Live Healthy Guam
: Home : : DPHSS : : About Us : : Contact Us:
  www.guam.gov

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get Adobe Flash player

 		1-800-Quit-Now
Data & Statistics: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the largest health-risk behavior database in the world and provides the only nationwide health-risk data in the country. This ongoing telephone survey, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is carries out independently by all 50 U.S. States, the District of Columbia, and three territories including Guam.

The goals of the BRFSS are:

  • To identify emerging health issues
  • To document current health trends
  • To compare health behaviors across the states and territories
  • To measure progress towards established health goals

The BRFSS:

  • Provides data for legislative advocacy and education such as tobacco control legislation
  • Provides input in to the Governors Healthy Guam Project
  • Provides continuing data and support for the Guam Diabetes Prevention and Control Program and other health related programs
  • Provides justification and support for various programs, grants development, and requests for health related data.
What is BRFSS?

The BRFSS is a telephone survey conducted with randomly selected adults within households randomly selected from telephone equipped households on Guam.

The numbers are provided to Guam by the CDC and include listed and unlisted numbers. We are planning to include cellular phone numbers in the next survey.

The Questionnaire:

The BRFSS questionnaire consists of three parts:

Core Questions: The core questions are a standard set of questions, designed by the CDC, that are asked by every state and territory. Core modules generally include topics like:

  • Tobacco use
  • Diabetes
  • Quality of Life
  • Alcohol Consumption

Optional Modules: There are also various optional modules which each state can choose to add to the survey. Some examples of optional modules are:

  • Access to Eye Care
  • Heart Attack and Stroke
  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Women's Health

State-added Questions: State added questions are designed by the states to address topics that may not be covered in the CDC modules. During this year Guam added questions on:

  • Use of Betel Nut
  • Local Demographics
Data Analysis and Results:

At the end of each reporting year, the data is returned to each state and territory for their use and publication, additionally the data collected from every state and territory is available on the BRFSS web site www.cdc.gov/brfss.

For additional information on Guam's BRFSS program, please feel free to contact the Program Coordinator Mr. W.J. Brandshagen at (671) 735-7303.