The Weymouth Health Survey
From 2002-2003 Weymouth hired John Snow Inc. (JSI) to conduct surveys to assess the health status of the town in order to identify unmet health needs and modifiable risk factor that might provide opportunities to improve health. An extensive health questionnaire was mailed to 5,000 households in Weymouth. In addition, a separate survey focusing on behaviors known to contribute to leading causes of death and disability among youth and young adults was conducted among all 3,400 Weymouth public school students in grades six through twelve.
Here are links to the two surveys:
You need not read the entire surveys, but take a look at them to get a feel for the format of a professionally constructed questionnaire and the level of detail.
The data was analyzed and reported to the town by JSI and highlights of their report are summarized below.
Highlights from the Household Survey
- Weymouth has higher rates of high blood pressure than the comparison samples. (33.3 %, Weymouth ; 23.6 % MA; 25.8 % US)
- Adults in low income households have particularly higher rates of high blood pressure than comparison samples (51.4% Weymouth; 33.0% MA; 34.3% US).
- Weymouth has higher rates of high cholesterol than the comparison samples. (39.5 % Weymouth, 29.7 % MA; 30.9 % US).
- Subgroups in Weymouth have notably higher rates of high cholesterol than the same subgroups in the comparison samples; men (43.6 %), those over 65
- (52.6 %) and those from lower income households (51.3 %).
- Weymouth diabetes rates of 8.7 % are significantly higher than Massachusetts (5.6 %) and slightly higher than the US (6.8 %).
- Subgroups in Weymouth have notably higher rates of diabetes than the same subgroups in the comparison samples; men (11.7 %), those from lower income households (17.0 %) and those over 65 (16.8 %).
- Weymouth residents with diabetes were less likely to have had a diabetes-related medical visit within the past 12 months than residents in the comparison samples (87.5 %, Weymouth, 91.5 %, MA and 90.2 %, US).
- Weymouth residents with diabetes are less likely than those in Massachusetts comparison sample to take oral medication (59.1 % vs. 67.0 %); to have taken a diabetes management class (43.8 % vs. 57.7 %), or to use insulin (23.5 % vs. 29.1 %).
- More Weymouth residents report shortness of breath than those nationally (38.8 % vs. 31.5 %).
- More Weymouth residents report being overweight than the comparison sample (63.3 %, Weymouth; vs. 53.3 % US).
- Objective Body Mass Index show that more Weymouth residents are overweight than in the comparison samples (31.2 % obese, Weymouth; 16.6 % obese, MA; 21.6 % obese, US).
- Among Weymouth adults who drink, 14.9 % are considered to be "at risk" for developing drinking problems. This is considerably higher compared to the state and national samples (9.8 % and 8.7 %, respectively).
- Male drinkers were more likely to be "at risk" than in the comparison samples (Weymouth, 19.2 %; MA, 10.6 %; US, 9.9 %).
- Elderly drinkers (adults 65 years or older) in Weymouth more "at risk" compared to state and national samples. (Weymouth, 23.0 %; MA, 12.9 %; US, 12. 5 %).
JSI Summary
Link to JSI Summary of the Weymouth Health Survey
Just read pages 1-4 of the Executive Summary in the JSI report at the link above.
The results of the survey raised concerns among the residents, as reported in the article below from The Boston Globe.
Other Surveys Used to Assess Youth Behaviors
Massachusetts Youth Health Survey (MYHS)
From www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/admin/dmoa/health-survey/myhs/
"The Massachusetts Youth Health Survey (MYHS) is the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's (MDPH) surveillance project to assess the health of youth and young adults in grades 6-12. It is conducted by the MDPH Health Survey Program in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) in randomly selected public middle and high schools in every odd-numbered year. The anonymous survey contains health status questions in addition to questions about risk behaviors and protective factors.
Early in 2006, ESE and DPH began discussions with University of Massachusetts Center for Survey Research (CSR) and the CDC to coordinate the YHS and the ESE's Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) efforts in order to decrease the burden placed on the schools. The two agencies developed revised versions of the YHS and YRBS surveys. Since 2007, CSR has administered both the YHS and YRBS, and joint reports have been released on the findings.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is a national school-based survey that monitors health-risk behaviors contributing to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults
- Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence
- Sexual behaviors related to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection
- Alcohol and other drug use
- Tobacco use
- Unhealthy dietary behaviors
- Inadequate physical activity
YRBSS also measures the prevalence of obesity and asthma and other priority health-related behaviors plus sexual identity and sex of sexual contacts.