SeriesInterpreting health statistics for policymaking: the story behind the headlines
Section snippets
Levels of estimation
In public health, different levels of estimate correspond to different relations to a disease or other cause of illness or death. Panel 1 shows the hierarchy of these levels, based on the relation of the indices to mortality or morbidity. Understanding how closely linked a type of statistic is to disease and death rates is crucial in designing health policies and programmes.
Five questions decisionmakers should ask about estimates
A complete methodological discussion of estimates in public health is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, we suggest questions to help users of disease burden estimates assess and understand their strengths and limitations.
Conclusion
Estimates of disease burden, along with considerations of feasibility and cost, should be central to decisions about public-health interventions. Even if the role of evidence in public-health decision-making is balanced by strong political, social, and other contextual factors,54, 55 estimates provided to decision-makers should be based on sound and transparent methods, applied in comprehensive and systematic ways to the various levels of disease burden assessment, and to diseases and
References (58)
- et al.
Differential improvement among countries in child stunting is associated with long-term development and specific interventions
Comm Int Nutr
(2005) - et al.
WHO estimates of the causes of death in children
Lancet
(2005) - et al.
Where and why are 10 million children dying every year?
Lancet
(2003) - et al.
Estimates of world-wide distribution of child deaths from acute respiratory infections
Lancet Infect Dis
(2002) - et al.
4 million neonatal deaths: When? Where? Why?
Lancet
(2005) - et al.
Do poor children count? A series of literature reviews highlighting gaps in policy-relevant child health information
Lancet
(2005) - et al.
Why are 4 million newborn babies dying each year?
Lancet
(2004) BBC News. Tuesday 22 November, 2005
- et al.
Health statistics now: are we making the right investments?
Lancet
(2000) Towards good practice for health statistics: lessons from the Millennium Develpoment Goal health indicators
Lancet
(2000)
From data to policy: good practices and cautionary tales
Lancet
Reducing child malnutrition: How far does income growth take us
World Bank Econ Rev
Inheriting the world: The atlas of children's health and the environment
Gains made over the past 20 years in child survival have been eroded or eliminated in most sub-Saharan countries due to HIV and AIDS
UNICEF, 2003
Effect of large-scale social marketing of insecticide-treated nets on child survival in rural Tanzania
Lancet
Would control of childhood infectious diseases reduce malnutrition?
Acta Paediatr Scan
Undernutrition as an underlying cause of child deaths associated with diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and measles
Am J Clin Nutr
The growing burden of tuberculosis: global trends and interactions with the HIV epidemic
Arch Intern Med
International statistical classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision
WHO Official says deadly pandemic is likely if the Asian bird flu spreads to people
New York Times
A review of studies on the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in children
J Nutr
Reversing productivity losses from iron deficiency: the economic case
J Nutr
Effect of iron supplementation on mental and motor development in children: systematic review of randomized controlled trials
Public Health Nutr
UNAIDS global report on the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Improved methods and assumptions for estimation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impact: recommendations of the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling and Projections
AIDS
TB advocacy report
Questions and Answers about TB
Cited by (38)
Health impact metrics for air pollution management strategies
2015, Environment InternationalCitation Excerpt :First, findings of the reviewed quantitative HIAs were used to identify key characteristics relevant to air quality metrics, e.g., metrics should account for population dynamics since pollution-related health effects can lag years behind exposures (Flachs et al., 2013). Second, review articles and commentaries from the health indicator literature were examined to identify additional criteria, e.g., the comparability of metrics across populations of different size (Walker et al., 2007). A case study demonstrates the formulation, use, strengths and limitations of the metrics.
A prospective epidemiological study for odontogenic and non-odontogenic lesions of the maxilla and mandible in Queensland
2013, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral RadiologyRNA-based urinary assays for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer
2022, Current Opinion in UrologyA FLEXIBLE BAYESIAN FRAMEWORK TO ESTIMATE AGE-AND CAUSE-SPECIFIC CHILD MORTALITY OVER TIME FROM SAMPLE REGISTRATION DATA
2022, Annals of Applied Statistics