Are PRAMS data available to researchers?

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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 – 332 KB]
  2. Project Abstract of 350 words or less.
  3. Signed Data Sharing Agreement [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.
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PRAMS 2021 Data Available

For more information visit:
Data Availability by Jurisdiction and Year

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

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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 (2016-2021)
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:

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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%
  • 2018-2021: 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 [XLS – 29 KB] (standard version) :

Data Availability by Site and Year [XLS – 29 KB] (508-compliant version, accessible to people with disabilities)

2021 Site-Specific Response Rate Table
2019 Response Rate Table
Site Sample Size Respondents Unweighted Percent Responding Weighted Percent Responding
Alabama 1406 697 49.6 49.7
**Alaska** 1916 913 47.7 48.7
**Arizona** 1853 782 42.2 42.3
Arkansas 1722 842 48.9 52.9
Colorado 2132 1261 59.1 60.2
Connecticut 2355 1328 56.4 58.9
Delaware 1617 834 51.6 52.1
District of Columbia 954 500 52.4 54.6
**Florida** 2108 882 41.8 42.7
Georgia 1546 785 50.8 50.1
Hawaii 2548 1349 52.9 56.4
Illinois 1975 1119 56.7 56.4
**Indiana** 1920 732 38.1 45.1
**Iowa** 1528 657 43.0 44.4
Kansas 1790 1136 63.5 63.4
**Kentucky** 1558 670 43.0 45.5
Louisiana 1172 670 57.2 56.8
Maine 1578 790 50.1 50.0
**Maryland** 2160 898 41.6 44.1
Massachusetts 2501 1321 52.8 57.0
Michigan 2566 1374 53.5 57.0
Minnesota 1687 634 37.6 52.1
Mississippi 1652 886 53.6 54.4
Missouri 1671 832 49.8 50.1
Montana 2231 1169 52.4 55.1
Nebraska 2312 1226 53.0 59.4
**Nevada** 1363 499 36.6 33.6
**New Hampshire** 1362 592 43.5 42.5
New Jersey 1706 942 55.2 56.3
New Mexico 1712 1064 62.1 62.2
New York City 2182 1263 57.9 59.2
New York State 1540 868 56.4 56.8
North Dakota 1146 586 51.1 54.1
Oklahoma 2794 1460 52.3 53.0
Oregon 3501 1878 53.6 56.8
Pennsylvania 1722 934 54.2 56.1
**Rhode Island** 1951 881 45.2 45.7
**South Carolina** 1268 386 30.4 32.4
South Dakota 1716 1026 59.8 65.9
Tennessee 1162 633 54.5 54.8
**Texas** 2401 839 34.9 34.8
Utah 2394 1259 52.6 58.3
Vermont 1553 960 61.8 62.9
Virginia 1866 939 50.3 49.8
Washington 2068 1147 55.5 60.6
West Virginia 1216 604 49.7 51.0
Wisconsin 1775 764 43.0 55.8
Wyoming 946 448 47.4 54.2
Puerto Rico 1220 965 79.1 80.5
**
Does not meet 50% response rate criteria.
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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.

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PRAMS Working Group

See listing of PRAMS Working Group

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