BACKGROUND Few studies have examined cancer screening among women residing in metropolitan areas in relation to both individual-level and area-based measures of socioeconomic status (SES). To learn more, we examined self-reported rates of Papanicolaou (Pap) testing among women living in metropolitan areas in relation to individual-level measures of SES (household income and education), and area...

INTRODUCTION Worksite health promotion and interventions have gained popularity among state agencies. We studied the health behaviors and health characteristics of adults employed in state agencies in Oregon and compared those state employees with the statewide population of employed, insured adults. METHODS We used data from the Oregon Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and a...

BACKGROUND Residents of rural areas may be at increased risk of mental health problems. If so, public health programs aimed at preventing poor mental health may have to be customized for delivery to rural areas. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between residing in a rural area and frequent mental distress, which is one indicator of poor mental health. METHODS The Beha...

Objective. The relationship between oral health and cardiovascular disease is an emerging area of research. The objective of the current study is to evaluate the association of cardiovascular disease and the number of missing teeth as a risk indicator. Methods. Cross-sectional study design with data on 275,424 respondents aged 50 or older from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System...

Although significant resources have been devoted to the development of reports comparing health plan quality, little evidence documents any impact of these efforts on quality of care. In this paper, we examine whether the prevalence of the collection of health plan quality data in an area affects the utilization of measured services. We combine data identifying HMOs participating in HEDIS perfo...

BACKGROUND In recent years response rates on telephone surveys have been declining. Rates for the behavioral risk factor surveillance system (BRFSS) have also declined, prompting the use of new methods of weighting and the inclusion of cell phone sampling frames. A number of scholars and researchers have conducted studies of the reliability and validity of the BRFSS estimates in the context of ...

OBJECTIVES Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is often encountered in the workplace. There have been efforts to apply and enforce state laws limiting workplace smoking. There has been little study of the relative effectiveness of state and/or local laws in affecting both rates of workplace ETS exposure and adult smoking rates. This study investigates these hypotheses, as well as the effect of th...

INTRODUCTION Most adults reporting subjective memory complaints (SMCs) do not discuss them with a health care provider and miss an opportunity to learn about treatment options or receive a diagnosis. The objective of this study was to describe correlates of discussing memory problems with a health care professional among adults reporting SMCs. METHODS Data were from 10,276 respondents aged 45...

OBJECTIVE In 2011, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an in-person household interview, revised the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) section of the survey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a telephone-based survey, added cellphone numbers to its sampling frame. We sought to determine how these changes might affect assessment of HIV testing trends. METHODS...

This multilevel study explores the potential relationship between Black-White residential segregation and physical activity. It combines data on physical activity from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a national telephone survey of adults overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with a measure of racial segregation. Using hierarchical linear ...