The 2021 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) has been released on HHDW.org and HawaiiHealthMatters.org! This year on HHDW.org, you’ll notice that Substance Use has been broken out into its own category, including subcategories on Alcohol, Prescription Medication, Tobacco Use, and a new subcategory for Marijuana Use. Subcategories with new indicators were also created for Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence and Nutrition- Food Insecurity. Additional new indicators were made in the topic areas of Caregiving, Arthritis, Kidney Disease, Cancer, Prostate Cancer Screening, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination, and Tobacco Use. A full list of additions is available in the Data Release Notes. Come check out the latest data on the health and well-being of adults in Hawaiʻi!
Here are some highlights from the 2021 data:
- Men were significantly more likely to report smoking marijuana on at least 20 of the past 30 days than women (6.8% vs. 3.9%). In 2020 and 2021 combined, American Indians/Alaska Natives reported the highest rate of frequent marijuana use (13.4%).
- Among people who saw a healthcare professional, significantly fewer were asked about tobacco use in 2021 (37.2%) than in 2019 (54.9%).
- Almost 1 in 4 (24.2%) people ages 18-49 years report having received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. This is a significant increase over 2018 (16.1%) and 2016 (12.0%).
- Almost 14% of people responded that they didn’t have enough money to buy balanced meals. This is a significant decrease from 2018 (22.7%).
- Almost 1 in 10 (9.8%) of people have ever been diagnosed with any type of cancer. Among these, approximately 1 in 15 (6.1%) participated in a clinical trial.
