[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 165 (Thursday, August 25, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58511-58512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-20333]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-16-0997]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has submitted 
the following information collection request to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The notice for the proposed 
information collection is published to obtain comments from the public 
and affected agencies.
    Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected 
agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are 
encouraged. Your comments should address any of the following: (a) 
Evaluate whether the

[[Page 58512]]

proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy of 
the agencies estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; (d) Minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses; and (e) Assess 
information collection costs.
    To request additional information on the proposed project or to 
obtain a copy of the information collection plan and instruments, call 
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Written comments and/or 
suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice should be 
directed to the Attention: CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and 
Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written 
comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Standardized National Hypothesis Generating Questionnaire (OMB 
Control No. 0920-0997, expires 10/31/2016)--Revision--National Center 
for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    It is estimated that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans gets sick, 
128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. CDC and 
partners ensure rapid and coordinated surveillance, detection, and 
response to multistate outbreaks, to limit the number of illnesses, and 
to learn how to prevent similar outbreaks from happening in the future.
    Conducting interviews during the initial hypothesis-generating 
phase of multistate foodborne disease outbreaks presents numerous 
challenges. In the U.S. there is not a standard, national form or data 
collection system for illnesses caused by many enteric pathogens. Data 
elements for hypothesis generation must be developed and agreed upon 
for each investigation. This process can take several days to weeks and 
may cause interviews to occur long after a person becomes ill.
    Using the Standardized National Hypothesis-Generating Questionnaire 
(SNHGQ), CDC requests OMB approval to collect standardized information 
from individuals who have become ill during a multistate foodborne 
disease event. Since the questionnaire is designed to be administered 
by public health officials as part of multistate hypothesis-generating 
interview activities, this questionnaire is not expected to entail 
significant burden to respondents.
    The Standardized National Hypothesis-Generating Core Elements 
Project was established with the goal to define a core set of data 
elements to be used for hypothesis generation during multistate 
foodborne investigations. These elements represent the minimum set of 
information that should be available for all outbreak-associated cases 
identified during hypothesis generation. The core elements would ensure 
that similar exposures would be ascertained across many jurisdictions, 
allowing for rapid pooling of data to improve the timeliness of 
hypothesis-generating analyses and shorten the time to pinpoint how and 
where contamination events occur.
    The SNHGQ was designed as a data collection tool for the core 
elements, to be used when a multistate cluster of enteric disease 
infections is identified. The questionnaire is designed to be 
administered over the phone by public health officials to collect core 
elements data from case-patients or their proxies. Both the content of 
the questionnaire (the core elements) and the format were developed 
through a series of working groups comprised of local, state, and 
federal public health partners.
    Many of the updates to the SNHGQ were made to better align with the 
questions from other existing questionnaires. Changes include: Exposure 
sections rearranged to improve interview flow, addition of antibiotic 
exposures and descriptive clinical questions, aligning demographic 
questions to conform with other OMB-approved questionnaires, addition 
of new exposure questions of interest, deletion of exposure questions 
that do not need to be assessed, and re-wording of existing questions 
to better align with other OMB-approved questionnaires and to improve 
question comprehension.
    The total estimated annualized burden for the Standardized National 
Generating Questionnaire is 3,000 hours (approximately 4,000 
individuals identified during the hypothesis-generating phase of 
outbreak investigations x 45 minutes/response). There are no costs to 
respondents other than their time.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                   Number of     Average  burden
        Type of  respondents                 Form name            Number of      responses per     per response
                                                                 respondents       respondent       (in hours)
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Individuals.........................  Standardized National             4,000                1            45/60
                                       Hypothesis Generating
                                       Questionnaire (Core
                                       Elements).
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Leroy A. Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the 
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2016-20333 Filed 8-24-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P