Community Health Database

The Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Household Health Survey (HHS) is a telephone survey that gathers information about health status, health behaviors, and access to care among households in the SEPA region: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. The collected data are weighted and analyzed at regional, county and even smaller geographical levels. Data are based on ZIP code or census tract clusters, offering comparable information and opportunity to improve community health, starting with and informed by SEPA area residents.

• Survey Topics
• CHDB Data Tool
• HHS Trend Data from 1991-2019

The CHDB Demographic Product is comprised of over 480 variables covering characteristics of communities, such as population size, education, and, per capita household income; birth outcomes, such as rate of low birth weight and rate of late prenatal care; and death outcomes, such as age-adjusted mortality rate for the leading causes of death. These data are based on the U.S. Census, birth certificates, and death certificates and are available for a range of geographic areas within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including the county level, Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties), census tract, and ZIP code.

Data from the CHDB Demographic Product can be used to provide insight into demographic characteristics, health outcomes, and resources of select communities, at both small and large geographical levels.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey
Public Health Management Corporation. Community Health Database. (Selected Year). Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey [YEAR] [Data file and code book]. Retrieved from http://CHDBDataPortal.phmc.org

Demographic Product*
Public Health Management Corporation. Community Health Database. (Selected Year). Demographic Product [YEAR]: (File name) [Data file]. Retrieved from http://CHDBDataPortal.phmc.org

Below you will find a list of presentations, publications, and abstracts that cite and/or reference the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey. This list is organized by publication date and was last updated May 2021.

CHDB HHS Citations

• Approximately one out of three adults in Southeastern Pennsylvania is obese (Aug. 19, 2020)
• Lack of a high school diploma and poverty increase the risk for vaping among young adults aged 18-34 in Southeastern Pennsylvania (May 20, 2020)
• More than half of Southeastern Pennsylvania smokers attempted to stop smoking in the past year (Nov. 21, 2019)
• Breast cancer screenings in SEPA are on-target with Healthy People 2020, but disparities persist (Oct. 30, 2019)
• The rate of uninsured adults is on the rise in SEPA (Oct. 16, 2019)

 
Use and Misuse of Prescription Pain Medication in Southeastern Pennsylvania

• Adults with a regular source of health care, 2018-2019
• Adults lacking health insurance, 2018-2019
• Adults with diabetes, 2018-2019
• Adults with obesity, 2018-2019
• Philadelphia sugar sweetened beverage consumption, 2018-2019
• Philadelphia sugar sweetened beverage consumption, 2010 - 2015
• Change in Phila sugar sweetened beverage consumption 2010 to 2018
• Change in Phila sugar sweetened beverage consumption 2015 to 2018
• Border Map: Philadelphia Planning Districts
• Border Map: Philadelphia ZIP Regions
• Border Map: Southeastern Pennsylvania ZIP Regions
• Border Map: Southeastern Pennsylvania Counties

Q: What is the Community Health Database?
A: Public Health Management Corporation's (PHMC’s) Community Health Database (CHDB) serves the information needs of health and human service agencies in the Southeastern Pennsylvania region by providing up-to-date and reliable community-level health and social service data. The CHDB was launched in 1983 and its mission is to drive data-led community impact for the well-being of the community.

Q: What are the products of the CHDB?
A: The two primary products of the CHDB are the Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Household Health Survey (HHS) and the CHDB Demographic Product.

The HHS is the largest and most comprehensive health survey of the Southeastern Pennsylvania region. The HHS was first administered in 1983 and has been conducted every two to three years since 1991, the survey focuses on the health status and health care experiences of adults and children living in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.

The 2018-2019 HHS involved extensive landline and cellular telephone interviews conducted from August 2018 through January 2019 with 7,501 households in the 5-county SEPA region, targeting key information about health status, personal health behaviors, as well as access to, utilization of, and quality of area health services.

The CHDB Demographic Product is comprised of indicators that describe the characteristics of communities, such as population size, education, and, per capita household income; and birth and death outcomes. These data are based on the U.S. Census, birth certificates, and death certificates and are available for a range of geographic areas within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including the county level, Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties), census tract, and ZIP code.

Q: Who uses CHDB data and how?
A: CHDB data are used by organizations to evaluate their economic and social return on investment at each state of program development and implementation, including assessing community needs and resources; guiding the development of community health improvement plans and corresponding programs, interventions and policies; as well as targeting and measuring the impact of programs and initiatives.

Q: What health topics are covered by HHS and the Demographic product?
A: Here is the list of topics covered by the HHS, and here is the list of topics covered by the Demographic Product.

Q: When was the HHS first conducted?
A: The survey was first administered in 1983.

Q. How often is HHS data collected?
A: The survey has been conducted every two or three years since 1991.

Q: What was the sample design for the 2018-2019 HHS?
A: The sample for the 2018-2019 HHS was drawn from all households in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties that had a landline telephone and/or a cell phone.

The sample was partially stratified by 54 service areas to ensure that geographic subareas with smaller populations attained a minimum sample. These 54 areas, which combine clusters of ZIP codes, were developed by PHMC using service area information provided by CHDB members. Each of the 54 service areas has over 25,000 adult residents, based upon population estimates derived from 2018 Claritas Pop-Facts Database. The final sample of interviews is representative of the population in each of the five counties in order to generalize results to the populations of these counties.

Q: What are the sample sources from which 2018-2019 HHS respondents were derived?
A: The four sample sources are:

• Dual-frame landline and cellular random digit dial (RDD) sample
• Registration-based sample (RBS)
• Re-contact sample from SSRS-conducted surveys
• Re-contact sample from PHMC’s 2015 SEPA HHS

Q. What was the sample size for the 2018-2019 HHS?
A: The 2018-2019 HHS was conducted through telephone interviews with residents 18 years and older living in 7,501 households across the 5 counties in the SEPA region. Approximately 30% of all interviewees completed interviews by cell phone (n=2,325) and 70% on landlines (n=5,176).

Sample Source	Landline	Cell	Total
Dual-Frame Landline and Cell RDD Sample	1,563	817	2,380
Registration-based Sample	2,707	874	3,581
Re-contact sample from SSRS Surveys	278	382	660
Re-contact from PHMC's 2015 HHS	628	252	880
Total	5,176	2,325	7,501

Q: Who administered the 2018-2019 HHS?
A: PHMC contracted with SSRS, a market and survey research firm experienced in innovative methodologies, optimizing sample designs, and reaching low incidence populations to administer the 2018-2019 HHS. SSRS, located in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania conducts multiple local, regional and national surveys for a range of partners.

Q: How were respondents selected?
A: One adult was interviewed in each household. Within each selected landline household, if there was more than one adult living in the household, the youngest adult male or female at home, based on a random rotation by gender, was selected to participate in the survey. For interviews conducted via cellular phone, no respondent selection was conducted because cellular phones were considered for this survey to be an individual’s phone.

For the child module, the child (i.e., person under age 18) who most recently had a birthday was selected for the survey and a child proxy (the adult in the household most knowledgeable about the child’s health) was asked to complete the child health module about a randomly selected child in the household. In most cases the child proxy was the child’s mother (63%). The majority of the time the child proxy was the same adult who completed the adult survey (92%). In households with adults 60 years of age or older and related children, a child interview was not conducted to reduce survey burden (i.e., combined length of the adult interview and the supplement for those 60+ years too long).

Q: How long was the interview?
A: Each interview with adults 18-59 without children at home took 20 minutes on average to administer, and each interview with adults 18-59 with children at home or interviews with adults aged 60+ took 26 minutes on average to administer.

Q: Was there an incentive?
A: Respondents who completed the interview on their cell phone received $5. Respondents unable to complete interview were called back and offered a $10 incentive to complete the partial interviews.

Q. What was the response rate for the 2018-2019 HHS?
A: Response rates were calculated using the American Association for Public Opinion Research standard definitions, specifically AAPOR RR3. Overall response rates were 7.8% for cell phones and 6.3% for landlines. Response rates vary by sample source from 2% among the RDD landline sample to 37.9% among landlines in the re-contact sample from SSRS surveys.

Sample Source	Landline	Cell
Dual-frame landline and cell RDD cample	2.0%	3.3%
Registration-based sample	2.1%	3.1%
Re-contact sample from SSRS surveys	37.9%	20.8%
Re-contact from PHMC's 2015 HHS	19.3%	20.4%

 

If you have additional questions about the Household Health Survey, please contact the Research & Evaluation Group at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..