The BRFSS in Illinois

Illinois has been successful in developing the Illinois County Behavioral Risk Factor Surveys (ICBRFS). ICBRFS are conducted with a sample of 400 adults in the jurisdictions of all Illinois health departments and employs the BRFSS survey instrument.

ICBRFS is conducted over a three-year period, involving about 12,000 adult respondents each year. Because the surveys are conducted over multiple years and the BRFSS instruments alternate each year, the ICBRFS uses a composite of the national instruments which is stable for the three-year period.

At the same time, 5,000 Illinois BRFSS interviews are completed each year. These interviews employ the BRFSS survey instrument and procedures required by DC. The total sample of adults completing behavioral risk factor surveys in Illinois is about 17,000 each year.

The Illinois Health Survey is an attempt to add breadth and depth to the ICBRFS – expanding the breadth of the adult portion of the survey by adding a focus on mental health and other chronic conditions and expanding the depth by including a youth sample. The changes that the Illinois Health Survey proposes would significantly increase the utility of BRFSS and ICBRFS for Illinois policy makers and health advocates.