Survey Description
The Kaiser Permanente Member Health Survey is currently mailed to independent stratified random samples of approximately 42,000-44,000 adult members aged 20 and over in Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region (primarily covering the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley) starting in the Spring of a survey year. Respondents may also complete the survey online at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research's secure website or by phone administration, upon request.
Topics: The confidential survey covers the following topics:
- socio-demographic characteristics
- health status and health conditions
- health-related behaviors and lifestyle risk factors
- use of selected over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medicines and dietary supplements
- use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
- use of selected preventive services
- access to communication tools: Internet and email access
- preferred methods for receiving health information and education
- quality of life (functional status and living/transportation situation) of members aged 65 and older
Response Rate: The overall response rate for the 2008 survey was 41 percent. As with other similar surveys, survey response rates have been declining over time (55% in 1993, 45% in 2005 and 41% in 2008). In contrast, the response rate among those aged 65 and over consistently hovers around 70%. Similar to other population health surveys, respondents are assigned weighting factors based on the age, gender, and geographic composition of the adult membership for that survey year to enable estimation of the characteristics of the adult population. As of summer 2008, the respondent database contained information about 107,000 adults.
Powerful Data Links: The Kaiser Permanente Member Health Survey results are especially powerful because self-reported information from respondents can be linked to Kaiser Permanente administrative and clinical information on health and health care use to learn more about member health and health care utilization. To protect confidentiality, we use a unique identifier and do not release information to anyone outside of Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in a way that can be used to identify respondents.
Reports: Based on the survey results, we produce reports describing the demographic and health-related characteristics of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region adult membership and the adult memberships in each of our 19 medical center service populations and major subregions. In addition, we use data from single or multiple survey years to produce reports on topics of special interest.