Abstract
Objectives: Driver’s license records in the United States typically contain age, sex, height, weight, and home address. By combining the body mass index (calculated from the reported height and weight) and address information, researchers can explore and quantify the relationships between obesity and specific environmental features surrounding the place of residence. We report here our experience obtaining those data and the current state of driver’s license data as an epidemiological resource.Methods: The specific state agency responsible for maintaining driver’s license databases was contacted by email, phone, or both methods for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.Results: Fourteen states with a combined population of 89.8 million people indicated they could provide a total of 73.3 million unique driver’s license (and non-driver identification) data records with address, height, weight, gender, and age, representing 82% of the population in these states. Four additional states will provide data with a zip code but not the street address. A total of 52.6 million unique analyzable records from seven states has been acquired and analyzed. Obesity is more prevalent among males and those living in less urbanized areas.Conclusion: Driver’s licenses represent an underused resource for studying the geographic correlates of obesity and other public health issues.
Highlights
Obesity is one of the nation’s most pressing public health issues [1,2] and is a common topic of epidemiological research [3,4,5,6]
Previous studies have combined those data with data from geographic information systems (GIS) to examine obesity’s relationship to various areal population characteristics, including the proximity of various types of businesses, public facilities, and institutions such as restaurants, grocery stores, gyms, hospitals, parks, and
We described our affiliation with the University of Vermont, the data requested, and the plan to explore the relationship between obesity and the physical environment surrounding the place of residence
Summary
Obesity is one of the nation’s most pressing public health issues [1,2] and is a common topic of epidemiological research [3,4,5,6]. Body Mass Index (BMI) is the standard measure used to evaluate obesity and is calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared [7,8]. Current research often relies on data aggregated at the county, zip code, or census tract level to study trends in body mass [9]. How to cite this article Littenberg B, Lubetkin D (March 03, 2016) Availability, Strengths and Limitations of US State Driver’s License Data for Obesity Research. Analyses of aggregated data are unsuitable for detecting very local effects of the environment and limit researchers’ ability to adjust for individual factors that vary within geographic clusters. Addresslevel data on height and weight are not generally available for research
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