Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 1984

<p>To determine feasibility of behavioral surveillance, initial point-in-time state surveys were conducted in 29 states from 1981–1983. In 1984, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and 15 states participated in monthly data collection. Although the BRFSS was designed to collect state-level data, a number of states from the outset stratified their samples to allow them to estimate prevalence for regions within their respective states. CDC developed a standard core questionnaire for states to use to provide data that could be compared across states. Initial topics included smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, diet, hypertension, and seat belt use. Optional modules—standardized sets of questions on specific topics—were implemented in 1988. BRFSS became a nationwide surveillance system in 1993. The questionnaire was redesigned to include rotating fixed core and rotating core questions and up to five emerging core questions. Approximately 100,000 interviews were completed in 1993. In 2002, BRFSS held its first biannual BRFSS Expert Panel Meeting, inviting approximately 20 survey statisticians, methodologists, and operational experts to a 2-day meeting to discuss the challenges facing the field of survey research and implications for the BRFSS. Repeated in 2004, 2006, and 2009, the meetings set a goal of developing options and prioritizing recommendations for maintaining data quality in the face of societal and technological changes. States have used BRFSS to address urgent and emerging health issues. For example, during the 2004 – 2005 flu season, the BRFSS was used to monitor the influenza vaccine shortage. Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, four Gulf Coast States used the BRFSS to assess the impact of these events. During the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, modules related to influenza-like illness and seasonal and 2009 H1N1 vaccinations were added to the survey</p>