Vital statistics and secondary data sources

What factors affect the quality if epidemiological data?

The sources used to obtain data (nature of data), how completely the data covers the referance population, How available the data are, and the appropriate and inappropriate uses of the data

External validity (Representativeness)

Refers to the generalizability of the findings to the population from which the data have been taken

What are considered vital events?

Death, birthday, marriages, divorce, and fetal deaths

What data sources can be used as numerators when calculating prevalence and incidence rates?

Vital statistics and morbidity data

What data sources can be used as denominators when calculating prevalence and incidence rates?

US census

US census

Collected every 10 years. Total population, median household income, employment rate, hispanic/ latino, etc..

Mortality data

MCHS complies and publishes national mortality rates

Birth statistics

Includes live births and fetal deaths. Compiled and published by NCHS. Helps understand birth defecrs, length of gestation, birth weight, and demopgraphic background of mom

Behavioral risk factor surveillance system

Monitors at the state level behavioral risk factors that are associated with chronic disease. Data collected via phone survey with a fixed questionnaire

National health and nutritional examination surveys

Data collected via physical exams, lab test, and questionnaires. Measures overall health, nutritional status, dental health, body measurements, and medical history

Cancer registries

Hosted by national program of cancer registries

What information is included in a death certificate?

Demographic characteristics (age), date and place of death, cause of death (immediate cause, underlying cause & contributing factors)

Immediate cause

Final disease/ event before death

Underlying cause

Disease that initiated the chain

Contributing factors

Other conditions that played a role

Problems with mortality data

The specified cause of death may not be accurate. Primary cause of death can be unclear. Some conditions may be unreported

registry

centralized database for collection of information about a disease

Problems with birth data

May miss conditions that were not detected at birth. Affected by mothers failure to recall events during pregnancy

Examples of public health surveillance programs

Communicable and infectious disease (STD, rubella, tetanus, measles, foodborne disease) Non infectious disease (asthma and HTN) risk factors for chronic disease

Public health surveillance

Systematic and continuous gathering of information about the occurrence of disease and other health phenomena

How are reportable and notifiable disease reported in the US

Through CDC. Reporting is currently mandated by law or regulation only at the local and state levels

Problems with disease reporting

Poor quality for food borne illnesses, requires presentation to the healthcare system, underreporting, delays, misdiagnosis, inconsistent reporting