[Fwd: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Update]

Now Available Online:  2009 BRFSS Dataset and Documentation

and Prevalence and Trends Tables

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Behavioral Surveillance (DBS) is pleased to announce the release of the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data and documentation and Prevalence and Trends tables.  This represents the 25^th year of BRFSS data.

The BRFSS is a unique, state-based surveillance system active in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Information on health risk behaviors, clinical preventive health practices, and health care access (primarily related to chronic disease and injury) is obtained from a representative sample of noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 years and older in each state. The BRFSS provides flexible, timely, and ongoing data collection that allows for state-to-state and state-to-nation comparisons. State-specific data including racial-and-ethnic-specific data from the BRFSS provide a sound basis for developing and evaluating public health programs, including programs targeted to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health risks. The BRFSS is the largest telephone-based surveillance system in the world, with more than 430,000 interviews conducted in 2009.

The 2009 BRFSS data and documentation files are available at http://cdc.gov/brfss/technical_infodata/surveydata/2009.htm

The 2009 BRFSS prevalence and trends data are available  at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/  

For more information about the data, please contact the BRFSS office at (770) 488-2455.