[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2244-2245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-856]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30DAY-06-98]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Office on (404) 639-7090. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer; Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235; Washington, DC 20503. Written 
comments should be received on or before February 13, 1998.

Proposed Projects

    1. The National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS)--(0920-0298)--
Revision--The National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) was 
conducted in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. It is part of the Long-
Term Care component of the National Health Care Survey. Section 306 of 
the Public Health Service Act states that the National Center for 
Health Statistics ``shall collect statistics on health resources * * * 
[and] utilization of health care, including utilization of * * * 
services of hospitals, extended care facilities, home health agencies, 
and other institutions.'' NHHCS data are used to examine this most 
rapidly expanding sector of the health care industry. Data from the 
NHHCS are used widely by the health care industry and policy makers for 
such diverse analyses as the need for various medical supplies; 
minority access to health care; and planning for the health care needs 
of the elderly. The NHHCS also reveals detailed information on 
utilization patterns, as needed to make accurate assessments of the 
need for and costs associated with such care. Data from earlier NHHCS 
collections have been used by the Congressional Budget Office, the 
Bureau of Health Professionals, the Maryland Health Resources Planning 
Commission, the National Association for Home Care, and by several 
newspapers and journals. Additional uses are expected to be similar to 
the uses of the National Nursing Home Survey. NHHCS data cover: 
baseline data on the characteristics of hospices and home health 
agencies in relation to their

[[Page 2245]]

patients and staff, Medicare and Medicaid certification, costs to 
patients, sources of payment, patients' functional status and 
diagnoses. Data collection is planned for the period July-November, 
1998. Survey design is in process now. Sample selection and preparation 
of layout forms will precede the data collection by several months. The 
total annual burden hours are 5,625.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                          Average               
                                                              Number of    Number of      burden/       Total   
                        Respondents                          respondents   Responses/  response (in   burden (in
                                                                          Respondents     hours)        hours)  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agency Questionnaire.......................................         1350            1         0.333          450
Current Patient Sampling List..............................         1350            1         0.333          450
Current Patient Questionnaire..............................         1350            6         0.25          2025
Discharged Patient Sampling List...........................         1350            1         0.50           675
Discharged Patient Questionnaire...........................         1350            6         0.25          2025
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. (NIOSH) Occupational Asthma Identification Methods -0920-0350--
Reinstatement--Over the last decade, Occupational Asthma (OA) has 
emerged as the most prevalent occupational respiratory disease, 
resulting in morbidity, disability, diminished productivity, and 
rarely, death. Prevention of OA has become one of the most important 
goals for NIOSH. This project addresses these issues by examining the 
potential of different asthma screening approaches as surveillance 
tools when employed serially over time among workers at risk, and also 
characterizes the occurrence of and risk factors for occupational 
asthma in various high risk industries.
    The primary objective of the study is to examine the potential of 
different asthma screening approaches as surveillance tools when 
employed serially over time among workers at risk. A second major 
objective is to characterize the occurrence of and risk factors for 
occupational asthma in several industries, specifically workers rearing 
insects for agricultural pest control, wood product workers using 
isocyanates, and other occupational groups with different exposure 
profiles. A series of four groups of screening measures are applied to 
examine the potential of each measure in different situations. This 
includes a questionnaire (including an occupational history), lung 
function tests (shift spirometry, serial peak flow tests, airway 
responsiveness), inflammation and immunology tests (specific and 
nonspecific serum immunoglobulins, skin prick tests, nasal lavage for 
cellular and biochemical factors), and environmental measurements 
(gravimetric dusts, antigens, chemical vapors, viable organisms, 
endotoxins). Workers exposed to 1) high molecular weight sensitizing 
dusts, (insect particulate), 2) low molecular weight sensitizers, 
(methylene biphenyldiisocyanate, MDI), and 3) irritant but not 
sensitizing exposures, as well as a control group of unexposed workers, 
are followed for two years. The results should be useful in improving 
tools for recognition, monitoring, and surveillance of OA. In addition, 
risk factors for OA will be further delineated, which will assist in 
targeting OA prevention strategies for agricultural and other workers. 
Total annual burden hours are 2,251.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                          Average               
                                                              Number of    Number of      burden/       Total   
                         Form name                           respondents   responses/  response (in   burden (in
                                                                           respondent     hours)        hours)  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial questionnaire......................................          250            1         0.333           83
Follow-up questionnaire....................................          250            4         0.166          167
Occupational questionnaire/Skin Test.......................          250            1         0.75           188
Spirometry.................................................          250           20         0.083          417
Peak flow tests............................................          250          300         0.016        1,250
Blood test.................................................          250            3         0.083           63
Nasal Lavage...............................................          250            1         0.333           83
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dated: January 8, 1998.
Wilma G. Johnson,
Acting Associate Director for Policy Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 98-856 Filed 1-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P