers. The NDI user may then apply to the respective states to procure copies of the death certificates from their vital statistics offices in order to obtain other information such as cause of death. NDI users can avoid procuring copies of certificates if they opt for the NDI Plus service, which provides users with the cause of death information in coded form.

The NDI Application Form (Attachment A) is provided to all investigators who express an interest in the NDI. The Application Form is completed and submitted only by those investigators who actually decide to apply for use of the NDI services. Additional information on the NDI can be found at its website http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ndi.htm.

2. Purpose and Use of Information Collection

The National Death Index (NDI) contains all deaths in the United States since 1979. As of 2019 the NDI has obtained over 97million death records from the state vital statistics offices, covering deaths from 1979 through 2018 The death records are obtained via a contract with each state vital statistics office. The purpose of the NDI is to assist health researchers in determining whether their study subjects have died and if so provides the researchers with the state of death, date of death, death certificate number and the causes of death (as reported on the state’s death certificates). The encrypted death records are maintained in the SQL server data management system. The NDI has served over 3,000 researchers over the period 1982-2018 The research studies or projects varied greatly and included: clinical trials, disease registries, occupational health studies, non-disease or population registries, and effectiveness of specific therapies for different diseases.

The only form being proposed for this non-substantive change is the application form which is used solely for the administration of the NDI program. Changes have been made to this form to enhance the flow of the form with revised formatting and minor text revisions, eliminating duplicated definitions of identifying or identifiable death record information. This application form is completed by organizations and agencies who are conducting health and medical research and who would like to be approved for use of the NDI.

The application form is used by NCHS staff and advisers to determine (1) whether each proposed use of the NDI conforms with the criteria agreed upon between NCHS and the

state vital statistics offices; (2) how the applicant and any other participating organization(s) will maintain the confidentiality of the identifying death record information; and (3) whether the NDI applicant will be able to submit data on persons in the study in a manner which meets NCHS technical specifications.

12. Estimate of Annualized Burden Hours and Cost

For one of the three currently approved forms (the NDI Application Form), formatting and minor question rewording modifications have been introduced that will reduce the total burden for that form from 4.5 to 4 hours and the overall burden for the entire project from 507 hours to 457.

There are no other changes requested for the other two forms.

A. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours

Type of Respondent	Form Name	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Average Burden per Response (in hours.)	Total Burden Hours
Researcher	Application Form	100	1	4	400
Researcher	Repeat Request Form	70	1	18/60	21
Researcher	Transmittal Form	120	1	18/60	36
Total					457

B. Estimates of Annualized Costs to Respondents

The currently approved NDI package was based on the mean hourly earnings of "social scientists and related workers" as of May 2015. The table below has been updated to reflect the mean hourly wages of those same individuals as of 2017 which is $40.01 based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, as well as capture the reduced total burden hours. The BLS website for this information is: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

The total updated cost to respondents is estimated at $18,284.57.

Total Annual Cost Burden

Type of forms	Total Burden (in hours)	Avg. Hourly Wage Rate	Total Respondent Costs
All forms	457	$40.01	$18,284.57

15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

For one of the three currently approved forms (the NDI Application Form), formatting and minor question rewording modifications designed to enhance the document flow have been introduced that will reduce the total burden for that form from 4.5 to 4 hours and the overall burden for the entire project from 507 hours to 457.

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