TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has launched its new Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) dashboard, which is now available on the KDHE website. This tool provides a user- friendly interface for visualizing and accessing data collected through the BRFSS survey, which has been significant on informing health policy in Kansas since 1990.
The BRFSS survey, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is conducted annually and gathers vital health information from a representative sample of Kansas adults. The newly introduced dashboard enhances the ability to explore this data in a more accessible and interactive format.
Key features of the BRFSS Dashboard include:
•Interactive Data Visualization: Users can select various data categories from a drop-down menu to view specific health metrics across different regions in Kansas. Data are also available for several more populated counties with sufficient data for county-level analysis.
•Visual Cues for Interpretation: The map highlights data with varying shades of blue, indicating the severity or prevalence of health issues.
•Detailed data insights: The dashboard divides data into quartiles, offering a clear visual representation of health trends. This tool helps users quickly identify areas of concern and track changes over time.
•Enhanced accessibility: The dashboard was designed to make it easier for public health professionals, researchers, and community members to access and interpret BRFSS data. The BRFSS survey is crucial for assessing health needs, detecting health problems, planning health programs and tracking changes in health behaviors and diseases. Each year, KDHE aims to complete between 15,000 and 16,000 surveys with randomly selected Kansas adults. KDHE encourages all eligible Kansas to participate in the BRFSS survey and explore the new data dashboard to stay informed about health trends in the state.
For more information, visit https://www.kdhe. ks.gov/1734/Kansas-Behavioral- Risk-Factor-Surveillan? utm_medium=ema il&utm_source=gov delivery
