Assessment of health risk behaviors: A tool to inform consumers, providers, health care organizations, and purchasers

Introduction: Tobacco use, diet and physical activity patterns, and alcohol use are the leading causes of death in the United States. To make major improvements in the health status of the population, behavioral risk factors for disease must be addressed. Methods: We propose a brief survey of behavioral risk factors for enrollees of health care organizations, employer groups, or other adult populations that can be used to profile the health risk behaviors of a population, assess performance of prevention and risk reduction programs, or make comparisons with other populations. The survey contains questions about tobacco, diet, physical activity, alcohol, firearms, motor vehicle safety, sexual behavior, and drugs. Results: Recommendations for survey items, implementation, and calculation of performance measures are given. Conclusions: Widespread adoption of this type of survey would be a major step forward in acknowledging the impact that behavior has on health and in furthering individual and organizational accountability for improving health risk behaviors.