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Eleven Updated Measures are Now Available on State Health Compare
October 5, 2020:Estimates for a majority of measures from several categories (Access to Care, Cost of Care, Health Behaviors, and Health Outcomes) have now been updated on SHADAC’s State Health Compare web tool, from two related surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), which surveys U.S. middle and high school students (age 13-17), and the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which surveys U.S. adults (age 18+).
Measures that have been updated from the YRBSS include:
High School Obesity
This measure indicates the percent of high school students (grades 9-12) in each state who were considered obese (i.e., > 95th percentile for body mass index, based on sex- and age-specific reference data from 2000 CDC growth charts).
Estimates are available for all states from 2001 through 2019.
High School Smoking
Estimates for this measure denote the percent of high school students (grades 9-12) in each state who have smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days; data are available from 2001 through 2019.
High School Physical Activity
This measure provides estimates of the percentage of high school students (grades 9-12) who did engage in the recommended guideline of at least 60 minutes of activity each day, in the previous five days. Data are available for all states from 2011 through 2019.
Measures that have been updated from the BRFSS include:
Adults Who Forgo Needed Medical Care*
The measure indicates the percent of adults (18+) in each state who could not get needed medical care due to cost. Breakdowns by education level and race/ethnicity are available for all states from 2005 through 2010 and 2011 through 2019.
Adults With No Personal Doctor*
This measure presents the percent of adults without a personal doctor and is now available for all states from 2005 through 2010 and 2011 through 2019. Breakdowns by education level and race/ethnicity are also available.
Chronic Disease Prevalence*
Data for this measure captures the percent of adults who reported having one or more common chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and asthma, in each state. Estimates are now available for all states from 2005 through 2010 and 2011 through 2019.
Adult Unhealthy Days
There are a multitude of options for this measure, which shows the average number of days when an adult's physical health or mental health was not good during the past 30 days. Users can view estimates solely by reported mentally unhealthy days, physically unhealthy days, or a composite of both—though the combination of both physical and mental unhealthy days is capped at a total of 30 days. Estimates for each version of this measure are available for 2011 to 2019 and possible breakdowns include age, health insurance coverage, household income categories, disability status, education levels, and race/ethnicity.
Activities Limited due to Health Difficulty*
This measure reports the average number of days (in the last 30 days) for which an adult indicated their activity were limited stemming from either mental or physical health difficulties, and data is available for all states from 2005 through 2010 and 2011 through 2019.
Adult Obesity*
The measure is an indication of the prevalence of obesity (defined for adults as a Body Mass Index [BMI] > 30) among the U.S. population 18 years of age and over. It is now available for all states from 2005 through 2010 and 2011 through 2019.
Adult Binge Drinking*
This measure indicates the percent of adults who have consumed at least four drinks (women) or five (men) or more on one occasion during the past 30 days. Now available for all states from 2005 through 2010 and 2011 through 2019, the measure includes breakdowns by education level and race/ethnicity.
Adult Smoking*
This measure indicates the percent of adults over 18 years of age who have smoked 100 or more cigarettes in their lifetime, and who currently smoke at least some days or every day. Estimates are available for all states from 2005 through 2010, and 2011 through 2019, with breakdowns by education level and race/ethnicity.
Notes
All measures marked with an “*”: This indicates a break in series due to the BRFSS implementing cell phone sampling and an advanced weighting method in 2011.
Click here to explore these updated estimates on State Health Compare!
