Data tells a story, so what does it say about our island community? 

Since the 1950’s, the National Health Interview Survey has been jotting down the nation's health, but Guam’s pages have been left blank. 

Now researchers with the University of Guam’s Guma’ Tinemtom, or House of Wisdom at the School of Health, are on a mission to pen this unwritten chapter. Their ink? 

The Guam National Health Interview Survey. 

“We want to start monitoring our health patterns here in Guam,” said Dr. Paulino. 

She is the dean of UOG’s  Margaret Hattori-Uchima School of health and principal investigator of the project, funded by the national institute on minority health and health disparities, to build research capacity and engage in a research study. 

The modified NHIS survey is part of that two-fold component, tailored for our population. 

“An example would be a gout module that’s not necessarily in the NHIS survey–but something that we have piloted in the past, and we want to continue to expand that survey,” Paulino added. 

Through randomized selection, the questionnaire will capture responses from an adult and child in each household surveyed.  

“There are many different modules in the survey…Everything from maternal child health to chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease,” she added.

But where would this information about our community ultimately go? Dr. Paulino said back to our people through a future Micronesia data lab. 

“To have data available upon request so people can know where they can go,” she said.

Meantime, surveyors with UOG are slated to begin in the villages of Agana Heights and Hagat starting tomorrow. They will be identifiable in officially marked UOG cars and uniforms. The survey aims to capture 50 households spanning several months.