*303. Behavioral Risk Factors in Veterans
Koepsell, Thomas, Seattle ERIC and University of Washington; Reiber, Gayle, Seattle ERIC and VA Puget Sound Health Care System
Workshop Objectives: 1. To familiarize participants with Veteran Status questions on the Year 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS).
2. To identify research questions that can be answered with BRFSS data.
Workshop Activities: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an excellent source of information on adult health risk factors. This Centers for Disease Control survey is the world's largest, ongoing telephone survey and is conducted at an annual cost of $10 million. dollars.
The Seattle Epidemiologic Research and Information Center (ERIC) coordinated the inclusion of veteran status questions in this survey to ascertain whether respondents were veterans and if so, whether some or all of their past years' health care was provided by the VA. These veteran questions were pilot tested in Washington State in 1999 and were uniformly asked on the national Year 2000 survey.
Workshop faculty will describe the survey and its strengths and limitations. Examples from Washington State will illustrate the rich and vaired information available to VA researchers. There will be an opportunity for participants to discuss research ideas with course faculty.
Target Audience: Epidemiologists and Health Services Researchers
Audience Familiarity: No familiarity assumed