[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 43 (Friday, March 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11583-11585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5132]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-00-25]


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, the Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention is providing opportunity for public comment on proposed data 
collection 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.

Proposed Project

    1. Evaluation of ATSDR Activities Among Priority Populations--New--
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is 
mandated pursuant to the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response 
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its 1986 Amendments, The 
Superfund Amendments and Re-authorization Act (SARA), to prevent or 
mitigate adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life 
resulting from the exposure to hazardous substances into the 
environment.
    As the agency responsible for determining the nature and extent of 
health problems at Superfund sites, ATSDR staff conduct public health 
assessments, health consultations and studies that serve as the basis 
for intervention strategies. ATSDR staff develop and disseminate to the 
public scientific and technical reports on the health effects of 
hazardous substances. Additionally, ATSDR staff collaborate with other 
governmental agencies, external partners and organizations to create 
and implement health services, educational and preventive programs.
    To date, however, ATSDR has not conducted agency-wide quantitative 
research to evaluate the effectiveness of its services, products and 
programs. ATSDR staff is seeking information from its priority 
populations to determine their awareness of, access to and utilization 
of ATSDR products, programs and services. ATSDR staff will also 
evaluate whether priority populations derived health benefits from 
interventions.
    ATSDR's priority populations include individuals, health care 
providers, health department officials and members of community 
organizations who live within two miles of National Priority Sites. 
Randomly stratified samples of individuals in these priority 
populations will be selected and asked to answer a questionnaire on two 
separate occasions within the three-year project. The questionnaire 
will be designed to use Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) 
so that respondent burden can be reduced.
    ATSDR will use the data from this study to evaluate and improve the 
effectiveness of health promotion and intervention activities in 
communities. This will translate into more effective organizational 
decisions on resource utilization, improved performance, and assessment 
of the future direction of the agency. There is no cost to the 
respondents.

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                                                   No. of           No. of      Avg. burden per    Total annual
                 Respondents                  respondents per   responses per     response (in      burden (in
                                                    year          respondent         hrs.)            hrs.)
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Individuals in priority populations.........           6,667                1              .33            2,200
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    2. Emergency Epidemic Investigations-(0920-0010)--Renewal--
(Epidemiology Program Office, EPO)--One of the objectives of CDC's 
epidemic services is to provide for the prevention and control of 
epidemics and protect the population from public health crises such as 
man made or natural biological disasters and chemical emergencies. This 
is carried out, in part, by training investigators, maintaining 
laboratory capabilities for identifying potential problems, collecting 
and analyzing data, and recommending appropriate actions to protect the 
public's health. When state, local, or foreign health authorities 
request help in controlling an epidemic or solving other health 
problems, CDC dispatches skilled epidemiologists from the Epidemic 
Intelligence Service (EIS) to investigate and resolve the problem. 
Resolving public health problems rapidly ensures costs effective health 
care and enhances health promotion and disease prevention. Annually, 
the EIS Program coordinates 400 Epidemic Assistance Investigations 
(Epi-Aids) and state-based field investigations. Epidemics are 
prevented and controlled by mobilizing and deploying CDC staff, 
primarily EIS officers to respond rapidly to disease outbreaks and 
disaster situations. At the request of public

[[Page 11584]]

health officials--at the state, national, or international level-CDC 
provides assistance by participating in epidemiologic field 
investigations. The purpose of the Emergency Epidemic Investigation 
surveillance is to collect data on the conditions surrounding and 
preceding the onset of a problem. The data must be collected in a 
timely fashion so that information can be used to develop prevention 
and control techniques, to interrupt disease transmission and to help 
identify the cause of an outbreak. Since the events necessitating the 
collections of information are of an emergency nature, most data 
collection is done by direct interview or written questionnaire and are 
one-time efforts related to a specific outbreak or circumstance. If 
during the emergency investigation, the need for further study is 
recognized, a project is designed and separate OMB clearance is 
required. Interviews are conducted to be as unobtrusive as possible and 
only the minimal information necessary is collected. The Emergency 
Epidemic Investigations is the principal source of data on outbreaks of 
infectious and noninfectious diseases, injuries, nutrition, 
environmental health and occupational problems.
    Each investigation does contribute to the general knowledge about a 
particular type of problem or emergency, so that data collections are 
designed taking into account similar situations in the past. Some 
questionnaire have been standardized, such as investigations of 
outbreaks aboard aircraft or cruise vessels.
    The Emergency Epidemic Investigations provides a range of data on 
the characteristics of outbreaks and those affected by them. Data 
collected include demographic characteristics, exposure to the 
causative agent(s), transmission patterns and severity of the outbreak 
on the affected population. These data, together with trend data, may 
be used to monitor the effects of change in the health care system, 
planning of health services, improving the availability of medical 
services and assessing the health status of the population.
    Users of the Emergency Epidemic Investigations data include, but 
are not limited to EIS Officers in investigating the patterns of 
disease or injury, investigating the level of risky behaviors, 
identifying the causative agent and identifying the transmission of the 
condition and the impact of interventions.
    It is difficult to predict the number of epidemic investigations 
which might occur in any given year. The previous three years' 
experience shows an annualized burden of 2,304 hours and respondent 
total of 10,150. Therefore, the request is for an estimated annual 
burden of 3,000 hours. This represents an estimated 12,000 respondents 
annually at 15/60 hours per response. There are no costs to respondents 
other than time.

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                                                                  Number of     Avg. burden per
                 Respondents                     Number of        responses/      response (in     Total Burden
                                                respondents       respondent         hrs.)          (in hrs.)
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Total Respondents...........................          12,000                1            15/60            3,000
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    3. 2nd Injury Control and Risk Survey (ICARIS2)--New--The National 
Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)--This project will use 
data from a telephone survey to measure injury-related risk factors and 
guide injury prevention and control priorities, including those 
identified as priorities in Healthy People 2010 objectives for the 
nation. Injuries are a major cause of premature death and disability 
with associated economic costs over 150 billion dollars in lifetime 
costs for persons injured each year. Healthy People 2010 objectives and 
the recent report from the Institute of Medicine, Reducing the Burden 
of Injury, call for reducing this toll. In addition to national 
efforts, NCIPC funds injury control programs at the state and local 
levels. These programs need data both to establish their prevention 
priorities and monitor their performance. The use of outcome data 
(e.g., fatal injuries) for measuring program effectiveness is 
problematic because cause-specific events are relatively rare and 
because data on critical risk factors (e.g., was a helmet worn in a 
fatal bike crash, was a smoke detector present at a fatal fire?) are 
often missing. Because these risk factors are early in the causal chain 
of injury, they are what injury control programs target to prevent 
injuries. Accordingly, monitoring the level of injury risk factors in a 
population can help programs set priorities and evaluate interventions.
    The first Injury Control and Risk Survey (ICARIS), conducted in 
1994, was a random digit dial telephone survey that collected injury 
risk factor and demographic data on 5,238 English- and Spanish-speaking 
adults (18 yrs-old) in the United States. Proxy data were 
collected on 3,541 children 15 years old. More than a dozen peer-
reviewed scientific reports have been published from the ICARIS data, 
on subjects including dog bites, bicycle helmet use, residential smoke 
detector usage and fire escape practices, attitudes towards violence, 
suicidal ideation and behavior, and compliance with pediatric injury 
prevention counseling. Five years have elapsed since ICARIS, and a 
repeat survey is needed for monitoring the injury risk factor status of 
the nation at the start of the millennium. Further, by using data 
collected in ICARIS as a baseline, ICARIS2 can measure changes and 
gauge the impact of injury prevention policies. ICARIS2 may also serve 
as the only readily available source of data to measure several of the 
Healthy People 2010 injury prevention objectives. Total cost to 
respondent $0.

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                                                                      No. of        Avg. burden
                   Respondents                        No. of        responses/     per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent       (in hrs.)       (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adults  18 y/o.......................          10,000               1             .50           5,000
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           5,000
 
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    4. 2001 National Health Interview Survey, Basic Module (0920-
0214)--Revision--The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)--The 
annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a basic source of 
general

[[Page 11585]]

statistics on the health of the U.S. population. Due to the integration 
of health surveys in the Department of Health and Human Services, the 
NHIS also has become the sampling frame and first stage of data 
collection for other major surveys, including the Medical Expenditure 
Panel Survey, the National Survey of Family Growth, and the National 
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. By linking to the NHIS, the 
analysis potential of these surveys increases. The NHIS has long been 
used by government, university, and private researchers to evaluate 
both general health and specific issues, such as cancer, AIDS, and 
childhood immunizations. Journalists use its data to inform the general 
public. It will continue to be a leading source of data for the 
Congressionally-mandated ``Health US'' and related publications, as 
well as the single most important source of statistics to track 
progress toward the National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 
Objectives, ``Healthy People 2000.''
    Because of survey integration and changes in the health and health 
care of the U.S. population, demands on the NHIS have changed and 
increased, leading to a major redesign of the annual core 
questionnaire, or Basic Module, and a redesign of the data collection 
system from paper questionnaires to computer assisted personal 
interviews (CAPI). Those redesigned elements were partially implemented 
in 1996 and fully implemented in 1997 and are expected to be in the 
field until 2006. This clearance is for the fifth full year of data 
collection using the Basic Module on CAPI, and for implementation of 
the second ``Periodic Module'', which include additional detail 
questions on conditions, access to care, disabilities, and health care 
utilization. The ``Periodic Module'' will repeat a similar survey 
conducted in 1992, and will help track many of the Health People 2010 
objectives. This data collection, planned for January-December 2001, 
will result in publication of new national estimates of health 
statistics, release of public use micro data files, and a sampling 
frame for other integrated surveys. The total cost to respondents is 
estimated at $70,860 for the whole survey.

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                                                                      No. of
                   Respondents                        No. of        responses/      Avg. burden    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent     per response      (in hrs.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family..........................................          42,000               1            0.35          14,700
Sample adult....................................          42,000               1            0.70          29,400
Sample child....................................          18,000               1            0.25           4,500
 
    Total.......................................  ..............  ..............  ..............          48,600
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    Dated: February 28, 2000.
Charles Gollmar,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning, and Evaluation Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 00-5132 Filed 3-2-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P