Carbon Monoxide Metadata: Detectors

Origin:

Carbon monoxide (CO) detector data are from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Dates Available:

2011-2013, 2015-2016, 2018

Geographic Resolution:

State, Public Health District, County

Abstract:

This data set contains information on Maine adults who live in homes with one or more CO detectors. Data are stratified by geographic location and housing type (i.e. rent, own). Detector prevalence data are derived from the BRFSS survey of Maine residents.

The dataset contains the following measure:

  • Percent of Maine adults living in a home with one or more CO detectors.

Purpose:

This data set supports efforts to improve public health in Maine and contributes to the U.S. CDC’s National Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Network. A key activity of participants in this network is to track and make available environmental health measures on state and national data portals. Measures derived from the data set described here can be used to compare CO detector prevalence across the state, over time, and in relation to health outcomes.

The Maine Tracking Network, a member of the National EPHT Network, connects communities, public health professionals, policy makers, state agencies, and others to the data they need to monitor public health, respond to health concerns, prioritize resources for public health action, and evaluate prevention activities. Maine tracks certain health effects, exposures, and environmental hazards that have known relationships, as well as some health effects and environmental hazards that have suspected relationships. By making health and environmental data available through the Maine Tracking Network, more people have access to data they need to think critically and hypothesize about health outcomes and their relationships to conditions in the environment.

Supplemental Information:

Maine tracks ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths due to CO poisoning, as well as the prevalence of Maine adults living in homes with one or more CO detectors. Taken together, these measures are used to plan and evaluate prevention efforts and track the impact of public health policy aimed at preventing CO poisoning.

The BRFSS is conducted nationally and in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. In Maine, more than 4,000 adults are interviewed each year. Data are derived from responses to the following question: "A carbon monoxide detector or CO detector checks the level of carbon monoxide in your home. It is not a smoke detector. Do you have a carbon monoxide detector in your home?"

Entity and Attribute Overview:

This dataset contains the following fields: year, geographic resolution, measure, housing status, percent and 95% confidence intervals.

Data Limitations:

 

  • Maine adults who are institutionalized, do not have a phone, or cannot communicate over the phone are not interviewed by the survey.
  • Data are based upon self-report, and individuals may or may not be able to report accurately that they have a CO detector in the home.
  • While the prevalence data are statistically weighted to be more representative of the general adult population of Maine and to adjust for non-response, statistical weighting methods are not always perfect in accomplishing this goal.

Access Constraints:

Publicly available data are suppressed in accordance with the Maine CDC Privacy Policy to protect confidentiality.

More Information:

  • For specific definitions of terms and concepts see the Glossary.

Suggested Citation for Data Displays:

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental and Occupational Health Programs. Maine Tracking Network. Carbon Monoxide Metadata: Detectors. Available online: https://data.mainepublichealth.gov/tracking/. Accessed on [date accessed].