Using surveillance data to monitor the nation's reproductive health

The Title X Program, established in 1970 as part of the Public Health Service Act, provides a range of family planning and related preventive services to improve the overall reproductive health of women and men. By serving low-income individuals, Title X has played a critical role in ensuring greater equality in access to services. To quantify the need for and impact of Title X services, the Office of Population Affairs and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are developing a series of surveillance reports. Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), these reports will document the public health burden the Title X Program attempts to address and the level of services provided. In this presentation we will outline the key health outcomes to be addressed in these surveillance reports (e.g., unintended pregnancy, infertility, HIV/AIDS and other STIs, and conditions related to suboptimal preconception health). In addition, we will discuss relevant risk and protective behaviors (e.g., use of highly effective contraceptive methods, such as IUDs and hormonal implants, for unintended pregnancy prevention, and use of condoms for prevention of unintended pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and other STIs) and the use of relevant services. These reports may serve as a national model for using surveillance data to monitor access to core family planning and related preventive services and can be used to monitor the impact of the expanded access provided by the Affordable Care Act.