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Some in County to Take Part in Health Study

Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

A computer has picked the houses in Salt Lake County where residents might be asked to participate in the nation's most comprehensive study of health and nutrition status.

Since 1960, much of what we know, as a nation, about health trends in America comes from the ongoing study, called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NHANES told us, for instance, that from 1980 to 1994, the percent of adults with high cholesterol dropped from 26 percent to 19 percent. NHANES data was used to create the standardized chart pediatricians use to track a child's growth. And NHANES provided first evidence that people had too much lead exposure, leading to the phase-out of leaded gasoline. Since then, it has documented the declining levels of lead in blood.

For years, the survey stopped and started. But in 1999 Congress decided too much information was lost when that happened, and it has been a "continuous survey" ever since, the data separated by the calendar year in which it is collected.

Starting Sept. 2, interviewers will be knocking on preselected doors in Salt Lake County to ask a few basic questions. The answers are fed into handheld computers that indicate instantly whether everyone, someone or no one in that house will be selected for the actual study, says study manager Linda Dapper. Participation is voluntary.

It's a scene being played out in 15 randomly selected counties nationwide this year, from a tiny borough in Alaska to the very populous Los Angeles. Each year, about 7,000 residents who make up a cross-section of America are surveyed and examined, the data collected in forms that allow year-to-year and long-term trend comparisons, as well as moment-in-time snapshots, Dapper said.

NHANES has proven an ideal tool to first identify problems and then track whether efforts to solve those problems actually work, said CDC director Julie L. Gerberding in a recent press release. "It truly is a unique resource for health information in this country and without it we wouldn't have data on a number of important health conditions."

Those asked to participate will be interviewed about their health and habits, then asked to go to a mobile center for a complete physical that includes an exam by a physician, a dietary interview, body measurement and dental exam. There is a fitness test where some participants will walk on a treadmill, as well as various tests and procedures depending on age.

Information is being gathered on anemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, environmental exposures, hearing loss, infectious diseases, kidney disease, mental health and cognitive functioning, nutrition, obesity, oral health, bone density, fitness, reproductive history and health, respiratory disease, sexually transmitted diseases and vision.

The surveyors typically have little trouble getting people to agree to participate. "The response rate is very high because people understand this is an extremely important study, with important health issues. And people feel strongly about their own health," Dapper says.

While the rest of the country will likely wait about two years to learn what the 2005 study showed, participants will get their own small piece of the giant puzzle, in a simple-to-understand format, within about three months, Dapper says. They can then go over the results with their physician or ask that it become part of their medical record. No actual care is provided as part of the study, but participants will get some cash remuneration for their time.

How involved the interview and the examinations are varies from person to person. Someone who is older or takes many different medications or has a complex health history will take longer than a young child, Dapper says.

The most recent data that has been released is from 2002. Besides placing some emphasis on the health of adolescents, pregnant women and older Americans, the data gathered this year will be used to create profiles of specific ethnic and racial groups' health, as well.

E-mail: lois@desnews.com

Source: Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

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