Uses of Health Information

Question 1

Monitoring trends in disease.

Number of cases/(Total population x years)

Answer 1

Comparison of rates - comparison over time. person.yrs

Reason of difference

• due to chance variation
• artifactual or systematic errors or chance variation - disease diagnosis, classification or coding errors on death certificate.
• real change - medical care effects or natural.

Question 2

Census

Answer 2

Used to predict future needs of the population to allocate services appropriately

Question 3

Death Certificates

Answer 3

Used to determine cause of death and therefore trends in diseases in order to adjust resources appropriately