PILOT CROSS-SECTIONAL TELEPHONE SURVEY TEST MAINLY BASED ON THE U.S. BRFSS’S PROTOCOL CONDUCTED IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: CHALLENGES OF THE SURVEILLANCE QUALITY

The Republic of Moldova is a country with the health system in transition having a rate of 85% among all registered deaths in the country caused by non-communicable diseases. In this context it is important to note that a behavioral risk factors surveillance system (BRFSS) is not a current part of the information system in the Republic of Moldova. The goal of the study was to find out the challenges of quality performance of behavioral risk factors by telephone survey in the Republic of Moldova in order to contribute to the formation and implementation of a new and ongoing surveillance system based on the U.S. BRFSS standards. The research is a pilot, cross-sectional behavioral risk factor telephone survey test conducted in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. The methodology is mainly based on the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) protocol. There was applied systematic random sampling (similar to Random digit dialing). The study population considered were adults aged 18-69 years (n =800). As a tool of data collection, there was a questionnaire adapted to the component of behavioral risk factors assessment using a standardized BRFSS questionnaire for interviewing on the phone. The measures of Surveillance Quality Assessment were calculated according to the Summary Data Quality Report of BRFSS (CDC, U.S.A.): rates of resolution, completion, cooperation, refusal and response were based on categorized groups. The results of the study establisheda Low Resolution Rate (37.5%) caused by a high level of collected calling data that were unknown or eligible. Consequently, the high level of unresolved cases led to a Low Response Rate (35.6%).Moldova does not want to make costly mistakes but, instead, wants to learn from the implemented system designs of other countries. Therefore, the initiation of a Delphi study will be helpful to gather international expert opinion on different policy issues concerning the management of a behavioral risk factors surveillance system. The consensus opinion of experts will provide a credible model for a new implementation system in the Republic of Moldova.