Combining cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey

The Canadian Community Health Survey consists of two cross-sectional surveys conducted on an alternating annual cycle. Both surveys collect general health information, while the second smaller survey collects additional information on survey specific health issues. Even with the large sample sizes, users are interested in combining the cycles of the CCHS to improve the quality of the estimates, create estimates for small geographical domains, or to estimate for rare characteristics or populations. This paper will focus on some of the issues related to combining cycles of the CCHS including some possible interpretations of the combined result. Possible methods to combine cycles will also be outlined.