Current Release Notes
New Release Live as of December 2022!
In the 2022 release, 25 of the estimates are based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2020 data and 4 (high blood pressure, taking high blood pressure medication, high cholesterol, and cholesterol screening) are based on 2019 BRFSS data.
December 9, 2022
During our release process, errors were found in estimates for the prevalence of core preventive services use among older adult men and older adult women. If you accessed or downloaded data for these two measures between November 18 to December 7, 2022, on the Data Portal or between November 8 to December 2, 2022, on ArcGIS Online, please update your data to the latest update from December 7, 2022.
For county-level estimation, Census 2020 county population estimates, and American Community Survey (ACS) 2016–2020 data were used. For place-, Census tract-, and ZCTA- level estimation, because corresponding Census 2020 population data are not available, Census 2010 population counts, geographic boundaries, and ACS 2015–2019 data were used.
Changes to geographic units may result in missing data compared to the previous release.
2020 BRFSS Data
The BRFSS 2020 colorectal cancer screening questions changed to include five test types (FIT, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, FIT-DNA, and CT colonography) compared to three types (FIT, sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy) included previously. As a result, the definitions changed for the measures of the use of colorectal cancer screening and core preventive services in older adult men and older adult women. Estimates of people getting colorectal cancer screening are higher than previous years. For more information, visit: Use of Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests | CDC.
Please consider differences in data collection [PDF – 168KB] and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic when comparing 2020 BRFSS estimates with other years.
2019 BRFSS Data
Estimates for New Jersey are not available for measures based on BRFSS 2019. Therefore, estimates for the four measures based on 2019 BRFSS data (high blood pressure, taking high blood pressure medication, high cholesterol, and cholesterol screening) are not available in the 2022 release.
Notes from previous releases
2021 release: Estimates for New Jersey are not available for measures based on BRFSS 2019. The state did not collect enough BRFSS data to meet the minimum requirements for inclusion in the 2019 annual aggregate data set. However, the seven measures only available in BRFSS 2018 will be carried over for New Jersey.
2020 release: Estimates of cholesterol screening for 2017 have been revised for all geographic levels. Because of changes in the BRFSS questions related to cholesterol screening, revised estimates are generally higher than estimates previously released. Updated estimates can be downloaded from the data portal or the ArcGIS Online service
You may access the 500 Cities Project from 2016 to 2019. Visit About PLACES for more information on the project. Also, our Help Page offers instructional videos, answers to FAQs, contact information, and more.