Using and Interpreting Data

1. Using and Interpreting Data Community Health Assessment Unit Office of Epidemiology

2. Learning to Speak Epi • Understanding terms to understand what data represent • Don’t need to be an expert • Know basics so you know which data are appropriate for your use

3. Dispelling Data Myths • All data by the same name is equal • Rates and numbers can be used interchangeably • Age adjustment is just epi mumbo jumbo • Morbidity and Mortality are pretty much the same thing • Birth rate and pregnancy rate are the same thing • Small numbers can NEVER be used Really, these things matter, we’re not just being picky!

4. Review of common terms • Community Health Assessment • A process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of the health of a community. • The process culminates when assessment results are used to improve the health status of the community.

5. Common Terms continued • Rate • Frequency • Prevalence Rate • Incidence Rate • Numerator • Denominator

6. Making data meaningful Data in itself is really not so meaningful, it is the interpretation and putting it into a context that makes it relevant and meaningful.

7. Population Users People Population Based Patients Utilization Encounters Visits Services Population and Service Data

8. Same data, different analysis • Data can be analyzed in a variety of ways • Most commonly used • Age • Sex • Race • Ethnicity • By cause

9. A closer look at data we use all the time • Population/ Demographic data from Census or Bureau of Business and Economic Research • Birth and Death data (Vital records) from NM OVRHS • Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS) and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from NM DOH, Office of Epidemiology • Hospitalization In-patient Discharge Data (HIDD) from Health Policy Commission

10. Population and Demographic Data • Most common source is Census or BBER • Population based data • Usually includes general characteristics of a population • Total count of people • Age distribution • Sex distribution • Education • Employment • Income • Languages spoken • Household characteristics • Family characteristics

11. Birth and Death DataVital Records • Includes data collected via birth and death certificates through the NM OVRHS • There are standard ways of analyzing birth and death data

12. Birth Data Standard analyses of birth data • Percent of live births with: • Low birth weight • Prenatal Care Began in 1st Trimester • Age of mother • Education level of mother • Fertility rate • Birth rate • Infant Mortality Rate

13. Death Data Standard analyses of death data • Infant Mortality Rate • Cause specific death rates • Age specific death rates • Age adjusted death rates • Leading Causes of Death

14. Survey DataBRFSS and YRRS YRRS- • school based survey, • In schools that agreed to participate • sample includes high school students who were present that day and class period BRFSS- • telephone survey, • sample includes people over 18 years with a land line phone

15. Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey

16. BRFSSCounty Level Data • Counties must have at least 75 respondents. -Even with 75 respondents, there are limitations. • When a county does not have 75 respondents in one year, two or more years of data can be combined. -Not all questions are asked every year.

17. BRFSS and Confidence Intervals

18. Confidence Intervals

19. Hospitalization In-Patient Discharge Data (HIDD) • Includes data from non-federal hospitals in NM • People admitted and discharged from hospital Death Hospitalization Ambulatory Not in any system

20. Trends, Trends, Trends • What is a trend? • How to know when to use trends? • Using your context to determine data presentation

21. Trends within a population

22. Trends between populations

23. Small Numbers Concerns of the Epidemiologists • Statistical Reliability • Confidentiality Ways to Cope • Aggregate time periods • Aggregate populations • Lose some detail • Seek counsel with an Epidemiologist

24. Using Data to Tell Your Story • Purpose of your story • Know your audience • Find a balance between tables, graphs, and text • Save complex details for appendix

25. So, I know how to use it, where do I get it? • Data you can access on your own • Call a DOH Epidemiologist

26. Data you can access on your own Here are a few websites with data: • http://wonder.cdc.gov CDC Wonder Query death data and links to many other data on the web • http://dohewbs2.health.state.nm.us/VitalRec/ New MICA An interactive query system of birth and death data • http://www.unm.edu/~bber/ BBER Population and demographic data • http://www.health.state.nm.us NMDOH Reports and link to New MICA • http://www.nmihi.com NM DOH IHI Query based health indicators • http://factfinder.census.gov U.S. Census Bureau Data tables containing Census data

27. Call a DOH Epidemiologist DOH Epidemiologists District 1,Tom Scharman, 505-897-5700 District 2, Vacant (call Corazon Halasan) District 3,Lisa Roth-Edwards 505-528-5074 District 4,Sue Champagne 505-347-2409 Community Epidemiologist, Corazon Halasan, 505-476-3676 Tribal Epidemiologist, Dawn McCusker 505-476-3073 There are many other, topic specific epidemiologists at DOH that these people can refer you too if necessary You are NOT Alone