[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 235 (Friday, December 6, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66906-66908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26374]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-20-1208; Docket No. CDC-2019-0108]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a proposed and/
or continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction

[[Page 66907]]

Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on Developmental Projects to 
Improve the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 
Related Programs. This generic clearance request covers projects that 
will help evaluate and improve upon issues such as survey design and 
operations, as well as examine the feasibility and challenges that may 
arise with developing future content for the National Health and 
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (OMB# 0920-0950, expires November 
30, 2021) or similar studies.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before February 4, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2019-
0108 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulation.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection Review 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. CDC will post, without change, all relevant comments 
to Regulations.gov.
    Please note: Submit all comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
portal (Regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to the address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information Collection 
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 
Road NE, MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    The OMB is particularly interested in comments that will help:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. 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 
submissions of responses.
    5. Assess information collection costs.

Proposed Project

    Developmental Projects to Improve the National Health and Nutrition 
Examination Survey and Related Programs, (OMB Control No. 0920-1208 
Exp. Date 12/31/2020)--Revision--National Center for Health Statistics 
(NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Section 306 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 
242k), as amended, authorizes that the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS), acting through NCHS, shall collect statistics on the 
extent and nature of illness and disability; environmental, social and 
other health hazards; and determinants of health of the population of 
the United States. The Division of Health and Nutrition Examination 
Surveys (DHNES) has conducted national surveys and related projects 
periodically between 1970 and 1994, and continuously since 1999. The 
mission of DHNES programs is to produce descriptive statistics which 
measure the health and nutrition status of the general population. The 
continuous operation of DHNES programs presents unique challenges in 
testing new survey content and activities, such as outreach or 
participant screening etc.
    This generic request covers developmental projects to help evaluate 
and enhance DHNES existing and proposed data collection activities to 
increase research capacity and improve data quality. The information 
collected through this Generic Information Collection Request will not 
be used to make generalizable statements about the population of 
interest or to inform public policy. However, methodological findings 
from these projects may be reported.
    The purpose and use of projects under this NHANES generic clearance 
would include developmental projects necessary for activities such as; 
testing new procedures, equipment, technology and approaches that are 
going to be folded into NHANES or other NCHS programs; designing and 
testing examination components or survey questions; creating new 
studies including biomonitoring and clinical measures; creating new 
cohorts, including a pregnancy and/or a birth--24 month cohort; testing 
of the cognitive and interpretive aspects of survey methodology; 
feasibility testing of proposed new components or modifications to 
existing components; testing of human-computer interfaces/usability; 
assessing the acceptability of proposed NHANES components among likely 
participants; testing alternative approaches to existing NHANES 
procedures, including activities related to improving nonresponse; 
testing the use of or variations/adjustments in incentives; testing 
content of web based surveys; testing the feasibility of obtaining 
bodily fluid specimens (blood, urine, semen, saliva, breastmilk) and 
tissue sample (swabs); testing digital imaging technology and related 
procedures (e.g., retinal scan, liver ultrasound, Dual-energy X-ray 
absorptiometry (DEXA), prescription and over-the-counter dietary 
supplements bottles); testing the feasibility of and procedure/
processes for accessing participant's medical records from healthcare 
settings (e.g., hospitals and physician offices); testing the 
feasibility and protocols for home examination measurements; testing 
survey materials and procedures to improve response rates, including 
changes to advance materials and protocols, changes to the incentive 
structure, introduction of new and timely outreach and awareness 
procedures including the use of social media; conducting crossover 
studies; creating and testing digital survey materials; and conducting 
customer satisfaction assessments.
    The types of participants covered by the NHANES generic may include 
current or past NHANES participants; family or household members of 
NHANES participants; individuals eligible to be participants in NHANES, 
but who did not screen into the actual survey; convenience samples; 
volunteers; subject matter experts or

[[Page 66908]]

consultants such as survey methodologist, academic researchers, 
clinicians or other health care providers; NHANES data or website 
users; members of the general public or individuals abroad who would be 
part of a collaborative development project or projects between NCHS 
and related public health agencies in the U.S. and/or abroad. The type 
of participant involved in a given developmental project would be 
determined by the nature of the project. The details of each project 
will be included in the specific GenIC submissions.
    There is no cost to respondents other than their time. A three-year 
clearance is requested. The estimated annualized burden hours for this 
generic data collection is 59,465.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondents           Form name        Number of     responses per   per  response   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)      (in hours)
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Individuals or Households.....  Developmental             35,000               1             1.5          52,500
                                 Projects &
                                 Focus Group
                                 documents.
Volunteers....................  Developmental                300               1             1.5             450
                                 Projects &
                                 Focus Group
                                 documents.
Individuals or households,      24-hour                      200               1              25           5,000
 Volunteers, NHANES              developmental
 Participants.                   projects.
NHANES participants...........  Developmental              1,000               1             1.5           1,500
                                 Projects.
Subject Matter Experts........  Focus Group/                  15               1               1              15
                                 Developmental
                                 Project
                                 Documents.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............          59,465
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Jeffrey M. Zirger,
Lead, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2019-26374 Filed 12-5-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P