POPH192 Lecture 32 - Surveillance Flashcards
what is epidemiological surveillance?
ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data regarding a health event for use in public health action to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve health
what are the main elements of surveillance?
health event –> data collection –> analysis –> interpretation –> dissemination –> action
what is surveillance used for?
- characterising pattern of disease
- detecting epidemic
- further investigation
- research
- disease control programmes
- setting priorities
- evaluation
what are the 2 types of surveillance?
1) indicator-based
2) event-based
what are the 3 main types of surveillance within indicator-based surveillance?
1) passive surveillance
2) active surveillance
3) sentinel surveillance
what is indicator-based surveillance?
specific selected “indicators” under surveillance generally for specific infectious diseases or cancers
-report on rates of disease by demographic characteristics of affect individuals (time, person and place)
what is passive surveillance?
routine reporting of health data through notifiable diseases from hospital data
- low-cost, wide area, data-linkage
what does passive surveillance provide a useful source of health information of?
- baseline data
- monitor trends
- monitor impact
what is a limitation of passive surveillance?
under-reporting
what are 2 examples of active surveillance?
1) serosurveillance
2) health survey
what is serosurveillance?
the monitoring of the presence or absense of specific substances in the blood serum of a population
what is sentinel surveillance?
surveillance of selected intuitions or groups that provide health data
- monitor diseases or trends
- detect outbreaks
what is event based surveillance?
organised monitoring of reports, media stories, rumours and other information about health events that could be a serious risk to public health
what are the characteristics of a good surveillance system?
- clear case definition (strong predictive value)
- organised
- workable/practical/simple
- uniform
- continuous
- timely
- sensitive
- acceptable (to the public and key stake holders)
what is the analysis of surveillance?
-number of cases
-descriptive epidemiology in more detail
-person (age, sex, ethnicity etc)
-place (within NZ, comparison to other countries)
-time (change over time)
rates (when possible)
