On March 31, 2025, NIH requested that the following language be added to this website:

This repository is under review for potential modification in compliance with Administration directives.

Export Procedures

Material Export Rules

Review the following rules and requirements before submitting an export request.

  • All materials proposed for export from the MiCDA/LINKAGE enclaves are subject to disclosure review. Review of intermediate results should be done in the corresponding enclave. Export requests should only include presentation/publication ready files. The only exception is for statistical program code, where the code should be in the corresponding program format.
  • Users may export only statistical summary information (frequency tabulations, magnitude tabulations, means, variances, regression coefficients, and correlation coefficients) that does not permit the identification of any individual person, family, household, employer, or benefit provider
  • Cell sizes for restricted data may not be below 11; A value of zero does not violate the minimum cell size policy. In addition, no cell can be reported that allows a value of 1 to 10 to be derived from other reported cells or information. For example the use of percentages or other mathematical formulas that, in combination with other reported information, result in the display of a cell containing a value of 1 to 10 are prohibited.
  • Export of microdata files or of analysis output containing information at the respondent level is not allowed
  • Users may not remove any analysis output that can potentially identify respondents, sampling information, or geographic areas below the level of Census Region/Division, either directly or inferentially. Analysis results containing merged area data based on geographic information may only be exported if there is no direct identification of geographic areas or if geographic areas are reported using the same grouping characteristics as public files
  • High visibility variables such as certain Cause of Death and Medical Condition codes must be recoded or collapsed before being exported
  • No datasets or data elements may be removed from the enclave (i.e., no datafiles from STATA, SAS, or SPSS, etc.), including restricted or public data; including data or variables that are derived from the restricted or public data.
  • All analysis output and program code is subject to disclosure review by HRS staff members who have ultimate authority over whether a given set of analysis results may be exported.

Output Requirements

All materials requested for export MUST meet the following criteria:

  • Page 1 of the output must include definitions and frequencies or means for all the variables used in the analysis (e.g., tables, cross-tabulations and regressions) and a description of the sample or subsample used including sample size(s). For categorical or binary variables, these should be presented as unweighted counts - proportions alone are not sufficient.
  • Cell size suppression: cell sizes for restricted data may not be below 11; A value of zero does not violate the minimum cell size policy. In addition, no cell can be reported that allows a value of 1 to 10 to be derived from other reported cells or information. For example the use of percentages or other mathematical formulas that, in combination with other reported information, result in the display of a cell containing a value of 1 to 10 are prohibited.
  • FORMAT & LENGTH:
    • Export request should be in presentation/publication ready format in a WORD/PDF or Similar file type.
    • Code should be in the corresponding program format
    • Due to the extremely time consuming nature of review, the output must be limited to 1 file not to exceed 50 pages. Turnaround is estimated at 5 business days/50 pages.
  • Output of analysis based on restricted data must exclude the information below:
    • Listing or description of data at the individual or household level.
    • Listing, description, or identification by number, by name, or by descriptive information of any restricted geospatial data that show any geographic area below the Census Division level, including place, tract or tracts, zip code, county, state, etc.
    • Maps, scatterplots, or graphs with any values, labels, or features (such as landmarks, road networks, original tract shape or physical features) that allow restricted geospatial data (e.g., place, tracts, zip codes, counties) to be identified or that show any geographic area below the Census Division level, including place, tract, block group, block, ZIP code, city, county, or state.

The review procedure will be completed within 5 business days, if possible.

LINKAGE users should submit requests via the LINKAGE disclosure review process.

The following steps apply only to MiCDA Enclave users:

  1. Users should place the file to be reviewed in a folder labeled “Export-MM-DD-YYYY” on their U: drive (or shared folder in the case of multiple user projects).
  2. Submit the Disclosure Review Request Form. You must have SFTP access to the MiCDA Enclave to access this form.
  3. The reviewers vet the export file(s) using the rules outlined in the Disclosure Review Request Form. Once the process is complete, the researcher will receive a response via email.
  4. When the request is approved, the reviewer will copy the output to the researcher’s SFTP folder.
  5. The researcher should now connect to the sftp folder and download the reviewed documents.