ATT D12 DRH Letter of Support

NSFG 2015-2018 OMB Attachment D12 OMB No. 0920-0314

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

October 7, 2014

Dr. Anjani Chandra, PhD

National Center for Health Statistics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

3311 Toledo Road

Hyattsville, MD 20782

Dear Dr. Chandra:

The Division of Reproductive Health (DRH), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion would like to express strong support for the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). This survey has been invaluable for carrying out our mission of promoting optimal and equitable reproductive health in women and men through surveillance and research that contributes to effective, evidence-based and informed public health practices, programs, and policies.

The NSFG has been a cornerstone for DRH’s work on teen pregnancy prevention. DRH uses the NSFG to monitor national trends in adolescent pregnancy, sexual behavior and contraceptive use. DRH uses this information to identify key areas to target for program and research activities and to work with national and state partners to influence public health prevention programming for the purpose of reducing teen pregnancy.

NSFG data have been instrumental for DRH’s work with teen pregnancy prevention as one of CDC’s Winnable Battles. Winnable Battles are priority areas where it is possible to make a large-scale impact with effective strategies. As part of the Winnable Battle strategy for teen pregnancy prevention, NSFG data have been used repeatedly for DRH’s annual Vital Signs report and have highlighted areas where improvements in contraceptive use, formal sex education and parent communication can make an impact on reducing teen pregnancy. Additionally, DRH recently used NSFG data to estimate the potential impact of increasing the use of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods (LARCs) among teens. This estimate was requested by the Director of the CDC as part of a prevention effectiveness status report – based on estimates generated with NSFG data, it was determined that increasing use of LARCs among teens was one of the highest priority prevention strategies.

In addition to teen pregnancy prevention, NSFG data have been vital for DRH’s work on developing and promoting the evidence base for quality family planning services and methods. This past year the publication Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations of CDC and the U.S. Office of Population Affairs was released as a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. These new recommendations define a core set of family planning services, describe how to provide services, and encourage use of the family planning service delivery platform to provide a broader package of preventive health services for women and men. In conjunction with these recommendations, NSFG data are being used to develop a new surveillance summary to document the need for family planning services in the United States, and to monitor use of key services included in these new recommendations.

NSFG data are also playing a critical role in DRH’s collaborative efforts with the U.S. Office of Population Affairs to develop clinical performance measures for contraceptive services. While these performance measures are based on Medicaid claims data, NSFG data have been essential for refining estimates of the number of women at risk of unintended pregnancy as the target population for contraceptive services. These measures will be submitted to the National Quality Forum for endorsement, and will be used as developmental measures in both the national Title X program and the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services.

In summary, DRH strongly supports the NSFG as a critical source of information about the nation’s reproductive health. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions about the use of NSFG data by DRH at CDC.

Sincerely,

Lee Warner, PhD

Associate Director for Science

Division of Reproductive Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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