Participate in the NHANES Biospecimen Program

At a glance

  • The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) may ask if you are willing to have your blood and urine samples (specimens) used in future health studies.
  • You must give approval for your serum, plasma, and urine to be added to the biospecimen program.
Image of drops going into one of four test tubes

NHANES Biospecimen Program

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collects blood and urine samples (specimens) for laboratory tests as part of the survey. If a participant agrees to take part in the NHANES biospecimen program, their blood and urine specimens will be available for future research.

Researchers can request to use NHANES stored biospecimen program specimens for important health research. To use NHANES biospecimens, researchers must complete a strict approval process, including—

Review by the NCHS Ethics Review Board ensures that research involving human participants protects the rights and welfare of study participants and follows U.S. legal requirements.

NCHS requires researchers to provide data from their approved studies through the NHANES website or, if sensitive, the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC).

What participation involves

If you are eligible for the biospecimens program, we will ask you if you are willing to have some of your blood and urine specimens stored for use in future health studies.

If you are willing, we will ask you to sign a consent form that says you have been told and understand that—

  • Your specimens will be stored as part of the NHANES biospecimen program
  • Future health studies may use your specimens for important research
  • No one will contact you about these studies or their results
  • You can contact us to have any of your remaining specimens destroyed at any time

We will store your specimens until they have been completely used in health studies. If you want to remove your specimens from the program at any time, call us at 1-800-452-6115.

Why participate

You have already chosen to provide your time and information to support the health of your neighbors, community, and nation by participating in NHANES. The biospecimen program provides no direct benefits to you. Still, it gives you another opportunity to help us understand and improve the health of people across the United States.

Future health studies can use your specimens to answer questions about new and changing medical needs and threats. Your specimens could even help us learn about new health problems that have been discovered since you visited our mobile exam center.

You will not receive any results from future health studies that use your specimens. These studies are limited to answering broad questions about the public's health. They do not produce medical results at the individual level.

Privacy protections

We take your privacy very seriously. NHANES always keeps your health information strictly confidential. This includes the specimens you provide and the results of testing those specimens.

We will only add your specimens to the NHANES biospecimen program if you are willing to have them used for future health research.

We store specimens securely. We do not link your specimens to information that can directly identify you, like your name or address.

We will only use the data collected from your specimens for public health research purposes. We cannot share or release that data for any other reason or to anyone other than approved researchers without getting your permission.

Section 308(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m) requires us to contact you and get your permission if we want to do anything with your specimens other than what you originally approved.

Publications

Researchers from federal agencies, universities, and other scientific organizations have used NHANES biospecimens and data for many years. Their studies have produced more than 350 publications on a wide range of topics, such as Vitamin D, asthma, and the role our genes play in obesity and other health conditions.

You can find many of these publications through the NHANES website.

Contact

You can contact us with any questions or concerns you may have about this program.

Call—

  • 1-800-452-6115 to reach NHANES staff with questions about the biospecimen program
  • 1-800-223-8118 to reach the NCHS Ethics Review Board with questions or concerns about your rights as a survey participant

Leave a brief message with your name, phone number, and your NHANES questions or concerns. Your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Print
Content Source:
National Center for Health Statistics