HEALTH STATISTICS AND EPIDEMIOLOGY

What is health statistics?

- are numbers that summarize information related to health.

- The study of the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data
in the domain of Health
- Health statistics are a form of evidence, or facts that can support a conclusion.

What is epidemiology?

- describes how diseases and conditions occur in the population, and search for factors that
cause disease and ill health
- comes from the Greek word's epi, meaning on or upon, demos, meaning people, and
logos, meaning the study of.
- is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in
specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems

According to international epidemiology association (IEA) has 3 mains aims:

- To describe the distribution and magnitude of health and disease problems in human
populations (descriptive studies)
- To identify etiological factors (risk factors in the pathogenesis of disease and (analytical
studies)
- To provide the data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of services
for the prevention, control and treatment of disease and to setting up priorities among
those services

Additional aims:

- To determine the extent of disease found in community

- To study natural history and prognosis

The ultimate aim of epidemiology is to lead to effective action:

- To eliminate or reduce the health problem

- To promote the health and well-being of society as a whole

DEMOGRAPHY

- is the statistical study of human populations.

- examines the size, structure, and movements of populations over space and time

purposes of demography:

- seek to understand population dynamics by investigating three main demographic

processes: birth, migration, and aging
 A. sources of data:
Census
- collects data from individual and people in a certain area.
- It allows to estimate a small geographic area and for population subgroups.
Survey
- are primarily to collect information on population characteristics and on the
causes and consequences of population change
administrative records
- are an important source of information for social science research

B. Population Size:
- is defined as the total number of organisms in each area
C. Composition:
- sex and age group
D. Distribution:
- means the pattern of where people live, territory

HEALTH INDICATORS:
- List of information which would determine the health of a particular community like
population, crude death rate, crude birth rate, infant/maternal death rate, neonatal death
rate

a. Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

- A measure of one characteristic of the natural growth or increase population by subtracting
the crude death rate from it.

Computation formula:
CBR= Registered live birth in a given calendar year X 1000
Midyear population of same year

b. Crude death rate (CDR)

- Includes death from old age, degenerative diseases and other caused not readily preventable

Formula:
CDR = Total deaths ( all causes) in a calendar year x 1000
Mid year population for that year

c. Infant mortality rate (IMR)

- Infant deaths are associated with acute communicable diseases, such factors as poor
environmental sanitation and personal hygiene, in general inadequate health services

Formula:
I M R = death under 1 year of age X 1000
number of live births
A low IMR suggests:
1. Adequate immunization program/services
2. Sound Infant-maternal Nutrition
3. Satisfactory ante-post natal care
4. Good disease control program
5. Strict implementing laws governing administration of health program.

From a sanitarian’s point of view:

- good environmental sanitation
- good water supply
- good housing facilities

From the social worker’s point of view:

- Illegitimate are not neglected
- High standard of living

A high IMR means low level of standards which maybe secondary to:
- poor environmental sanitation
- deficient health services delivery

d. Maternal mortality rate (MMR)

- This rate measures the risk of dying from causes associated with childbirth.
- it is an index of the obstetrical Care needed and received by women in a community which
measures the risk of dying from causes related to pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium
within 90 days.

Formula:
MMR = number of deaths due to pregnancy delivery and puerperium X 1000
number of live births

e. Specific rates of mortality

- a measure of mortality for each age group but specifies sex as well and it gives the most
accurate picture of the force of mortality in a given population

Formula:
SMR = number of deaths in a specified group X1000
midyear population of the same specified group
f. Leading cause of morbidity

- Morbidity of acute upper respiratory disease among Filipinos was approximately two
million.
 - The morbidity rate of acute respiratory disease was around 1.1 thousand per 100,000
population in the Philippines.

The top leading causes are:

1.Acute Respiratory Infection
2. Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection
3. Pneumonia
4. Bronchitis/Bronchiolitis

g. Leading cause of mortality

- Ischemic heart disease (CVA)
- COPD
- Lung cancer
- Car accidents
- Tuberculosis
- Diabetes

h. Life expectancy:

- The term “life expectancy” refers to the number of years a person can expect to live.
- It is based on an estimate of the average age that members of a particular population
group will be when they die.

B. Philippines health situation:

- Maternal and child health services have improved,

- There is a higher number of women in delivering at health facilities
- More births are being attended by professional health care providers
- Access to provision of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services for communicable
diseases have improved.
- Several initiatives have done to reduce illness and death due to non-communicable
diseases.

a. Demographic profile:

- a description of a particular type of customer, including their sex, age, income, etc
- By developing a demographic profile of your best customers, you can target your
marketing efforts more successfully.
 b. Health profile:

- is intended to be a set of indicators of basic demographic and socioeconomic

characteristics, health status, health risk factors, and health resource use, which are
relevant to most communities.

C. Epidemiology and the nurse:

Nurse epidemiologists 
- identify people or populations at high risk
- monitor the progress of diseases
- specify areas of health care need
- determine priorities, size, and scope of programs

Epidemiology process and investigation:

The purpose of the epidemiologic investigation is to:

- identify a problem, collect data, formulate, and test hypotheses.

NATURAL LIFE HISTORY OF DISEASE:

- Natural history of disease refers to the progression of a disease process in an individual

over time, in the absence of treatment.

For example,

untreated infection with HIV causes a spectrum of clinical problems beginning at the time of
seroconversion (primary HIV) and terminating with AIDS and usually death.
The process begins with the appropriate exposure to or accumulation of factors sufficient for the disease
process to begin in a susceptible host.

For an infectious disease, the exposure is a microorganism.

For cancer, the exposure may be a factor that initiates the process, such as asbestos fibers or
components in tobacco smoke (for lung cancer), or one that promotes the process, such as estrogen (for
endometrial cancer).

After the disease process has been triggered, pathological changes then occur without the individual
being aware of them. This stage of subclinical disease, extending from the time of exposure to onset of
disease symptoms, is usually called the incubation period for infectious diseases, and the latency period
for chronic diseases.

Although disease is not apparent during the incubation period, some pathologic changes may be
detectable with laboratory, radiographic, or other screening methods. Most screening programs attempt
to identify the disease process during this phase of its natural history, since intervention at this early
stage is likely to be more effective than treatment given after the disease has progressed and become
symptomatic.

The onset of symptoms marks the transition from subclinical to clinical disease. Most diagnoses are
made during the stage of clinical disease. In some people, however, the disease process may never
progress to clinically apparent illness. In others, the disease process may result in illness that ranges
from mild to severe or fatal. This range is called the spectrum of disease. Ultimately, the disease process
ends either in recovery, disability, or death.