The 1985 health promotion and disease prevention survey

The National Center for Health Statistics, in collaboration with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and other Federal Agencies, developed a questionnaire on health promotion and disease prevention for the 1985 National Health Interview Survey. The answers to the questionnaire, obtained from a probability sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States, provide trend and baseline data to track progress toward the 1990 national health objectives. The questions concerned topics related to the objectives in the following areas: general health (including nutrition), injury control, high blood pressure, stress, exercise, smoking, alcohol use, oral health, occupational safety and health, and maternal health. Data from that survey have been used by Public Health Service authors to prepare a series of 11 articles. Five are presented in this issue of Public Health Reports; the remaining six will be published in the January-February 1987 issue of Public Health Reports. This paper, which introduces the series, provides a description of the objectives of the study, the survey methods employed, and the availability of public use data tapes.