Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) was developed in 1984 as a state-based system designed to measure behavioral risk factors associated with chronic diseases and some infectious diseases. The BRFSS is the world's largest ongoing, random-digit dialing telephone survey on health of adults ages 18 years or older. The survey is administered by the health departments in the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The target population is noninstitutiona-lized adults ages 18 years or older; however, BRFSS has also been used to collect information about children in the households. A large number of interviews (estimated at 350,000) are conducted annually, facilitating the development of local, state, and national estimates of health conditions and risk behaviors.

Participating areas ...