Hawaii Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the world’s largest ongoing telephone survey of adults.  The BRFSS is coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and originally collected data on health behaviors relevant to the leading causes of death, but has expanded to include other topics including healthcare access, use of preventive health services and emerging health issues. Hawaii has been participating in the BRFSS since 1986 and the number of people surveyed each year has grown from 500 to over 6,000.

Perhaps you or someone you know has been called by our survey contractor. BRFSS participants are randomly selected from houses with listed and unlisted landline telephone numbers as well as cell phone numbers. Interviews are conducted daily from noon time to evenings up to 9pm.  If you are called, please participate and thank you, in advance. Statistical results from this survey will help plan for program improvements that we hope will lead to better health for all people of Hawaii.

We gratefully acknowledge and thank the BRFSS interviewers and residents of Hawaii State who have graciously participated in this survey since 1986.

Below you can find links to the findings of the Hawaii BRFSS surveys both past and present, as well as special reports and a Geographic Information System (GIS) application showing results from 2005 to 2010. Results for the nation as well as individual states and US territories can be found on the CDC’s BRFSS Website.

• Current Data
• Historical Data
• Special Reports
• Instant Atlas / GIS Application

In 2011, the BRFSS underwent two major changes:

1. Cellular phone numbers were included in the sampling frame in response to the growing number of people who use cellular phones for their telephone needs.
2. The weighting methodology was changed to iterative proportional weighting (also known as “raking”) to be in line with other national surveillance systems.

As a result, data from 2011 forward cannot be directly compared with data from 2010 and before. Year specific information on survey methods is provided in each annual report.

• Download the 2015 Hawaii BRFSS Results Tables (PDF Document, 3.20 MB)
• Download the 2014 Hawaii BRFSS Results Tables (PDF Document, 2.73 MB)
• Download the 2013 Hawaii BRFSS Results Tables (PDF Document, 3.01 MB)
• Download the 2012 Hawaii BRFSS Results Tables (PDF Document, 3.25 MB)
• Download the 2011 Hawaii BRFSS Results Tables (PDF Document, 3.39 MB)

The BRFSS survey has been conducted annually since 1986. Data is electronically available beginning in 1994. The sampling frame included noninstitutionalized  adults with a working landline telephone number. This page provides links to historical data reports from the year of 2000 to 2010. In you require data from a previous year please contact brfsshi@doh.hawaii.gov.

Download links are available for the following years

• 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006
• 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000
• 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994

Special reports on variety of topics derived from Hawaii BRFSS are available as shown below:

• Disparity in awareness of interventions to reduce adult accidental falls
• Sleep Related Prevalence and Associations with Selected Health Indicators
• Adverse Life Experiences (ALE) and Health
• Hawaii BRFSS 2007: Mental Health and Stigma Report
• Depression and Anxiety Among Adults in Hawaii
• Frequent Mental Distress Prevalence and Disparity: Hawaii BRFSS 2005-2007
• Hawaii Communities’ Progress Toward Healthy People 2010 Derived from HBRFSS 2005-2007
• The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Hawaii 2007
• Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Hawaii’s Adults Derived from HBRFSS 2006
• Recent Tracking of Hawaii’s Progress Toward Healthy People 2010 Derived from HBRFSS 2001-2006
• Hawaii’s Progress Toward Healthy People 2010
• Exposure to Second Hand Cigarette Smoke at Home
• Estimates of Disability Among Ethnic Groups in Hawaii
• Adult Diabetes Prevalence Measured from the HBRFSS
• The State of Hawaii Arthritis Report: What the BRFSS 2000 Shows
• Hawaii Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Report 1994-2000

View the interactive Instant Atlas application by clicking HERE or on the image below;

If you have any questions or comments about HBRFSS, please email us or contact the Department of Health at (808)586-4509.