Behavioral risk factors among U.S. Air Force active-duty personnel, 1995.

Preventive medicine and public health policymakers need data to assess health-promotion efforts, track progress toward meeting national health goals, and focus interventions. To collect such data for U.S. Air Force (USAF) personnel, USAF's Office for Prevention and Health Services Assessment conducted a pilot project to measure the prevalence of behavioral risk factors and preventive health practices. Core questions were used from CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Minor changes were made to selected questions from the 1995 survey instrument. This report summarizes the results of the survey, which indicate that USAF personnel met several of the national health objectives. In addition, the report documents that a surveillance system designed to assess health behaviors and practices among the general population can be successfully adapted for a survey of a special population.