BRFSS
The Alabama Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an ongoing telephone survey that asks Alabama adults about their health and behaviors that could affect their health. This is an anonymous survey of approximately 4,000 randomly chosen adults in the state. Data collected from this survey are used to help plan, support, and evaluate programs promoting public health.
Telephone surveyors ask individuals about health care access, chronic conditions, physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use, oral health, and use of preventive services such as cancer screenings. Participants will be given the option to call 1-855-822-1778 for more information about the survey. Survey participants’ names or addresses are not asked.
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the world’s largest, on-going telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States annually. It was established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). BRFSS is a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices, and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury.
For Alabama, the BRFSS is the only available source of timely, accurate data on health-related behaviors. BRFSS provides state-specific information about issues such as diabetes, health care access, alcohol use, hypertension, obesity, cancer screening, nutrition and physical activity, tobacco use, and more. Researchers, federal, state, and local health officials use this information to track health risks, identify emerging problems, prevent disease, and improve treatment.
The CDC developed a standard core questionnaire for states to use so data could be compared against other states. Although the BRFSS was designed to collect state-level data, Alabama began to stratify their sample in 2007 which allows for estimates of prevalence for health areas. Data is updated every spring and is available through 2020.
Alabama data is stratified on the eight public health areas, as designated by ADPH. The basic philosophy is to collect data on actual behaviors, rather than on attitudes or knowledge, that would be especially useful for planning, initiating, supporting, and evaluating health promotion and disease prevention programs.
Page last updated: May 16, 2024
