Surveillance of HIV knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in the general population

This article discusses methods and elements of three major national health survey systems, particularly as they relate to HIV infection and AIDS. The National Health Interview Survey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System provide information about health-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of adults in the United States. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System measure health-related behaviors of American youth. Questions and survey designs differ among the three surveys, but all three surveys utilize probability sampling. The National Health Interview Survey's AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes Supplement is administered to a subsample of approximately 20,000 people annually. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System consists of telephone surveys providing data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an average annual sample size of approximately 2,000 per state. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System samples approximately 12,000 youth for its national school-based survey, 2,000 (average) for each of its state and local school-based surveys, 10,000 for its national household-based survey, and 6,000 (projected) for its national college-based survey. This article is meant to assist researchers, students, health educators, public health officials and others in utilizing survey data bases to address policy, program, research, and evaluation needs. All three surveys can help guide prevention efforts by providing information about the general population and by identifying national, local, or state-wide trends. More detailed studies and targeted studies of specific high-risk populations are also needed in light of the complexity of the determinants of HIV risk behavior.