Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS): Impact on Population Health - The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) has been conducted annually by the Florida Department of Health (DOH) since 1986. The BRFSS is an important source of state and county-level data on chronic conditions, health risk behaviors, and preventative health practices in Florida. Florida’s diverse population and growing older adult population increases the need for quality, timely data on the chronic disease burden, related risk factors, and demographic health issues in the state. Florida BRFSS data are used by internal and external partners and organizations to develop programmatic initiatives, monitor the impact of chronic disease programs, and inform community-based activities and interventions. The continuation of the Florida BRFSS will enable the state to effectively measure and monitor the chronic disease burden and related risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among adult Floridians. Over the five-year project period, it is expected that the Florida BRFSS program will continue to improve access to more quality and timely BRFSS data; increase data dissemination to health professionals and public health stakeholders; and increase the number of completed interviews from survey responders. The program will continue to maximize sample size, oversample minority groups, and monitor the percentage of cell phone surveys to ensure BRFSS data are representative of the entire population of Florida. The program will also implement new outreach and marketing activities to reach populations that are traditionally underrepresented. These activities will also ensure that resulting analyses will be able to provide users with a comprehensive understanding of health status and differences at both the state and county-level. For 2025, DOH proposes a sample size of 3,618 (30%) landline participants and 8,442 (70%) cell phone participants. The Florida BRFSS program will continue to provide county-level data every three years but will continue to explore new methodologies to provide county-level data on a more frequent basis to increase the timeliness of localized data. Since its inception, the BRFSS program has strived to strengthen state support for the collection and utilization of BRFSS data, growing from a sample size of 1,162 in 1986 to a projected sample size of over 12,000 respondents in 2024. The BRFSS program will continue to expand partnerships with internal DOH programs, external stakeholders, and data users to inform the development of effective prevention and disease management programs, policies, and services. The BRFSS program looks forward to furthering advances in BRFSS survey methodologies and processes with the goal of improving population health in Florida.
