[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 204 (Thursday, October 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56654-56655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28304]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[INFO-99-01]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. 
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a 
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports 
Clearance Officer on (404) 639-7090.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques for other 
forms of information technology. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC 
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24, 
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 days 
of this notice.

1. Proposed Project

    The State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS)--
(0920-0406)-Revision--The National Center for Health Statistics, (NCHS) 
is planning to expand from the short term pilot study phase to a long 
term integrated and coordinated survey system designed to collect 
needed health and welfare data at the state and local levels. Using the 
random-digit-dialing sampling frame from the ongoing National 
Immunization Survey (NIS) and Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing 
(CATI), the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) 
can quickly collect and produce data to monitor health status, child 
and family well-being, health care utilization, access to care, program 
participation, and changes in health care coverage at the state and 
local levels. These efforts are conducted in cooperation with state and 
local officials. SLAITS offers a centrally administered data collection 
mechanism with standardized questionnaires and quality control measures 
which allow comparability of estimates between states, over time, and 
with national data. As demonstrated in the pilot study phase, SLAITS is 
designed to allow for oversampling of population subdomains and to meet 
federal, state and local needs for subnational estimates which are 
compatible with national data.
    Questionnaire content is drawn from existing surveys such as the 
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the National Health and 
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the Current Population Survey 
(CPS), the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), the 
National Household Education Survey, and the National Survey of 
America's Families, as well as the three questionnaire modules that 
were developed for SLAITS during the pilot study phase. These modules 
include Health, Child Well-Being and Welfare, and Children's Health 
Insurance and Health Care Utilization.
    The strategy of building on established survey systems provides 
several advantages. It is less costly than establishing a new system; 
the proposed questions have been thoroughly tested; and implementation 
can occur rapidly. Basing SLAITS on questions from the NHIS, CPS, and 
other national in-person surveys will allow for comparisons with 
national data. In addition, the quality of the estimates developed from 
the telephone survey can be improved with adjustments for households 
without telephones using health and socio-demographic information from 
telephone and non telephone households from the NHIS and other in-
person surveys.
    Funding for SLAITS is being sought through a variety of mechanisms 
including Foundation grants, State collaborations, and federal 
appropriation and evaluation monies. The level of implementation will 
depend on the amount of funding received and can be expanded as funding 
permits. Questionnaire modules will be compiled to address the data 
needs of interest to the federal, state or

[[Page 56655]]

local funding agency or organization. The total cost to respondents is 
estimated at $463,500.

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                                                                     Number of    Average burden/
                   Respondents                       Number of      responses/     response  in    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondents        hrs.)         (in hrs.)
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Noninstitutionalized household population in 50
 States and D.C.................................         102,000               1            0.30          30,600
Pretest modules.................................             900               1            0.30             300
      Total.....................................  ..............  ..............  ..............          30,900
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    2. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)--
(0920-0237)--Revision--The National Center for Health Statistics 
(NCHS). The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 
has been conducted periodically since 1970 by NCHS. NHANES will begin 
again in February 1999 and will be conducted on a continuous, rather 
than periodic, basis from that point on. The plan is to sample about 
5,000 persons annually. They will receive an interview and a physical 
examination. A dress rehearsal of 555 sample persons is needed to test 
computer-assisted personal interviews (including translations into 
Spanish), examination protocols, automated computer systems and quality 
control procedures. Participation in the dress rehearsal and main 
survey will be completely voluntary and confidential.
    NHANES programs produce descriptive statistics which measure the 
health and nutrition status of the general population. Through the use 
of questionnaires, physical examinations, and laboratory tests, NHANES 
studies the relationship between diet, nutrition and health in a 
representative sample of the United States. NHANES monitors the 
prevalence of chronic conditions and risk factors related to health 
such as coronary heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, pulmonary and 
infectious diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, 
obesity, smoking, drug and alcohol use, environmental exposures, and 
diet. NHANES data are used to establish the norms for the general 
population against which health care providers can compare such patient 
characteristics as height, weight, and nutrient levels in the blood. 
Data from NHANES can be compared to those from previous surveys to 
monitor changes in the health of the U.S. population. NHANES will also 
establish a national probability sample of genetic material for future 
genetic research for susceptibility to disease.
    Users of NHANES data include Congress; the World Health 
Organization; Federal agencies such as NIH, EPA, and USDA; private 
groups such as the American Heart Association; schools of public 
health; private businesses; individual practitioners; and 
administrators. NHANES data are used to establish, monitor, and 
evaluate recommended dietary allowances, food fortification policies, 
programs to limit environmental exposures, immunization guidelines and 
health education and disease prevention programs. Approval was received 
on 5/29/98 for only a pilot test of the revised survey--without the 
genetic research component. This submission requests three year 
approval for the dress rehearsal and the full survey, including all 
components.
    The survey description, contents, and uses are the same as those in 
the Federal Register notice for the pilot test. The total cost to 
respondents for the period covered by this notice is estimated at 
$1,889,440.

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                                                                     Number of    Average burden/
                 Burden category                     Number of      responses/      response (in   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent         hrs.)          (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Screening interview only.....................          40,401               1           0.167           6,747
2. Screener and household interviews only.......           2,130               1           0.434             924
2. Screener, household, and SP interviews only..           3,198               1           1.100           3,518
3. Screener, household, and SP interviews and
 primary MEC exam only..........................          15,771               1           6.613         104,294
4. Screener, household, and SP interviews,
 primary MEC exam and full MEC replicate exam...             789               1          11.613           9,163
5. Screener, household, and SP interviews, MEC
 exam and dietary replicate interview only (5% +
 optional 15%)..................................           3,156               1           8.363          26,394
6. Home exam....................................             213               1           2.700             575
7. Telephone follow-up of elderly -option.......           3,501               1           0.750           2,626
      Total.....................................  ..............  ..............  ..............         154,240
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    Dated: October 15, 1998.
Charles W. Gollmar,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 98-28304 Filed 10-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P