Lecture 13 - The Role Of Data In Public Health

Question 1

Public health agents ____ the _____ of a community by “____” health data

Answer 1

public health agents MONITOR the HEALTH of a community by “DIAGNOSING” health data

Question 2

this “health data” is called….

Answer 2

health statistics

Question 3

Health statistics are a vital part of Public Health’s ____ function and are used to do what 5 things?

Answer 3

ASSESSMENT FUNCTION

1. identify special risk groups
2. detect new health threats
3. plan public health programs
4. evaluate their success
5. prepare goveernment budgets

Question 4

the health statistics are collected by ____, ____, and ___ _____

Answer 4

federal, state, and local governments

Question 5

health statistics are the ___ ___ for research, epidemiology, environmental health, social and behavioral factors in health, and the medical care system

Answer 5

RAW DATA

Question 6

At the federal level, what is the primary agency that collects, analyzes, and reports data on the health of americans?

Answer 6

the NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

Question 7

the national center for health statistics is a division of…..

Answer 7

the centers for disease and control prevention (the cdc)

Question 8

the NCHS collects its data in 2 major ways:

Answer 8

1. from the states (vital stats including all births and deaths)
2. NCHS conducts periodic surveys of representative samples of the population
   questionairres related to:
   -health status
   -lifestyle
   -behaviors that may impact public health

Question 9

what data is the most basic, reliable, and complete?

Answer 9

births and death

Question 10

what is the term for a “more detailed” birth certificate

Answer 10

birth record

Question 11

what could account for the incline of twin birth rate?

Answer 11

fertility drugs

Question 12

why does preterm birth rate increase with twin birth rate?

Answer 12

twin births are more likely to result in preterms

Question 13

information on death certificates is subject to a number of ___ and can be _____

Answer 13

uncertainties and can be incomplete

Question 14

give an example of why it can be said that death certificates are subject to a number of uncertainties

Answer 14

if the person smoked and the cause of death is not obvious - the coroner may simply put “death due to complications of smoking” which is more of an assumption

(also if the deceased is an elderly person with no surviving relatives little information on the patient can be known)

Question 14

give an example of why it can be said that death certificates are subject to a number of uncertainties

Answer 14

if the person smoked and the cause of death is not obvious - the coroner may simply put “death due to complications of smoking” which is more of an assumption

Question 15

give some cases in which the cause of death may be misstated due to social stigma

Answer 15

AIDS, suicide

Question 16

What are some other vital statistics other than births and deaths?

Answer 16

marriages and divorces, fetal deaths and abortions

Question 17

What are 2 things that are legal events that require universal reporting, but are not very interesting from a public health point of view?

Answer 17

marriages and divorces

Question 18

the NCHS has set up a special computer system for linking vital records of…..

Answer 18

infants born during a given year who died before their first birthday

Question 19

The data collected through the vital statistics system must be converted to rates if they are to be useful for public health purposes. how could this be done?

Answer 19

census

Question 20

What Bureau collects information on the race, sex, etc of the population?

Answer 20

the United States Census Bureau which is a part of the US dept of commerce

Question 21

Census Bureau is essential for the practice of public health to determine…..

Answer 21

adjusted and crude rates

Question 22

the census of 2010 had 2 controversial issues it needed to address:

Answer 22

how a person’s race is determined (people identify their own race and ethnic category)
-an interracial category was added

some people are missed or counted twice
-typically lower income and illegals are overrepresented in the group of individuals that do not report

how do we account for homeless or fugitives of the law?

Question 23

birth and death rates for african americans tend to be ___ than their true value

Answer 23

higher. this is a CONFOUNDING VARIABLE that needs to be accounted for

Question 24

explain the role of politics in the census

Answer 24

some political interests benefit from an undercount of the poor
-electoral votes

Question 25

Pedigrees are used to…..

Answer 25

track genetic contribution to a disease