FAQ: Population and Measure Questions

Because we rely on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which only surveys adults aged ≥18 years, we can only compute estimates for that population.  We cannot produce estimates for persons aged 17 and younger.

Although the social determinants of health are very important factors, the aim of the 500 Cities project is to estimate prevalence of behavioral risk factors, health outcomes, and preventive services.

Such exposures are not explicitly modeled, however, much of their affects are statistically captured in the modeling by the inclusion of county- and state-level random effects.

The initial release of 500 Cities will not include any stratifications by race/ethnicity.  However, to the extent that populations within census tracts tend to be relatively homogeneous, geographic disparities by census tract may be somewhat reflective of racial/ethnic disparities.