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For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability (2011)

Chapter: Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
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Appendix B
National and Community Health Data Sets

NATIONAL DATA SETS

The most readily available health-outcomes data for the United States are mortality data, which are derived from death certificates and population health surveys and contain self-reported health and functional status. The national surveys most often used are the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which provide data annually, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which provides data every 2 years (CDC, 2008, 2009a, 2009b).

The Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System

BRFSS is a cross-sectional telephone-based survey that collects information on changes in health conditions and risk factors (Mokdad, 2009). State health departments conduct BRFSS with support and design from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most states use BRFSS as their primary source of chronic-disease data for evaluating health behaviors in the population. BRFSS is the world’s largest telephone survey and has 413,000 adult participants each year (Balluz, 2010); it is offered in English and Spanish (CDC, 2008). The goals of BRFSS are to assess public health status, define public health priorities, evaluate programs, stimulate research, and monitor trends (Balluz, 2010). BRFSS provides state-level estimates and estimates for selected metropolitan statistical areas that have 500 or more respondents. It collects demographic variables on race, sex, age, income categories, education level, and number of children in the household

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
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(Mokdad, 2009). The BRFSS questionnaire is organized by core and optional modules and includes individual-level risk factors associated with causes of premature death (Mokdad, 2009). More detailed information on chronic conditions—including diabetes, cardiovascular health, high blood pressure, and adult asthma—are included in optional modules (Balluz, 2010).

The National Health Information Survey

NHIS, supported by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), is a large-scale cross-sectional household interview survey. The survey includes information on population disease prevalence, extent of disability, and use of health care services and is offered in English, Spanish, and other languages. NHIS describes disease prevalence from self-reports of diagnoses received from clinicians (Burrows et al., 2007). The expected NHIS sample includes about 35,000–40,000 households with 75,000–100,000 persons of all ages. To provide state or local estimates of health outcomes and determinants of health, a few states and local areas, such as Wisconsin and New York City, conduct their own surveys based on the NHIS (and NHANES) method (CDC, 2009a; Parrish, 2010).

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

NHANES is a “program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States.” It combines interviews with physical examinations and is conducted by NCHS (CDC, 2009a). A nationally representative sample of about 5,000 people are interviewed each year. NHANES includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions offered in English and Spanish. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiologic measurements, including laboratory tests. The data from the survey are used to determine the prevalence of major diseases and risk factors for diseases (CDC, 2009a).

Limitations of the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System, the National Health Information Survey, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

BRFSS, NHIS, and NHANES all have limitations and challenges. BRFSS has a declining and low response rate (for example, 18 percent in California and a national median of 34 percent—a lower response rate than NHIS and NHANES) and inadequate time available for questions, responses are self-reported, data are available only at the state level (and some large jurisdictions), and the survey contains no biometric measurements. BRFSS includes

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

few or no measures of newer constructs of community health, such as social cohesion, resilience, and literacy.

Data in national data sets can sometimes be stratified for a state, or state data may be available from a state’s own efforts (for example, a state-based Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), but local leaders who seek statistics for their county, city, or census tract face challenges in obtaining geocodable data. The obstacles are sometimes methodologic—as when sample sizes or survey techniques are problematic in sparsely populated rural communities—but often the difficulty is that source agencies have done little either to collect the data or, when the data are available, to make the information readily available to the typical decision-maker.

Procedures used by researchers to extract geocodable microdata from agency data warehouses or to file paperwork for agency approvals to integrate such data often pose a formidable barrier for busy policy-makers or staff of public health agencies. Making such data accessible to those important users requires efforts at a high level to develop a front end that enables users to obtain available statistics easily and to cross government agency silos (such as planning, zoning, transportation, and education) to gather and report relevant local data from multiple sources in a useful way.

NHIS does provide health status information on a representative sample of Americans, but it does not provide state or local estimates. BRFSS provides state estimates, but it does not provide local data, and it provides minimal data on children. To complement what they obtain from BRFSS, 16 states provide funding to enhance their BRFSS samples with substate sampling strata to generate their own representative local data sets, and others add their own modules on other topics of interest to them. Eleven states have established separate comprehensive surveys independent of BRFSS, such as the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), to meet their needs for local and state data not being served by BRFSS (UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 2008), and 10 states conduct independent surveys to assess the health of children (UCLA Center for Healthier Children, 2010).

Several states conduct city or county surveys on the basis of BRFSS and have been able to use the data to monitor trends and risks (CDC, 2009b), but overall the data are not adequate for use at the local level (and cannot measure inequalities in health that occur at the community level and among population subgroups), because samples are too small for calculating reliable estimates (Parrish, 2010). NHIS and NHANES provide only national and some large regional estimates because of their sampling schemes and relatively small samples. Because a premium is placed on statistical rigor and because securing financing for the surveys and supplements is complex, these sources do not adapt rapidly to and maximize opportunities afforded by available communication technologies. In addition, data are not available

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
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as rapidly as needed, and some content reflects the needs of funders rather than the overall needs of public health.

COMMUNITY DATA SETS

One early effort in population health measurement and reporting is America’s Health Rankings (AHR), which was begun in 1990 and provides a scorecard of health determinants and health-outcome measures and an overall ranking for each state (America’s Health Rankings, 2009). In 2009, a county analogue to AHR, the County Health Rankings, was released; it ranks counties in each state on specific health measures (County Health Rankings, 2010a). The Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI) activity was initiated in 2000 and relaunched in 2006 by a collaborative group of federal, state, and local public health representation and nonprofit and academic partners (County Health Rankings, 2009).1 CHSI provides detailed health (and related) measures by county and allows users to compare peer counties (for example, counties with similar sociodemographic characteristics).

The interest in and proliferation of health indicators is linked to a national concern about health-related costs and health-system effectiveness and to a federal initiative on key national indicators (for example, related to population, economy, environment, health, education, and commerce) that began early in the 21st century. In 2003, the General Accounting Office (GAO), now the Government Accountability Office, held a forum on key national indicators in collaboration with the National Academies (GAO, 2003). In 2003 and 2004, GAO prepared several reports on the key indicators initiative; in 2004, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported on this subject in its World Forum on Key Indicators (GAO, 2004). The Academies continue to serve as the secretariat for the effort, supporting several activities that include a recent Institute of Medicine committee convened to identify 20 health indicators in three domains (health outcomes, health-related behaviors, and medical care delivery systems) to track progress in health and health care (IOM, 2009). These will be incorporated into the State of the USA (SUSA) project, which is likely to be the repository for the Key National Indicators required by the Affordable Care Act in subjects including health and managed by the

1

Partners include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine, the Health Resources Services Administration, the Public Health Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Association of Local Boards of Health, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health (County Health Rankings, 2010b).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

National Academies (more information is available on the SUSA website2; see Public Law 111-148).

Tables B-1 (national indicator sets) and B-2 (community indicator sets) present samples of the numerous indicator sets in existence. Those represented in the table were chosen because they are the best known and are representative sets regarding the types of indications used currently in the United States. To view more exhaustive reviews of the existing data sets, see Public Health Institute (2010) and Wold (2008).

REFERENCES

Alameda County Public Health Department. 2008. Life and Death from Unnatural Causes: Health and Social Inequity in Alameda County. Oakland, CA: Alameda County Public Health Department.

America’s Health Rankings. 2009. A Call to Action for Individuals and Their Communities. Minnetonka, MN: United Health Foundation.

America’s Health Rankings. 2010. Definitions of Components: Core Measures and Supplemental Measures. http://www.americashealthrankings.org/2009/component.aspx (June 4, 2010).

Balluz, L. 2010. (January 21, 2010). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Presentation to the IOM Committee on Public Health Strategies to Improve Health. Washington, DC: IOM.

Burrows, N. R., S. Parekh, Y. Li, L. S. Geiss, and CDC. 2007. Prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular disease among persons aged >35 years with diabetes—United States, 1997–2005. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 56(43):1129-1132.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2008. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System: About the BRFSS. http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/about.htm (January 1, 2010).

CDC. 2009a. About the National Health Interview Survey. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/about_nhis.htm (January 6, 2010).

CDC. 2009b. Overview: BRFSS 2008. http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/technical_infodata/surveydata/2008/overview_08.rtf (January 6, 2010).

Community Health Status Indicators. 2009. Community Health Status Indicators Project Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: HHS.

Community Health Status Indicators Project Working Group. 2009. Data Sources, Definitions, and Notes for CHSI 2009. Washington, DC.: Department of Health and Human Services.

County Health Rankings. 2009. About the Community Health Status Indicators Project. http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/latest-news/how-washington-county-residents-stay-healthy (January 6, 2010).

County Health Rankings. 2010a. Data Collection Process. http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/about-project/data-collection-process (February 17, 2010).

County Health Rankings. 2010b. How Healthy Is Your County? New County Health Rankings Give First County-by-county Snapshot of Health in Each State. http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/latest-news/healthday-county-county-report-sizes-americans-health (February 17, 2010).

GAO (Government Accountability Office). 2003. Forum on Key National Indicators. Washington, DC: GAO.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

GAO. 2004. Informing Our Nation: Improving How to Understand and Assess the USA’s Position and Progress. Washington, DC: GAO.

HHS (Department of Health and Human Services). 2009a. Healthy People 2020 Framework. http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/objectives/framework.aspx (April 28, 2010).

HHS. 2009b. Healthy People 2020 Public Meetings—2009 Draft Objectives. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services.

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2009. State of the USA Health Indicators: Letter Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Mokdad, A. H. 2009. The Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System: Past, present, and future. Annual Review of Public Health 30:43-54.

Parrish, R. G. 2010. Measuring population health outcomes. Preventing Chronic Disease Public Health Research, Practice and Policy 7(4). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/jul/10_0005.htm. (July 4, 2010).

Public Health Institute. 2010. Data Sets, Data Platforms, Data Utility: Resource Compendium. Oakland, CA: Public Health Institute.

Saskatoon Regional Health Authority. 2007. 2006-2007 Annual Report to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Healthy Living Services. Saskatoon, Canada: Saskatoon Regional Health Authority.

Seattle and King County Public Health. 2010. King County Community Health Indicators. http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/data/chi.aspx (January 6, 2010).

Summers, C., L. Cohen, A. Havusha, F. Sliger, and T. Farley. 2009. Take Care New York 2012: A Policy for a Healthier New York City. New York: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

SUSA (State of the USA). 2010a. Mission. http://www.stateoftheusa.org/about/mission (June 11, 2010).

SUSA. 2010b. The State of the USA. http://www.stateoftheusa.org (September 1, 2010).

Trust for America’s Health. 2010. State Data. http://healthyamericans.org/states (October 15, 2010).

UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Center for Health Policy Research. 2008. About CHIS. http://www.askchis.com/about.html (September 1, 2010).

UCLA Center for Healthier Children. 2010. Framework for System Transformation. http://healthychild.ucla.edu/Transformation.asp (June 16, 2010).

Wold, C. 2008. Health Indicators: A Review of Reports Currently in Use. Conducted for The State of the USA. Wold and Associates.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

TABLES B-1 AND B-2 START ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

TABLE B-1 National Indicator Sets

 

America’s Health Rankings (AHR)

County Health Rankings (CHR)

Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI)

Total number of indicators

39

26

200

Purpose

The purpose of AHR is to have a comparable and comprehensive national and state measure of health and health outcomes.

The purpose of CHR is to illustrate how factors in the environment affect health outcomes, such as a person’s health and longevity.

CHR is a “call to action” for state and local health departments and community leaders outside the public health sector to improve community health.

The purpose of CHSI is to provide health providers and community members with local community health indicators and encourage action in improving the community’s health.

Primary data sources

Public, federal sectora

Public, federal sector,b local-area data

Population-health outcome measures

Mortality

  • Premature death

Morbidity

Quality of life

  • Poor–physical-health days

  • Poor–mental-health days

  • Poor or fair health

Poor birth outcomes

  • Low birth weight

Mortality

  • Premature death

Morbidity

Health-related quality of life

  • Poor or fair health

  • Poor–physical-health days

  • Poor–mental-health days

Birth outcomes

  • Low birth weight

Mortality

  • All causes of death

Health-related quality of life

  • Average life expectancy

  • Self-rated health status

  • Unhealthy days

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020)

State of the USA (SUSA)

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH)

38 (objectives)

20

32

The purpose of HP2020 is to provide the nation with science-based, 10-year objectives for promoting health and preventing disease and in doing so to increase the population’s quality of life and eliminate health disparities.

The purpose of SUSA is to assist people in tracking progress in health and health care in the United States by using high-quality statistical data and to compare the United States with other countries.

The purpose of TFAH’s state data is to rank states on various public health issues and health outcomes to prevent communicable and chronic diseases and to hold officials accountable for their performance on public health issues and activities.

Public, federal sector

Public, federal sector, nonprofit sector, internationalc

Public, federal sector, nonprofit sectord

Morbidity

  • Mental health and mental disorder

Health-related quality of life

  • Quality of life and well-being

Mortality

  • Infant mortality

  • Injury-related mortality

Health-related quality of life

  • Life expectancy at birth

  • Life expectancy at 65 years old

  • Self-reported health status

  • Unhealthy days, physical and mental

  • Serious psychological distress

Mortality

  • Infant mortality

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

 

America’s Health Rankings (AHR)

County Health Rankings (CHR)

Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI)

Domain (or equivalent)

  • Community-health measures

  • Chronic health conditions

  • Social factors

  • Economic factors

Mortality

  • Infant mortality

  • Cardiovascular deaths

  • Cancer deaths

  • Premature deaths

  • Occupational fatalities

Morbidity

  • Infectious disease

Chronic disease

  • Stroke

  • High cholesterol

  • Hypertension

  • Heart attack

  • Coronary heart disease

  • Diabetes

Environmental, community

  • Air pollution

  • Children in poverty

  • Violent crime

Economic

  • Personal Income

  • Under-employment rate

  • Unemployment rate

  • Median household income

Education

  • High-school graduation

  • College degrees

Employment

  • Unemployment

Income

  • Children in poverty

  • Income inequality

Family and social support

  • Inadequate social support

  • Single-parent households

Community safety

  • Violent-crime rate

Physical environment

  • Air pollution: particulate-matter days

  • Air pollution: ozone days

Built Environment

  • Access to health foods

  • Liquor-store density

  • Employment status

  • Disabled

  • Homicide

  • Motor-vehicle injury

  • Infant mortalitye

  • Unintentional injury

  • Persons living below povertyf

Chronic diseases, health problems

  • Diabetes

  • High blood pressure

  • Obesity

  • Coronary heart disease

  • Stroke

  • Cancerg

Environmental health

  • Infectious diseasesh

  • Toxic chemicals released annually

  • National air-quality standards meti

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020)

State of the USA (SUSA)

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH)

  • Maternal, infant, child health

  • Oral health

  • Social determinants of health

Chronic disease, health problems

  • Arthritis, osteoporosis, chronic back pain

  • Blood disorders, blood safety

  • Cancer

  • Kidney disease

  • Diabetes

  • Disability, secondary conditions

  • Hearing, other sensory or communication disorders

  • Heart disease, stroke

  • HIV

  • Immunization, infectious diseases

  • Respiratory diseases

  • Sexually transmitted diseases

  • Vision

Environmental, community

  • Educational, community-based programs

  • Environmental health

  • Family planning

  • Food safety

  • Global health

  • Injury, violence prevention

  • Occupational safety, health

 

Alzheimer’s disease

Chronic diseases, health problems

  • Cancer

  • Asthma: adult, percentage of high-school students

  • Obesity: adult, high-school students, children 10–17 years old

  • Hypertension

  • Diabetes

Communicable, infectious diseases

  • West Nile virus

  • Tuberculosis

Sexually transmitted diseases

  • AIDS: 13 years old and older, less than 13 years old

  • Chlamydia infection

  • Syphilis

Community

  • Living in poverty

  • Median family Income

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

 

America’s Health Rankings (AHR)

County Health Rankings (CHR)

Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI)

Behavior domain (or equivalent)

  • High-school graduation

  • Prevalence of smoking

  • Prevalence of binge drinking

  • Cholesterol check

  • Dental visit

  • Recent dental visit

  • Daily fruits and vegetables

  • Physical activity

  • Diet

  • Teen birth rate

Health behavior

Tobacco Use

  • Adult smoking

Diet and exercise

  • Adult obesity

Alcohol use

  • Binge drinking

  • Motor-vehicle–crash death rate

Unsafe sex

  • Chlamydia-infection rate

  • Teen birth rate

  • High-school diploma

  • No exercise

  • Few fruits, vegetables

  • Smoking

  • Depression

  • Recent drug use

Health care domain: access, use, services, other

  • Prenatal care

  • Preventable hospitalizations

  • Primary-care physicians

Access to care

  • Uninsured adults

  • Primary-care– provider rate

Quality care

  • Preventable hospital stays

  • Diabetic screening

  • Hospice use

  • Primary-care physicians in community

  • Dentists in community

  • Community, migrant health centers

  • Health-professional–shortage area

Preventive-service use

  • Infectious diseasej

  • Child prevention servicesk

  • Adult prevention servicesl

  • No care in first trimester

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020)

State of the USA (SUSA)

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH)

  • Nutrition, weight status

  • Physical activity, fitness

  • Substance abuse

  • Tobacco use

  • Smoking

  • Physical activity

  • Excess drinking

  • Nutrition

  • Obesity

  • Condom use

  • Tobacco smoking: adults, high-school students

  • Influenza vaccine rate 65 years old and older

  • Adult physical inactivity

  • Breastfeeding at 6 months

  • Fruit and vegetable intake

  • Early, middle childhood

  • Genomics

  • Health communication, health information technology

  • Health care–associated infections

  • Preventable hospitalizations

  • Childhood immunization

  • Health care expenditures

  • Insurance coverage

  • Unmet medical, dental, prescription-drug needs

  • Preventive servicesm

  • Chronic-disease prevalencen

Access to Care

  • Uninsured, total population and under age 18 years old

  • Immunization gap, 19–35 months old without all immunizations

  • Shortage of professions: primary care, mental-health care, dental care, nursing

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

 

America’s Health Rankings (AHR)

County Health Rankings (CHR)

Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI)

Other domains

Public health or other policies

  • Lack of health insurance

  • Immunization coverage

  • Public health funding

 

Birth measures

  • Birth weighto

  • Number of birthsp

  • Premature birth

Access to care

  • Uninsured

  • Medicare

  • Medicaid

a Data sources include BRFSS; National Center for Education Statistics; Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Department of Labor, Crime in the United States: 2008 Federal Bureau of Investigation; Population Survey, Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Reports, CDC; Environmental Protection Agency; Census Bureau; Trust for America’s Health; National Immunization Program at CDC; American Medical Association, Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the United States; The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

b Data sources include National Vital Statistics System, NCHS; BRFSS (2000–2006); Census Bureau; Healthy People 2010; Notifiable Infectious Diseases; Toxic Release Inventory Data, Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality Standards; Medicare Enrollment County Data at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services; Area Resource File, Health Resources and Services Administration; American Medical Association Physician Master File; American Dental Association; State and County Demographics Report, Health Resources and Services Administration Geospatial Data Warehouse.

c Data sources include BRFSS; NHANES; NCHS; World Health Organization: Statistical Information System and Report on Global Tobacco Epidemic; National Survey on Drug Use and Health; Global Database on Body Mass Index; Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services; National Health Expenditure Account, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Medical Expenditure Panel Survey; Census Bureau Current Population Survey; American Community Survey, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

d Data sources include Census Bureau; CDC HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report; Alzheimer’s Association Report; BRFSS; National Immunization Survey at CDC; American Cancer Society, HHS; CDC Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases; CDC STI Disease Surveillance; NCHS; Health Resources Services Administration Geospatial Data Warehouse.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020)

State of the USA (SUSA)

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH)

  • Medical-product safety

  • Older adults

  • Public health infrastructure

 

  • Medical cost of obesity

  • Public health preparedness Birth Measures

  • Low birth weight

  • Premature births

e Infant-mortality indicators also broken down into white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, Hispanic, neonatal, postneonatal.

f This information is broken down into age distributions (under 19 years, 19–64 years, 65–84 years, and 85+ years), race and ethnicity (white, black, American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic).

g Cancer of lung, colon, or breast.

h Cases of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella infection reported, expected per county.

i Particles of CO, NO2, SO2, O3, particulate matter, lead measured.

j Cases of syphilis, congenital rubella syndrome, pertussis, measles, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, influenza, AIDS reported, expected.

k Such indicators as immunizations, dental caries, prevalence of lead screening are not collected at national level and must be obtained locally.

l Percentage of population within county who had Pap smear, mammography, sigmoidoscopy, pneumonia vaccine, influenza vaccine.

m Age-appropriate services recommended by US Preventive Services Task Force and influenza vaccination.

n Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, asthma, cancer, arthritis.

o Low birth weight, very low birth weight.

p Under 18 years old, 40–54 years old, unmarried.

SOURCES: America’s Health Rankings, 2009, 2010; Community Health Status Indicators, 2009; Community Health Status Indicators Project Working Group, 2009; HHS, 2009a,b; SUSA, 2010a; Trust for America’s Health, 2010.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

TABLE B-2 Community Health Data Sets

 

Alameda County

Total number of indicators

60

Purpose

The purpose of the Alameda County Public Health Department’s report is to provide a detailed description of inequities in the economic, social, physical, and service environments affecting health and leading to death from “unnatural causes.” Data and policy analysis can be used by residents to identify and advocate for policies that can reduce social and health inequalities, evaluate progress, and propose polices that affect inequities.

Primary data sources

Public sector, governmenta

Population health outcome measures

  • Mortality Rate (census tract)

  • All causes of mortality

  • Self-reported health status

  • Life expectancy at birth

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Seattle–King County

City of Saskatoon

New York City

67

31

33 (10 core)

The purpose of King County Community Indicators is to provide a broad array of comprehensive, population-based data to community-based organizations, community health centers, public agencies, policy-makers, and the general public.

The purpose of Saskatoon’s community analysis is to describe the extent of health disparity, determine the causes of the health disparity, explain that most health disparity is preventable, and suggest that evidence-based policy options with sufficient public support should proceed into action.

The purpose of NYC Policy for a healthier New York is to improve the health of New Yorkers; having policy-makers, residents, communities, businesses, organizations by developing policies, laws, regulations that will improve environmental, economic, social conditions affecting health; emphasizing preventive health care, improving quality of care, expanding access to care; health promotion to inform, educate, engage residents to improve their health, health of their communities.

Public sectorb

Public sectorc

Public sector

  • Life expectancy at birth

  • Life expectancy at age 65 years

Mortality

  • Leading causes of death

  • Infant mortality

Health outcomes, overall health

  • Fair or poor health

  • Years of healthy life

  • Infant mortality

  • All causes of mortality

  • Life expectancy at birth

  • Life expectancy at age 65 years

  • Self-rated health statusd

  • Overweight or obesee

  • Physical activityf

  • Diabetesg

  • Injury hospitalization

  • Cardiovascular-disease death

Mortality

  • Deaths from smoking-related illnesses

  • Premature deaths from major cardiovascular disease

  • HIV/AIDS–related deaths

  • Drug overdose death (unintentional)

  • Colorectal-cancer death

  • Infant mortalityh

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

 

Alameda County

Domain (or equivalent)

  • Community-health measures

  • Chronic health conditions

  • Community measures

  • Poverty rates

  • Median household income

  • Unemployment rates

  • High-school dropout rate

  • Neighborhood high-school graduation

  • Crime rate

  • Education level

Chronic diseases, health problems

  • Asthma (children emergency-room visits)

Environmental, community

  • Neighborhood poverty rate

  • Fast-food and convenience-store density

  • Density of off-sale liquor licenses

  • Social cohesioni

Transportation

  • Income dedicated to transportation cost

  • Transit-dependent household

  • Public subsidies

  • Air quality

  • Annual motor-vehicle–related pedestrian injuries or deaths

Housing

  • Home median sales price

  • Fair-market rents

  • Renting households under severe cost burden

  • Homeless service users

  • Homeownership rates

  • Housing-opportunity index

  • Home-loan denial

  • Foreclosure rate

Air quality

  • Proximity to toxic-air release facilitiesj

Behavior domain

Physical activity

  • Inactivity

  • Place near home to walk, exercise

  • Safe to exercise outdoors

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Seattle–King County

City of Saskatoon

New York City

  • Suicidek

  • Frequent mental distress

  • Level of educationl

  • Living in poverty

Communicable disease

  • Tuberculosis incidence

  • Chlamydial infections

  • Gonorrhea

  • HIV/AIDSm

Chronic diseases

  • Colorectal cancern

  • Breast cancero

  • Heart-disease deaths

  • Stroke deaths

  • Diabetesp

  • Asthma (adult, childhood)q

Physical, environmental

  • Asthma (adult, childhood)r

  • Air quality

  • Water quality

Unemployment rate

Income level

Education level

House prices

Oral health

Chronic diseases, health problems

  • Diabetes

  • Obstructive pulmonary disease

  • Coronary heart disease

  • Cerebrovascular disease

  • Sexually transmitted infections/HIV

  • Overweight or obese

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Communicable infectious diseasest

Environmental, community

  • Injuries, poisonings

  • Crime rate

  • Air quality

  • Water quality

  • Food accessu

  • Active transportationv

  • Preventable hospitalizations

  • Teen pregnancies

  • Education-level disparity

Chronic diseases, health problems

  • Cardiovascular disease

Environmental, community

  • Housing qualityw

  • Neighborhood income disparity

  • Safety of walking, play spacesx

  • Presence of rodentsy

  • Alcohol-induced deaths

  • Drug-induced deaths

  • Smokers (adults and school age)

  • Overweight (adults and school age)

  • Obese (adults and school age)

  • Physical activityz

  • Drinking

  • Attempted suicide

  • Level of physical activityaa

  • Fruit, vegetable servings

  • Injection-drug use

  • Daily smoker

  • Smokingbb

  • Adult sugar consumptioncc

  • Condom use in male–male sexdd

  • Alcohol hospitalizationsee

  • Fruit, vegetable servingsff

  • Obesity (adults)

  • Alcohol consumption (teens)gg

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

 

Alameda County

Health care access, use, services, other

  • Uninsured (nonelderly adult)

  • Uninsured person

  • Usual source of care

  • Cancer screeninghh

Other domains

  • Nativity, immigration status

  • Segregationpp

  • Employment health benefits

  • Employment by industry

  • Occupation

  • Median household income

  • Income level

  • Social supportqq

School performance, condition

  • Reading and mathematics proficiency

  • English level

  • Reading scores

  • School conditions

  • Mealsrr

  • Student-reported well-beingss

  • Student-reported protective factorstt

Criminal justice

  • Criminal rate

  • State-prison drug-offense admission rate

  • Incarceration rates under three-strikes law

  • County probation rate

a Data sources include California Health Interview Survey 2003, 2005; FBI: Uniform Crime Report; Alameda County Sheriff’s Office; California Department of Finance; Alameda County Probation Department; Census Bureau 2000; California Center for Public Health Advocacy; California Department of Alcohol Beverage and Control; Environmental Protection Agency; California Department of Education; California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development; California Highway Patrol, National Transit Database; Communities for a Better Environment; Labor Market Information System; State of cities Data System;

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Seattle–King County

City of Saskatoon

New York City

  • Adults with no health insurance

  • Children with no health insurance

  • Adults with unmet medical need

  • Childhood immunizations

  • Influenza vaccination (adults)

  • Pneumonia vaccination (adults)

  • Late or no prenatal care

  • Mammography

  • Dentist visit last year

  • Immunizationsii

  • Preventable hospitalizations

  • Medical care accessjj

  • Psychological distress—no treatmentkk

  • Colonoscopyll

  • HPV vaccinationmm Screenings

  • HIV-testednn

  • Chlamydia-testedoo

Nativityww

Overall health

  • Activity limitation

  • Unhealthy daysxx

Maternal, child health

  • Birth weight ratesyy

  • Preterm births

  • Maternal smoking during pregnancy

Reproductive health

  • Adolescent birth rate

  • Adolescent pregnancy rate

Injury, violence

  • Homicide

  • Assault

  • Firearms-related deaths

  • Motor-vehicle injuries

  • Motor-vehicle deaths

  • Suicide hospitalizations

  • Suicides

Children 10–15 years old

  • Self-reported health status

  • Depressed

  • Anxious

  • Bully comparison

  • Suicidal thoughts

  • Low self-esteem

  • Smoking

  • Alcohol use

  • Marijuana use

  • Psychological distress—interferencezz

  • Adults with hypertension needing medication and taking it

  • Adults with high cholesterol taking medication

  • Breastfeedingaaa

DataQuick: Foreclosures; National Association of Homebuilders, Federal Financial Institutions Examination; Department of Housing and Urban Development; American Community Survey; Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis; Census 2000 Equal Employment Opportunity Data.

b Data sources include Births, deaths, abortions, hospitalizations: Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics; BRFSS, Department of Health and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Washington State Department of Health Center for Health Statistics; Seattle and King County; American Community Survey: Census Bureau; King County Community Health Survey: Public Health—Seattle and King County; State Population Survey: Washington State Office of Financial Management; Healthy Youth Survey: Washington State Department of Health; Puget Sound Clean Air Agency; Washington State Cancer Registry: Washington State Department of Health; National Immunization Survey: CDC; Population estimates: Washington State Department of Health, Vista Partnership, Krupski Consulting: Washington State Population Estimates for Public Health.

c Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Student health survey.

d Percentage of population (12+ years old) who reported their health as very good or excellent.

e Percentage of population (18+ years old).

f Percentage of population (12+ years old) who reported levels of active, moderately active, or inactive.

g Age-adjusted prevalence.

h Also have an infant-mortality disparity measure for injuries, sudden infant death syndrome.

i People in neighborhood can be trusted, willing to help each other, get along, share values.

j Broken down by demographic characteristics, population racial and ethnic composition, households living within 1 mile, public-school proximity.

k Hospitalizations, deaths.

l High-school education, bachelor’s degree.

m Indicators for mortality, incidence, prevalence.

n Incidence, death.

o Incidence, death.

p Prevalence, mortality, related mortality.

q Prevalence, hospitalizations.

r Prevalence, hospitalizations.

s Average rental price, average vacancy rate.

t Norovirus, tuberculosis, pneumococcal disease, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus, West Nile virus.

u Food insecurity, cost of healthy eating.

v Walking, cycling, public transit.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

w Poor housing quality, by neighborhood.

x Measured by pedestrian-injury hospitalizations of children.

y Measured by properties with signs of rats.

z CDC recommendation for adults and children, no physical activity.

aa Active, moderate, inactive.

bb Adults who currently smoke, high-school students who currently smoke.

cc Adults who consume an average of one or more sugar-sweetened beverages per day.

dd Men who have sex with men who report using a condom every time they have anal sex.

ee Hospitalizations for problems attributable to alcohol.

ff Adults eating no servings in the previous day.

gg High-school students who drank alcohol in preceding 30 days.

hh Prostatic, breast, cervical.

ii Preschool, school, adult, influenza, high-risk.

jj Adults who did not get needed medical care.

kk Adults with serious psychological distress who did not receive treatment.

ll Adults 50 years old and older who have had a colonoscopy in the last 10 years.

mm Girls 13–17 years old who have received vaccination.

nn Adults who have been tested for HIV.

oo Sexually active women under 26 years old.

pp Race or ethnicity, economic, schools.

qq Someone to get together with for relaxation, love and making you feel wanted, understanding problems, helping with daily chores when sick.

rr School free or reduced-price meal-program enrollment.

ss Physical fight at school, moved in last year, depression, skipped breakfast.

tt High expectations, caring relationship, lacks meaningful participation.

uu Not born in United States.

vv Mean number, physical and mental.

ww Low-birth weight singleton births, all births; very-low-birth weight singleton, all births.

xx Adults who have serious psychological distress that interferes with their lives or activities.

yy Mothers who breastfeed exclusively for at least 2 months.

zz Adults who have serious psychological distress that interferes with their lives or activities.

aaa Mothers who breastfeed exclusively for at least 2 months.

SOURCES: Alameda County Public Health Department, 2008; Saskatoon Regional Health Authority, 2007; Seattle and King County Public Health, 2010; Summers et al., 2009.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: National and Community Health Data Sets." Institute of Medicine. 2011. For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13005.
×

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Despite having the costliest medical care delivery system in the world, Americans are not particularly healthy. Recent international comparisons show that life expectancy in the U.S. ranks 49th among all nations, and infant mortality rates are higher in the U.S. than in many far less affluent nations. While these statistics are alarming, the bigger problem is that we do not know how to reverse this trend. Our lack of knowledge is due in large part to significant inadequacies in the health system for gathering, analyzing, and communicating health information about the population.

To inform the public health community and all other sectors that contribute to population health, For the Public's Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability reviews current approaches for measuring the health of individuals and communities and creates a roadmap for future development. This book, the first of three in a series, focuses on data and measurement-not as ends in themselves, but rather tools to inform the myriad programs, policies, and processes developed or undertaken by governmental public health agencies and their many partners in the health system.

For the Public's Health seeks to reinstate the proper and evidence-based understanding of health as not merely the result of medical or clinical care but the result of the sum of what we do as a society to create the conditions in which people can be healthy. To achieve this goal, the book suggests changes in the processes, tools, and approaches used to gather information about health outcomes and their determinants. The book also recommends developing an integrated and coordinated system in which all parties-including governmental and private sector partners at all levels-have access to timely and meaningful data to help foster individual and community awareness and action.

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