<P> The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a United States health survey that looks at behavioral risk factors . It is run by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and conducted by the individual state health departments . The survey is administered by telephone and is the world's largest such survey . In 2009, the BRFSS began conducting surveys by cellular phone in addition to traditional "landline" telephones . </P> <P> The BRFSS is a cross-sectional telephone survey conducted by state health departments with technical and methodological assistance provided by the CDC . In addition to all 50 states, the BRFSS is also conducted by health departments in The District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands . </P> <P> Individual states can add their own questions to the survey instrument, which consists of a core set of questions on certain topics like car safety, obesity, or exercise . States get funding from the federal government to administer these questionnaires, and they pay for the additional questions themselves . </P> <P> The U.S. federal government can then compare states based on the core questions to allocate funding and focus interventions . The states themselves also use the survey results to focus interventions for the public and to decide what is worth their while to focus on . City, county, tribal, and local governments also rely on BRFSS data for information about their jurisdictions . </P>

Behavioral risk factor surveillance system (brfss) data