This policy brief compares three CHIS survey cycles –- 2001, 2003 and 2005 –- to examine key indicators of children’s health in California. The results present both positive changes and worrisome trends on topics such as children’s health outcomes, access to services, early learning opportunities and insurance status. Researchers found a slight decrease in the prevalence of overweight children, an increase in the number of children receiving dental care and attending preschool. However low-income children benefitted less from these positive developments and were more vulnerable to negative trends. The policy brief found that two-thirds of children without health insurance are from low-income families. Low-income children utilize community clinics for primary care at three times the rate of higher income children. And the proportion of children enrolled in private health insurance is shrinking – while the reliance on public programs is growing. Although positive progress is noted, the report’s authors note that negative trends suggest the need for a renewed commitment to children’s health on such issues as: expanding early childhood education, increasing access to health care, investing in community clinics and promoting health food choices and physical activity.

This policy brief presents findings on the linkages between intimate partner violence (IPV), emotional health and substance use among adults ages 18-65 in California. Among the 3.5 million Californians who have ever been victimized by IPV as adults, over half a millionreport serious psychological distress (SPD) in the past year. Almost half of all adult IPV victims indicate that their partner was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs during the most recent incident. Two-fifths of adult IPV victims report past-year binge drinking and 7% report daily or weekly binge drinking. One in three IPV victims expressed a need for mental health, alcohol or other drug (AOD) services and almost one-fourth used mental health or AOD services during the past year. These disturbing findings can aid strategies to identify, intervene with and assist IPV victims who experience emotional and/or substance use problems.

Despite the steady decline of smoking rates in California, over 200,000 children under age 12 live in homes where smoking is allowed, and another 742,000 live with an adult or adolescent smoker. Significant differences in children’s exposure to tobacco smoke and risk of exposure are found by race/ethnicity, geographic regions within the state and by poverty level. African-American children were found to have a significantly higher rate of exposure than other racial and ethnic groups, while children in the Northern/ Sierra and San Joaquin Valley regions were at the highest risk of exposure to secondhand smoke. Children living in lower-income households were also at higher risk. These findings can aid strategies to decrease children’s exposure to tobacco smoke in the home through targeted public health messages and outreach to those enrolled in public programs.

This policy brief, based on data from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2005), presents a comprehensive overview of mental health status and service use in California, and highlights differences by age, gender, race/ethnicity, income and insurance status. The authors find that nearly one in five adults in California, about 4.9 million persons, said they needed help for a mental or emotional health problem. Approximately one in 25, or over one million Californians, reported symptoms associated with serious psychological distress (SPD).1 Of those adults with either perceived need or SPD, only one in three reported visiting a mental health professional for treatment.

Mental health status was also closely linked to income and was pervasive regardless of race/ethnicity. Although mental health services can be effective, there were significant barriers to access to care, including fear of stigma as well as lack of insurance.

OBJECTIVES: We examined potential nonresponse bias in a large-scale, population-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey in California and its association with the response rate. METHODS: We used California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data and US Census data and linked the two data sets at the census tract level. We compared a broad range of neighborhood characteristics of respondents and nonrespondents to CHIS. We projected individual-level nonresponse bias using the neighborhood characteristics. RESULTS: We found little to no substantial difference in neighborhood characteristics between respondents and nonrespondents. The response propensity of the CHIS sample was similarly distributed across these characteristics. The projected nonresponse bias appeared very small. CONCLUSIONS: The response rate in CHIS did not result in significant nonresponse bias and did not substantially affect the level of data representativeness, and it is not valid to focus on response rates alone in determining the quality of survey data.

This policy brief looks at awareness and utilization of the Human Papillomavirus vaccine among girls age 13 years and older as well as among young women. Interest in receiving the vaccine, as well reasons for not getting the vaccine, is also explored for teen girls, young women and the parents of age-eligible daughters. Using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, the authors find that one-quarter of California adolescent girls have started the series of shots that protect against HPV, a virus strongly linked to cervical cancer. Additionally, a majority of teen girls, parents and young women in California say they would like to have the vaccine. The research represents the first data on HPV vaccine use and acceptability published for any state. This policy brief was funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Nearly 1 in 6 adults in California, about 3.7 million persons, report experiencing physical intimate partner violence (IPV) as adults, according to the authors of this policy brief. Using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, the authors found that over one million Californians were forced to have sex by an intimate partner during adulthood and17.2% of adults-—nearly four million Californians-—report being a victim of physical and/or sexual IPV as an adult. The brief also looks at patterns of reported IPV during adulthood by race ethnicity as well as gender and sexual orientation.

Half a million uninsured adults in California who need mental health treatment could gain access to those services through health care reform, according to this Center study. 

In addition to providing new or improved health insurance coverage to as many as 4.6 million Californians, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 will also implement the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, the publication notes. 

Mental health services will be part of the essential benefits package, which is a set of health care services that must be covered by certain plans. These include insurance policies that will be offered through Medi-Cal and the California Health Benefit Exchange. 

An estimated 1.6 million California adults reported symptoms that were consistent with severe psychological distress and experienced difficulty with their day-to-day functioning, according to the Center's 2009 California Health Interview Survey. About a third of those adults — or half a million — were uninsured all or part of the year.