The survey is an annual survey of 10,000 randomly selected adult New Yorkers. It is conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The survey helps the Health Department:
The survey gives the Health Department a better idea of the extent to which diseases and risk factors occur at the neighborhood, borough and city levels.
Respondents are randomly selected from a list of all available addresses in all five boroughs.
If you were selected to be part of the survey and agree to participate, you will play a big role in representing your neighborhood, borough and New York City as a whole. Your participation is voluntary and all your answers will be confidential.
Abt Global (formerly Abt Associates), a national research organization, is currently collecting the survey data for the Health Department.
This survey asks you questions about your health and health practices. Your participation is voluntary. You can skip any question or stop the survey at any time. Your confidential answers help the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health Department) understand and address the health care needs of New Yorkers. After you take the survey, you will be sent a Visa gift card.
If you would like to take the survey on paper or over the phone, you can call 833-574-3096 Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 PM, or Saturday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., and provide the ID listed on the letter you received.
The survey is also available in Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. Use the dropdown at the top of this page for information about the survey in these languages.
Many of the questions are about personal health. Although some people may find that some answers are difficult to share, we have no other way of knowing if a problem exists without asking about it.
The survey asks questions on many different topics to guide programs that promote the health and well-being of communities in NYC. For example, there are questions on measuring unmet mental health needs, and on incidences of asthma, hypertension and diabetes that will be used to develop programs. The information we collect on cancer screenings and health insurance coverage helps the NYC Health Department plan campaigns and services.
We ask for the adult (age 18 or older) in your household with the next birthday to take the survey. This way of choosing people randomly helps make sure the survey results reflect all New Yorkers. We are asking for only one adult per household to take the survey. If someone else in your household already completed this survey, thank you but only that person should take the survey.
Your address was randomly chosen from among all residential addresses in NYC. If your address or apartment/unit number is not the one listed on the letter you received, please call 646-490-2091 to report the issue.
You can visit nyc.gov/health/nycsurveys for more information about the survey. If you have any questions about this survey, you can contact our contracted vendor, Abt Global (formerly Abt Associates), at 646-490-2091 or nycchs@abtassoc.com. To make sure the survey is official, you can call the NYC Health Department at 347-396-2805.
Your information is handled in a secure manner. If you do not want to take the survey, it will not affect any benefits you or your family get from any government agency. We do not ask about your citizenship or legal status.
The survey has also been reviewed and approved by the NYC Health Department’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), which protects the rights of survey participants. To contact the IRB, call 347-396-6118.
The survey will take about 25 minutes to complete.
After you take the survey, you will be sent an electronic Visa gift card to the email address you give us within one or two business days. If you prefer, you can give us your mailing address, and Abt Global will send you a Visa gift card in the mail within two to four weeks.
Abt Global, the research organization contracted to collect the survey data for the NYC Health Department, processes all mail for the project out of its Cambridge, Massachusetts office.
Study helpline: 833-574-3096
Study email: nycchs@abtassoc.com
Department of Health website: nyc.gov/health/nycsurveys
