Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is a population health measure that combines mortality data with morbidity or health status data to estimate expected years of life in good health for persons at a given age. HLE accounts for quantity and quality of life and can be used to describe and monitor the health status of populations. HLE estimates for countries have been used for predicting future health ...

INTRODUCTION Breast cancer control efforts could benefit from estimating mammography prevalence at the substate level because studies have primarily analyzed health survey data at the national and state levels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which geographic disparities exist in mammography use across counties in the contiguous United States. METHODS We estimated coun...

INTRODUCTION Obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which accounts for approximately 20% of deaths in Washington State. For most states, self-reports from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) provide the primary source of information on these risk factors. The objective of this study was to compare prevalence estimates of self-...

BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become an important consideration in assessing the impact of chronic disease on individuals as well as in populations. HRQOL is often assessed using multiple indicators. The authors sought to determine if multiple indicators of HRQOL could be used to characterize patterns of HRQOL in a population, and if so, to examine the association betwee...

INTRODUCTION Depression is a public health concern that warrants accurate population estimates. The patient health questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) offers high sensitivity and specificity for assessing depression but is time-consuming to administer, answer, and score. We sought to determine whether 1 of 3 simpler instruments - the shorter PHQ-2 or 2 single questions from the health-related quality of li...

OBJECTIVES For the first time ever, as emphasized by inclusion in the Healthy People 2020 goals, sleep health is an emphasis of national health aims. The National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project (NHSAP) was tasked to propose questions for inclusion in the next Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a survey that includes a number of questions that target behaviors thought to impact...

BACKGROUND Adverse childhood experiences (e.g., physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence, parental discord, familial mental illness, incarceration and substance abuse) constitute a major public health problem in the United States. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale is a standardized measure that captures multiple developmental risk factors beyond s...

INTRODUCTION We evaluated the feasibility of applying a previously validated diabetes risk score (DRS) to state-based surveillance data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to assess population risk for developing type 2 diabetes or having undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,969 adults aged 30 to 60 years who self-reported n...

OBJECTIVES We aim to estimate the prevalence of influenza-like illness (ILI) by occupation and to identify occupations associated with increased ILI prevalence. METHODS Between September 2009 and August 2010, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) included questions on ILI symptoms on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Washington State collects the occupation of all employ...

Roadway incidents involving motorized vehicles accounted for 24% of fatal occupational injuries in the United States during 2013 and were the leading cause of fatal injuries among workers.* In 2013, workers' compensation costs for serious, nonfatal injuries among work-related roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles were estimated at $2.96 billion.(†) Seat belt use is a proven method...