L3 uses of health info

Question 1

LO2: how health info used to monit trends in dis.

Answer 1

• trend invs compar of rates which req numerator and denom. rate= no at top inside bott, per unit time. ratio just comps 2 no’s. implies cmpar over time but can also be compar btw places, across socioecon grps etc or combin.
• systematic errs- numerator err eg death cert, dis diag, classif/cod err. denom err eg pop used, pop defin, pop count or estim.
• interpretat- chance/rand var. artefactual/systematic reasons- numerator/denom err. real phenom- nat epidemiologic, medic care effs.
  if dramat change consid artef reasons before consid real phenom.

Question 2

LO3: how health info used to monit perf in h/c.

Answer 2

• dept health stats. dr foster hosp guide. hum fert and emb auth clinic recomm. nhs choices consultant tx outcomes. pub health eng nat gp profiles.
• trags eg gp qual and outcomes framew. mbchb course ass’. BUT consid approp of meas, suit of targ lev, conseq effs.
• league rankings- eg hosp mrsa BUT consid approp of compar, sig of diffs, stabil of ranking.
• key pts- interp graphs and table with care, look fo rmissing info. interp trends with care and consid chance var, artef err bef real phenom.

Question 3

LO1: desc how health info used to id health and h/c needs.

Answer 3

• how comm/serious/expens? avail of info and confid of. eg self rep longst illn, some less reported eg ment health desp being biggest nhs expend E&W.