Correlating pharmaceutical data with a national health survey as a proxy for estimating rural population health

Table 1 Correlations of State-level BRFSS to State-level Rx

Disease Question vs. Prescription Matched	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
BRFSS Q: "Has a doctor, nurse, or other health professional ever told you that you have angina or coronary heart disease?" vs. Heart disease prescriptions filled	0.438 ^a	--	0.662 ^a	--	0.613 ^a
N (states)	21	14	20	7	24
BRFSS Q: "Have you ever been told by a doctor, nurse or other health professional that you have high blood pressure?" vs. Heart disease prescriptions filled	0.537 ^a	--	0.635 ^a	--	0.733 ^a
N (50 states plus District of Columbia)	51	6	51	11	51
BRFSS Q: "Have you ever been told by a doctor, nurse or other health professional that you have high blood pressure?" vs. Stroke prescriptions filled	0.406 ^a	--	0.499 ^a	--	0.622 ^a
N (50 states plus District of Columbia)	51	6	51	11	51
BRFSS Q: "Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have diabetes?" vs. Diabetes prescriptions filled	0.588 ^a	0.609 ^a	0.625 ^a	0.695 ^a	0.713 ^a
N (50 states plus District of Columbia)	51	51	51	51	51

^a= Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed test)
-- Data unavailable;
Note: Correlations with populations of less than 30 are unstable and should be viewed with caution

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