Data Description

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a surveillance system designed to monitor maternal attitudes and behaviors before, during, and after pregnancy. Conducted in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Texas PRAMS is a population-based assessment that monitors the health and behaviors of new mothers in Texas. Of the 3,544 mothers sampled in 2018, 1,588 completed a survey representing a weighted response rate of 44%. Women who are selected for PRAMS are contacted through the mail when their infants are approximately 60 to 180 days old. They receive a letter that introduces the PRAMS survey and encourages their participation. They are notified that they will be contacted through follow-up mailings that will include a copy of the PRAMS survey. Women who do not respond receive two subsequent mailings. Women who do not return the survey through the mail are moved into the telephone phase of data collection. Women are called and encouraged to complete the survey over the phone. During all communications, they are informed that their participation is voluntary, and that their data will remain confidential and anonymous. The survey is available in English or Spanish. Women who complete the survey (via mail or telephone) receive a $20 gift certificate to Target or Walmart. This data collection cycle is repeated each month during the birth year, and approximately 300 women per month were selected for the 2018 survey.

Measure Information

Percentages reported in the summary are weighted to ensure that results are representative of women who have given birth in 2018 to a live infant and are residents of Texas. The 1,588 women who completed the survey are representative of all 372,031 Texas residents who had a live birth in 2018. The sampling specifications for Texas PRAMS are designed for estimating percentages at a 95% confidence level. A 95% confidence interval is an interval, or range of values, that has a 95% probability of containing the true population percentage that is being estimated. The 95% confidence interval provides information about the margin of error of an estimate. Consistent with CDC standards for reporting PRAMS survey results, we recommend that all percents (PCTs) be reported with corresponding 95% lower confidence limits (LCLs) and upper confidence limits (UCLs)..

Additional Information

The Texas PRAMS Questionnaire, the annually published PRAMS Databook, and other reports are available on the PRAMS webpage.