[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 47 (Friday, March 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14115-14116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05117]



[[Page 14115]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-2021-1061; Docket No. CDC-2021-0023]


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 effort to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a proposed and/or 
continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled Behavioral Risk Factor 
Surveillance System (BRFSS). BRFSS is an annual state-based health 
survey, designed to produce state- or sub-state jurisdiction-level data 
about health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, use of 
preventive services, and emerging health issues.

DATES: CDC must receive written comments on or before May 11, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2021-
0023 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Jeffrey 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 the 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

    Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (OMB Control No. 
0920-1061, Exp. 3/31/2022)--Revision--National Center for Chronic 
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    CDC is requesting OMB approval to revise the information collection 
for the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the 
period of 2022-2024. The BRFSS is a nationwide system of cross-
sectional surveys using random digit dialed (RDD) samples administered 
by health departments in states, territories, and the District of 
Columbia (collectively referred to here as states) in collaboration 
with CDC. Traditionally, subject recruitment and interviews have been 
conducted by telephone. In 2022-2024, the BRFSS will introduce the 
option to allow participants to voluntarily complete online surveys 
after telephone recruitment. The BRFSS produces state-level information 
primarily on health risk behaviors, health conditions, and preventive 
health practices that are associated with chronic diseases, infectious 
diseases, and injury. Designed to meet the data needs of individual 
states and territories, the CDC sponsors the BRFSS information 
collection project under a cooperative agreement with states and 
territories. Under this partnership, BRFSS state coordinators determine 
questionnaire content with technical and methodological assistance 
provided by CDC. For most states and territories, the BRFSS provides 
the only sources of data amenable to state and local level health and 
health risk indicator uses. Over time, it has also developed into an 
important data collection system that federal agencies rely on for 
state and local health information and to track national health 
objectives such as Healthy People.
    CDC bases the BRFSS questionnaire on modular design principles to 
accommodate a variety of state-specific needs within a common 
framework. All participating states are required to administer a 
standardized core questionnaire, which provides a set of shared health 
indicators for all BRFSS partners. The BRFSS core questionnaire 
consists of fixed core, rotating core, and emerging core questions. 
Fixed core questions are asked every year. Rotating core questions 
cycle on and off the core questionnaire in two- or three-year cycles, 
depending on the question. Emerging core questions are included in the 
core questionnaire as needed to collect data on urgent or emerging 
health topics such as infectious disease. In addition, the BRFSS 
includes a series of optional modules on a variety of topics. In off 
years, when the rotating questions are not included in the core 
questionnaire, they are offered to states as optional modules. This 
framework allows each state to produce a customized BRFSS survey by 
appending selected optional modules to the core survey. States may 
select which, if any, optional modules to administer. As needed, CDC 
provides technical and methodological assistance to state BRFSS 
coordinators in the construction of their state-specific surveys. Each 
state administers its BRFSS questionnaire throughout the calendar year.
    CDC periodically updates the BRFSS core survey and optional 
modules. The purpose of this Revision request is to

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add the following topics to the questionnaires: COVID vaccination, 
impact of the COVID pandemic, periodontal disease, additional questions 
on heart attack and stroke, disaster/pandemic preparedness, veterans' 
health and the use of newly available tobacco products. In addition, 
this request seeks approval for reinstating topics which have been 
included in BRFSS in the past, dependent upon state interest and 
funding.
    Participation is voluntary and there is no cost to respondents to 
participate other than their time. The average time burden per response 
will be 22 minutes. The total time burden across all respondents will 
be approximately 287,798 hours.

                                        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)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. General Population.......  Landline                 173,000               1            1/60           2,884
                                 Screener.
                                Cell Phone               694,000               1            1/60          11,567
                                 Screener.
                                Field Test                   900               1            1/60              15
                                 Screener.
Annual Survey Respondents       BRFSS Core               480,000               1           15/60         120,000
 (Adults >18 Years).             Survey by Phone
                                 Interview.
                                BRFSS Optional           440,000               1           15/60         110,000
                                 Modules by
                                 Phone Interview.
                                BRFSS Core               100,000               1           10/60          16,666
                                 Survey by
                                 Online Survey.
                                BRFSS Optional            80,000               1           10/60          13,333
                                 Modules by
                                 Online Survey.
Field Test Respondents (Adults  Field Test                   500               1           45/60          13,333
 >18 Years).                     Survey by Phone
                                 Interview.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............         287,798
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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. 2021-05117 Filed 3-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P