Survey Design
The Basics survey is a baseline instrument that asks basic demographic questions, including questions about a participant’s work and home. The survey includes a total of 73 items (44 main items and 29 related follow-ups) sourced from well-established studies including National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES), the United States Census, the National Health Interview (NHIS) survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and the UK Biobank among others.
Scoring Considerations for the Basics Survey
Because the Basics survey is composed of items from various sources and is mainly categorical in nature, it can not be scored as a whole. In addition, the survey does not include any source-derived scales that can be scored individually.
Sample Eligibility
The survey is considered a “baseline” program activity and is available to all All of Us participants following completion of the program consent. Participants are required to complete the Basics survey before they are invited to participate in other program activities including additional surveys or collection of specimens and physical measurements. For more information about survey samples and releases, please see Introduction to All of Us Survey Collection and Date Transformation Methods.
Data Model & Privacy Protection Considerations
All survey codebook variables (e.g., source codes) are deposited into the OMOP Common Data Model’s observation table and stored as concepts in an AoU specific “PPI” vocabulary. This vocabulary is both browsable and downloadable via Athena, the online OMOP repository - for a listing of concepts specific to the Basics survey, please see this Athena entry.
Select items from the Basics survey have been either suppressed or generalized within the Registered and Controlled Tiers. Please see below for these specifics, which are also captured in the All of Us survey codebook and How All of Us Protects Participant Privacy. Note: participant demographics from the Basics survey are used to populate the OMOP person table in both the Registered and Controlled Tier CDRs; select privacy generalizations noted below will be observed there.
Registered and Controlled Tier Privacy Considerations for the Basics Survey
Data Element |
Registered Tier |
Controlled Tier |
Explicit identifiers (Concept IDs 1585961 (all affiliated codes), 1585905 (all affiliated codes), 1585949 (all affiliated codes)) |
Suppress |
Suppress |
Free text fields (Concept IDs 1586137, 1586148, 1585604, 1585615, 1585628, 1585835, 1585320, 1585331, 1585344, 1585356, 1585850, 1585367, 43529654, |
Suppress |
Suppress |
Birthplace (In what country were you born?; Concept ID 1586135) |
Generalized |
As Collected |
Marital status (What is your current marital status?; Concept ID 1585892) |
As Collected |
As Collected |
Living situation (Where are you currently living?; Concept ID 1585402) |
Suppress |
As Collected |
Own or rent (Do you own or rent the place where you live?; Concept ID 1585370) |
As Collected |
As Collected |
Higher level Race/Ethnicity (Which categories describe you? Select all that apply. Note, you may select more than one group.; Concept ID 1586140) |
Generalize |
As Collected |
Race/Ethnicity subcategory (Eg: Hmong, Filipino, Caribbean; Concept IDs 1586141, 1586142, 1586143, 1586147, 1586144, 1586145, 1586148, 1586146) |
Suppress |
Suppress |
Sex at birth (What was your biological sex assigned at birth?; Concept ID 1585845) |
Generalize |
As Collected * Includes all branching logic questions |
Gender identity (What terms best express how you describe your gender identity?; Concept ID 1585838) |
Generalize |
As Collected * Includes all branching logic questions |
Sexual orientation (Which of the following best represents how you think of yourself?; Concept ID 1585899) |
Generalize |
As Collected * Includes all branching logic questions |
Education (What is the highest grade or year of school you completed?’ Concept ID 1585940) |
Generalize |
As Collected |
Employment status (What is your current employment status? Please select 1 or more of these categories.; Concept ID 1585952) |
Generalize |
As Collected |
Annual household income (What is your annual household income from all sources?; Concept ID 1585375) |
As Collected |
As Collected |
Active duty military status (Have you ever served on active duty in the United States Armed forces, either in the regular military or in a National Guard or military reserve unit?; Concept ID 1585852) |
Suppress |
As Collected |