Outcomes of Population Surveillance Data Collection Pilots and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System: What Happens in Texas

Declining response rates and rising costs have prompted the search for alternatives to traditional random-digit dialing (RDD) interviews. In 2021, three Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) pilots were conducted in Texas: data collection using an RDD short message service (RDD SMS) text-messaging push-to-web pilot, an address-based push-to-web pilot, and an internet panel pilot. We used data from the three pilots and from the concurrent Texas BRFSS Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI). We compared unweighted data from these four sources to demographic information from the American Community Survey (ACS) for Texas, comparing respondents' health information across the protocols as well as cost and response rates. Non-Hispanic White adults and college graduates disproportionately responded in all survey protocols. Comparing costs across protocols was difficult due to the differences in methods and overhead, but some cost comparisons could be made. The cost per complete for BRFSS/CATI ranged from $75 to $100, compared with costs per complete for address-based sampling ($31 to $39), RDD SMS ($12 to $20), and internet panel (approximately $25). There were notable differences among survey protocols and the ACS in age, race/ethnicity, education, and marital status. We found minimal differences in respondents' answers to heart disease-related questions; however, responses to flu vaccination questions differed by protocol. Comparable responses were encouraging. Properly weighted web-based data collection may help use data collected by new protocols as a supplement to future BRFSS efforts.