A Health Status Comparison of a Statewide Sample and a Sample of University Staff     

Tim Dunnagan, EdD; 
George Haynes, PhD 

Objective: To develop a baseline of health indicators for wellness programming using appropriate analytic techniques. Methods: Questions were adapted from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey and used to compare selected health indicators for Montana residents and Montana State University (MSU) employees. Results: Logistic regression indicated that current cholesterol and mammogram screening efforts are addressing MSU employee needs. With the exception of BMI, MSU employees did not appear to be healthier than Montana residents.Conclusion: Erroneous results can be generated for baseline health status evaluations that use inappropriate group comparison techniques.

Am J Health Behav 1998;22(4):267-275