title: Features and initial assessment of the Italian Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (PASSI), 2007-2008.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Surveillance systems for health status and behaviors of populations are fundamental for planning, implementing, and monitoring preventive interventions. In 2006, the Italian Ministry of Health provided funding to the National Institute of Public Health to develop an ongoing surveillance system for adult behavioral risk factors. We describe the main features of the system (known as PASSI) and provide a preliminary assessment of its activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  PASSI is conducted by participating local health units, which use a common questionnaire and methods. Each month, local health unit staff conduct telephone interviews of a random sample of resident adults aged 18 to 69 years. Data are transmitted to the national coordinating center, where they are cleaned, managed, and made available for local, regional, and national analysis. Training, data analysis, and communications are centrally supervised, and data quality is routinely monitored.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2007 and 2008, nearly 60,000 interviews were completed. The demographic characteristics of survey participants closely corresponded to census data in the surveyed areas. The response rate was 82%; the refusal rate was 10% or less. Communications activities have been conducted to disseminate the results and encourage their use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PASSI is administered by the public health system with limited human and financial resources. In the first 2 years of activity, the data quality was good, and information collected was useful. The organizational model of PASSI may be of interest to countries that are developing surveillance systems as well as those with systems already in place.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baldissera
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campostrini
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Binkin
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Minardi
authors.forename: Giada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minelli
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrante
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salmaso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D003625:Data Collection; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult