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In late July, some residents reported receiving a form letter from the Massachusetts Department of Health. According to the department website:
“The Health Survey Program operates the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in Massachusetts. We collect information on topics that are vital statewide and nationally, such as: racial disparities in health and health care, trends in chronic diseases, and health risk factors. Results are used for health care policy planning, as a guide for developing preventive health interventions, and as an assessment of health status in Massachusetts.”
The script for the 2019 survey (dated 2018), runs to more than 50 pages and was estimated to take about 27 minutes to complete. It includes questions about medical insurance, when you were last seen by a doctor, mental health conditions, whether you have chronic conditions such as high-blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, driving habits, and numerous other issues.
DOH spokesperson, Anne Scales, said the questionnaire posted under 2019 was administered throughout 2019 and the Dec 2018 date reflects the date the questions were all completely finalized.
For 2021, Massachusetts BRFSS is aiming to collect 7500 fully completed surveys from across the state. The survey is conducted each month across the entire year to account for seasonality of some indicators. Each month, a random set of landlines and a separate random set of cell phone numbers are drawn from across the state.
“BRFSS is a system designed to measure not only current prevalence but trends over time,” she said. The bulk of questions are therefore asked in multiple years, but sometimes every year, every other year, or sometimes every third year, while others are only asked periodically.
Scales said that ‘emergent issues’ are also sometimes added to the survey. “This happened for example with H1N1 in 2009 and 2010 and more recently with electronic vapor products,” she said. Additionally, Massachusetts utilizes a split-survey design, she noted, where DOH has two versions of the questionnaire (half of respondents get one set of questions, the other half gets a different set of questions). “This allows us to obtain data on a broader range of indicators without increasing the length of the survey,” she explained.
CDC did design and test an optional module on COVID-19 vaccination which became available on July 1, 2021. “Massachusetts has added this module to our questionnaire and the data will help supplement what is collected by the Massachusetts Immunization Information System (MIIS),” Scales said.
“We do try to obtain a geographically representative sample, but since the majority of our interviews are now by cell phone, it is not possible to get to the city and town level when sampling,” said Scales. For that reason, it is not possible to know how many residents of Franklin will have their phone number appear in the sample or be asked to participate, she added.
