How was the California Health
Interview Survey (CHIS) team able to release early data for the first time
in the survey’s history? An article
published yesterday by the American Journal of Public Health looks at how CHIS was
able to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic by releasing timely data on how
Californians navigated the pandemic’s conditions and challenges. As a large,
well-established statewide population survey, CHIS researchers released early data
from the 2020 survey through the CHIS
COVID-19 Preliminary COVID-19 Estimates Dashboard beginning in September
2020. These included questions in a COVID-19 module that began in May 2020. The
team finalized the module in April 2020 and included indicators on COVID-19
concerns, testing, and diagnoses, as well as financial and social impacts of
the pandemic and personal acceptance of the vaccine.
Decades of
survey collection, the survey’s redesign in 2019 to dual-mode administration by
web or telephone and stakeholder engagement were the main contributing factors
as to how CHIS successfully adapted to the pandemic and produced timely data
related to Californians’ response to the pandemic.
“As the
pandemic glaringly exposed inequities across sociodemographic groups in health
access and outcomes across the state and nationwide, our goal was to provide
timely, equity-focused data in a more rapid processing timeframe to meet the
demand for insights needed during this unprecedented time,” said Ninez
A. Ponce, PhD, MPP, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research director and CHIS
principal investigator.
With the
support of CHIS’ data partner, SSRS, and questions from COVID-19 surveys conducted
by agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
researchers were able to report preliminary monthly estimates from methods that
typically support annual data metrics. Authors note that challenges did occur
in that samples may not have been representative of certain geographic areas or
demographic groups due to response rates within certain areas or groups,
inability to compare data on a month-to-month basis, and statistical
instability of some of the data estimates.
Overall, CHIS
successfully demonstrated the possibility of releasing data from the annual
survey in rapid time and the ability to respond to a crisis by providing
crucial, actionable data to various stakeholders, such as policymakers, program
managers, community health workers, and the general public, to help identify
residents most impacted by the pandemic. Beginning July 2021, CHIS began
releasing preliminary COVID-19 data from the 2021 survey.
“By looking at
various factors in risk-reduction behaviors, vaccine views, and personal and
financial impacts, CHIS will continue to help tell the story of how
Californians navigated their way through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Todd Hughes, CHIS director.