Abstract
Background/Aims There has been a marked increase in obesity prevalence in the US and around the world over the last twenty years. The causes of the rise in obesity involve many interrelated environmental and socioeconomic factors. Because interventions to address the obesity epidemic often occur at the community level, better surveillance data are needed to monitor obesity within communities. The only available community-level BMI data are from self-reports, provided by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
Methods We have piloted a system for the collection of BMI data from multiple healthcare providers in Colorado (Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver Health, Children’s Hospital Colorado and High Plains Community Health Center). BMI information, objectively measured during routine care and collected in Electronic Medical Records (EMR), is combined with geocoded residence address and other demographic variables. These data, combined in a manner to protect confidentiality, is then linked with built and social environment data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and public data sources collected by the University of Colorado Denver (UCD). The surveillance system utilizes the HMORN Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW) data framework, including the VDW vitals and enrollment tables.
Results The BMI database will be available through a regional data sharing network, moving data from participating sites to a central data coordinating center (CDPHE) and to UCD for mapping and analysis. The network will enable users to both share data and perform queries within a single software environment. We intend to use the data model to track patients’ BMI over time and by county, census tract and block group geographies, and link BMI data with built and social environment data. We also intend to generate maps of BMI by census tract and block group and overlay built and social environment data to explore correlations between BMI and environmental factors.
Conclusions Using the underlying framework of the VDW, we have created a multi-site regional data sharing network in Colorado for tracking individual patient-level BMI data, overlaid with built and social environment information.
