Surveillance

CDC-Sponsored Surveys

  • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)  World’s largest telephone survey that tracks health behaviors, chronic diseases, and preventive health practices among non-institutionalized adults in the United States. It collects data on current drinking; the number of drinking days; average number of drinks per occasion; maximum number of drinks consumed per drinking occasion; and frequency of binge drinking.
  • Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)  Monitors six categories of priority health-risk behaviors among high school youth at the national, state, and local levels. This biennial survey specifically collects data on age at first drink of alcohol, frequency of drinking, frequency of binge drinking, drinking on school property, and drinking associated with other behaviors, such as driving and sexual activity.
  • National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Multi-purpose health survey that monitors the health of the non-institutionalized adults and children in the United States. This survey collects information on a broad range of health topics, including current alcohol use and binge drinking among adults.
  • National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Collects health and nutrition data through interviews and health examinations of the civilian, non-institutionalized U.S. population. The survey specifically collects information on age of first drink, lifetime alcohol use, current alcohol use, and binge drinking.
  • Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)  Survey collects state-specific, population-based data on maternal attitudes and experiences among women two to six months after having a live birth. This survey collects information on alcohol consumption before, during, and shortly after pregnancy.

Other National Surveys

  • National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)  Survey that gathers information on mental health and substance abuse, from non-institutionalized persons aged 12 years and older. Collects data on the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, as well as symptoms of substance use disorders.
  • Monitoring the Future Survey  Ongoing and long-term system that collects data on the behaviors, attitudes, and values regarding substance use of American adolescents, college students, and adults. Each year a total of approximately 50,000 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade are surveyed about substance use, including alcohol consumption, and a subset are sent follow-up questionnaires through age 45 years.
  • Alcohol Epidemiologic Data Directory  List of national and special population surveys and data sets available for epidemiologic analysis of alcohol consumption.
  • National Alcohol Surveys  A series of surveys with highly comparable, cross-sectional US adult data collected every 5 years that explores relationships between drinking patterns and highly specific problems, as well as risk and protective factors such as drug taking, disability, poverty, resilience and access to services.