CDC officials hope to interview 400 Queens residents
BY LISA L. COLANGELO / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was the city health commissioner in 2004, when New York became the first city in the country to get its own Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES). Frieden took the message directly to the public to help convince New Yorkers to take part in the vital survey.
Some 400 Queens residents will get a chance to be part of a major study that surveys health trends across the country.
Federal officials who coordinate the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) have selected Queens — partly because of its diversity — as one of the 15 counties in the U.S. to tap into this year.
“Each year is a random sample and Queens fell into that sample,” said Dr. Kathryn Porter, senior medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The detailed survey, which will be conducted in Queens during May and June, examines health and lifestyle habits such as nutrition and exercise. Participants undergo physical exams and answer detailed questionnaires.
The study also focuses on whether people are exposed to lead, pesticides and other toxins in their everyday lives. About 5,000 people are interviewed each year.
For the first time, the agency is hoping to interview — or “oversample” — a larger number of Asian Americans to gather enough data and examine trends in that community.
But getting all 400 people who have been randomly selected to participate is a challenge, Porter admitted. She outlined the survey on Tuesday for officials from the Queens Borough President’s office and local community boards to solicit their support.
“We’ve been here before and the survey sort of speaks for itself,” Porter said after the meeting. “Most people feel like it’s their civic duty and we have learned so much.”
As an added incentive, participants will receive a $125 cash bonus for being part of the study as well as reimbursement for travel to the testing site.
People cannot volunteer for the study. Interviewers will contact people in households selected through a statistical process.
Federal health officials have used the HANES survey to track health trends for more than 50 years. It provided the first “clear-cut” evidence to show people who live in the United States had too much lead in their blood, CDC officials said.
In 2004, New York was the first city in the country to get its own HANES study. Current CDC Director Thomas Frieden was the city health commissioner at the time.
Frieden took the message directly to the public to help convince New Yorkers to take part in the vital survey.