Are PRAMS data available to researchers?

Yes. Researchers may request data for studies that involve multiple jurisdictions by submitting a proposal to CDC. The submission process is outlined below.

Proposal submissions must include

  1. PRAMS Application Form pdf icon[PDF – 354 KB]
  2. Project Abstract of 350 words or less.
  3. Signed Data Sharing Agreement pdf icon[PDF – 34KB] (including signatures of all authors).
  • Proposal reviews are conducted once a month, on the 1st of the month.  Proposals received after the 1st will be reviewed on the first day of the following month.
  • Submission should be a single pdf document including: the application form, abstract, and data sharing agreement.  Incomplete submissions will be returned without review.
  • Submissions should be sent to PRAMSProposals@cdc.gov. File name should be the Principal Researcher’s last name (i.e. Smith_proposal).
  • Researchers will receive an e-mail regarding the approval/disapproval status of their proposal 2-3 weeks after the 1st of the month.  Approved proposals will be forwarded to the PRAMS sites for review.
  • Datasets for approved proposals are sent out approximately 6 weeks after the date of initial review.
Variables in the PRAMS Analytic Research File

The PRAMS Analytic Research File contains a standard set of variables. There are five categories of the variables provided:

  1. Birth Certificate Variables: Selected variables from the birth certificate file are included in the data set; information on maternal and infant demographics are primarily from this source.
  2. Operational Variables: These variables come from the data collection process (e.g., mode the questionnaire was answered by mail or phone).
  3. Weighting Variables: These variables account for the PRAMS survey design and the statistical weighting of the data. These variables are needed to analyze PRAMS data using complex sample software.
  4. Questionnaire Variables: This is the information collected from the PRAMS survey.
  5. Analytic Variables: These are precalculated variables that combine different variables in the data set, often those that are restricted (e.g., body mass index [BMI] created by combining variables on maternal weight and height).

Birth Certificate/Operational/Weighting Variable Codebook

PRAMS Core Questionnaire Codebooks

Questionnaires Available

The PRAMS questionnaire is revised periodically. With each revision or new phase of the questionnaire, some of the questions change. Although most indicators can be compared across phases, it is often easiest to analyze data within a single phase. The years of available data covered by the different phases are listed below:

Phase 8 (2016-2020)
Phase 7 (2012–2015)
Phase 6 (2009–2011)
Phase 5 (2004–2008)
Phase 4 (2000–2003)
Phase 3 (1996–1999)
Phase 2 (1990–1995)
Phase 1 (1988–1989) Pilot Phase

The PRAMS questionnaire has three parts: a core that all sites use; a bank of standardized optional questions that sites may select from; and site-developed questions that are usually used only by the site that developed them.

The following documents may be useful:

Years of Data Available

PRAMS currently has a minimum overall response rate threshold policy for the release of data for each year. This threshold has changed over the years as follows:

  • 2006 and earlier: 70%
  • 2007-2011: 65%
  • 2012-2014: 60%
  • 2015-2017: 55%
  • 2018-2020: 50%

For any given year, the majority of, but not all sites meet the threshold. For this reason, the number of sites with data available may vary from year to year. By requesting “All sites with data available” on the application form, CDC will include the appropriate data from sites that met the response rate threshold for the year, in approved data sets. For more information, see Data Availability by Site and Year excel icon[XLS – 31 KB] (standard version) :

Data Availability by Site and Year excel icon[XLS – 30 KB] (508-compliant version, accessible to people with disabilities)

2020 Site-Specific Response Rate Table
2019 Response Rate Table
Site Sample Size Respondents Unweighted Percent Responding Weighted Percent Responding
Alabama 1171 647 55.3 55.2
Alaska 1944 1028 52.9 54.4
Arizona 1494 794 53.1 53.0
Arkansas 1724 925 53.7 58.3
Colorado 1666 1051 63.1 63.3
Connecticut 2250 1365 60.7 63.2
Delaware 1608 854 53.1 53.7
District of Columbia 991 556 56.1 58.6
Florida 2030 1101 54.2 55.6
Georgia 1272 692 54.4 53.1
Hawaii 2151 1227 57.0 62.3
Illinois 1994 1205 60.4 61.1
**Indiana** 1870 973 42.4 49.2
Iowa 1731 720 41.6 50.5
Kansas 1772 1174 66.3 65.8
Kentucky 1579 910 57.6 60.4
Louisiana 1237 698 56.4 57.3
Maine 1625 894 55.0 55.2
Maryland 2128 1004 47.2 49.5
Massachusetts 2492 1400 56.2 59.6
Michigan 2538 1394 54.9 59.2
Minnesota 1674 627 37.5 54.2
Mississippi 1643 1012 61.6 60.4
Missouri 1690 962 56.9 57.1
Montana 1587 711 44.8 53.1
Nebraska 2523 1489 59.0 66.0
**Nevada** 1399 651 46.5 43.2
New Hampshire 1283 647 50.4 51.9
New Jersey 1715 1110 64.7 64.8
New Mexico 1656 1041 62.9 61.7
**New York** 1482 703 47.4 49.5
New York City 2065 1214 58.8 61.3
North Dakota 1491 779 52.2 60.5
**North Carolina** 1809 785 43.4 44.7
**Oklahoma** 2769 996 36.0 40.1
Oregon 2653 1677 63.2 64.2
Pennsylvania 2118 1219 57.6 60.3
**Rhode Island** 2042 982 48.1 47.4
**South Carolina** 1244 512 41.2 43.2
South Dakota 1678 976 58.2 66.8
Tennessee 1152 628 54.5 55.5
**Texas** 2385 944 39.6 39.1
Utah 2328 1418 60.9 66.9
Vermont 1274 815 64.0 66.1
Virginia 1778 944 53.1 57.6
Washington 2068 1239 59.9 64.4
West Virginia 1175 598 50.9 50.4
Wisconsin 3339 1692 50.7 64.1
Wyoming 956 465 48.6 51.4
Puerto Rico 1075 874 81.3 81.3
**
Does not meet 50% response rate criteria.
Maryland’s weighted response rate is 49.53% and rounds to 50%.
New York’s weighted response rate is 49.45% and rounds to 49%.
Publication of PRAMS Analytic Results from Approved Proposals

Researchers should carefully review the terms of the data sharing agreement before submitting abstracts or manuscripts using PRAMS data for publication. In particular, please note

  • Abstracts and manuscripts must be sent to CDC for distribution to PRAMS sites for review at least 4 weeks prior to submission to conferences or journals.
  • Publications using PRAMS data should include an acknowledgement of the PRAMS Working Group.

For more information about the request/proposal process, please send an inquiry to PRAMSProposals@cdc.gov.

PRAMS Working Group

See listing of PRAMS Working Group