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BACKGROUND: Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) is an epidemiologic technique designed to provide quick, inexpensive, accurate, and reliable household-based public health information about a community’s needs. The modified cluster sampling methodology used for CASPERs involves a 2-stage cluster sampling procedure. The first stage includes a sample of 30 clusters with probability proportional to the estimated number of housing units. In the second stage, seven households are systematically selected for interview in each of the 30 clusters. The Health Studies Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments in conducting CASPERs during a disaster response and in non-emergency settings.
METHODS: Through an assessment of CDC’s CASPER metadatabase, all CASPERs that involved CDC support performed in US states and territories during 2003–2012 were analyzed to describe uses, results and public health actions.
RESULTS: Fifty-three CASPERs were conducted in 13 states and one US territory. The number of CASPERs conducted with CDC assistance increased, from two in 2003 to 16 in 2012. All CASPERS used US Census data to select the sample. Census data were accessed either through the US Census webpage (18 [33.9%]) or geographic information system software (35 [66.1%]). Among the 53 CASPERs, 37 (69.8%) were conducted in response to community-based needs after specific natural or human-induced disasters, including 14 (37.8%) for hurricanes. The remaining 16 (30.1%) CASPERS were conducted in non-disaster settings to assess household preparedness levels or potential effects of a proposed plan, policy, or program. For the majority of CASPERs (29 [54.7%]), the preliminary findings were shared with stakeholders in a meeting at the end of the assessment or a written summary highlighting the major findings and recommendations. The most common recommendations resulting from a disaster-related CASPER were to educate the community on available resources (27 [72.9%]) and provide services 18 (48.6%) (e.g., debris removal, medications). Recommendations from the preparedness CASPERs included educating the community in disaster preparedness 5 (31.2%) and revising preparedness plans 5 (31.2%). Twenty-five (47.1%) CASPERs documented public health actions taken based on the result.
CONCLUSIONS: The numbers of CASPERs conducted with CDC assistance have increased and diversified over the past decade. Public health decision makers used CASPER results to support public health action. Overall, these findings demonstrate that CASPER can be used to collect household-level disaster preparedness data and generate information during a response to support public health action.