Courtesy National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
A CDC mobile exam center (Photo courtesy National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
If you’re a Richmond resident contacted by someone who says they’re with the government and they want you to participate in a survey, complete some free medical testing and health and nutrition assessments, and get compensated for some of your time and expenses, it’s not necessarily too good to be true.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has selected the city as one of 15 sites where it will conduct the survey, an annual look at the state of the nation’s health. The survey is slated to begin in Richmond Sept. 5.
The community selection process is random. About 6,000 people are expected to participate nationwide, and the program projects that about 610 Richmond residents will be identified, interviewed and examined, according to spokesman Sherwin Bates. The goal is a participation rate of 75%.
You can’t just show up: Participation is by invitation only, with candidates also selected at random. Those who agree are first given a health interview at their homes. The interview may include questions regarding your diet and health as well as demographics and socioeconomic status.
A health examination that includes a series of measurements and tests will be completed in a mobile examination center. Bates says via email that the exam’s scope may go beyond a regular doctor visit or checkup. It may include a dental exam and laboratory tests. You won’t receive medical care, just an exam.
Participants are given preliminary results as they leave, with a full health and nutrition evaluation report mailed to them three months later. It’s free and confidential. The services are valued at up to $4,000. There’s also a stipend that goes with participation, up to $125.
The time investment is minimal for the interviews, about 30 minutes to gather information on a child’s health, or 60 to 80 minutes for an adult. About four hours are allotted for the exams in the mobile clinic.
Areas of focus of the study include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, environmental exposures, infectious diseases, kidney diseases, physical activity and physical functioning, sexual and reproductive activity and history, oral health, nutrition, and obesity.
Findings are used to help set the basis of national standards such as those for blood pressure, weight and height. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics is responsible for the survey. The data gathered are reported as part of national averages in various studies. The survey has been conducted since the 1960s and is designed to provide an assessment of the health and nutritional status of United States residents.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says in a release that the survey “presents a valuable opportunity for Richmonders to learn something about their own health status, and to contribute to one of the most important sources of data we have to [assess] the health of our state and nation.”
