Health-related quality of life and activity limitation--eight states, 1995.

Since January 1993, CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) has included four general questions concerning health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The results of these HRQOL measures are useful for population health assessment, epidemiologic research, and policy development, but they are less useful for identifying specific public health interventions because they track general deficiencies such as poor health. Since 1995, state health departments have had the option of including in the BRFSS an expanded set of 14 HRQOL questions; these questions ask about specific types of activity limitation and common physical and emotional symptoms. This report summarizes preliminary findings from the eight states (i.e., Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Tennessee) in which these other questions were included in the 1995 BRFSS.