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JAMA. 1998;279:649.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 1998;47:5-7

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SOME PUBLIC health policy goals in the United States have been expressed as increases in the number of years of healthy life (YHL) (i.e., quality-adjusted life years), a measure of health that combines the effects of mortality with information about morbidity and disability.¹ Data from national health surveys, in combination with life-table death rates and other information, have been used to calculate national estimates of the expected number of YHL at a given age.^2,3 This report summarizes an analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) using these methods to estimate YHL for state populations during 1993-1995. The findings indicate substantial variability among the participating states.

The BRFSS is a continuous, state-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey of the U.S. adult, noninstitutionalized population that measures the prevalence of health-risk behaviors and preventive health-care practices in the population.^4-6 During 1993-1995, a total of 16 states* . . . [Full Text of this Article]