Health indicators are quantifiable characteristics of a population which researchers use as supporting evidence for describing the health of a population. Typically, researchers will use a survey methodology to gather information about a population sample, use statistics in an attempt to generalize the information collected to the entire population, and then use the statistical analysis to make a statement about the health of the population.[1] Health indicators are often used by governments to guide health care policy or to make goals for improving population health.[1]
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Characteristics
A health indicator which will be used internationally to describe global health should have the following characteristics:
- It should be defined in such a way that it can be measured uniformly internationally.[2]
- It must have statistical validity.[2]
- The indicator must be data which can feasibly be collected in a reasonable amount of time.[2][3]
- The analysis of the data must result in a recommendation on which people can make changes to improve health[2]
Health indicator examples
*This is not a comprehensive list of health indicators.
Health status
- Life expectancy at birth[4]
- Number of years a newborn is expected to live based on current mortality trends.[5]
- Infant mortality rate[4]
- Number of infant deaths (children under 1 year) per 1,000 live births in a year.[5]
- Neonatal mortality rate[4]
- Number of newborn deaths (children under 28 days) per 1,000 births in a year.[5]
- Maternal mortality ratio[6]
- Number of women who die due to pregnancy or birth complications per 100,000 births in a year.[5]
- Mortality from cardiovascular diseases[6]
- Cancer incidence[6]
- Diabetes incidence[6]
- Depression incidence[6]
- Disability adjusted life years (DALY)
- A measurement of premature death or lower quality of life due to disability.[5]
- Activities of daily living (ADL)
- A measurement of ability to self-sustain based on ability to perform daily activities such as dressing, feeding, and grooming.[7]
Risk factors
- Alcohol consumption[4]
- Smoking in adults[4]
- Physical exercise habits[4]
- Condom use[6]
- Obesity rate[6]
- Asthma rate[6]
- High blood pressure rate[6]
- Air pollution levels[6]
- Exclusive breastfeeding rate[6]
- Number of mothers who only feed their infants breast milk for the first 6 months of life per a unit of measurement.[5]
- Child stunting rate[6]
- Number of children who have a low height for their age (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement.[5]
- Child wasting rate[6]
- Number of children who have a low weight for their height (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement.[5]
Health systems
- Healthcare coverage[4]
- Number of people with some type of health care coverage/insurance per unit of measurement.[4]
- Hospital beds per capita[4]
- Doctors per capita[4]
- Nurses per capita[4]
- Hospital readmission rates[6]
- Health expenditure as percentage of GDP[6]
- Percentage of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) used toward healthcare.[6]
- People with HIV aware of their status[6]
- Breast cancer screening rate[6]
- Birth registration rate[6]
- Number of people with a government- verified birth certificate per unit of measurement.[6]
- Death registration rate[6]
- Number of people with a government- verified death certificate per unit of measurement.[6]
Applications
Health indicators are commonly used to make large-scale or community health-related decisions.[8] By describing the current health of a population, the areas that need improvement become evident, and policy-makers and health professionals can work to fill these gaps.[8][3] Once interventions are put in place to try to improve the health of a population, health indicators can then be used to evaluate the success of the intervention.[3]
Additionally, health indicators can highlight health disparities in a population.[3] Differences in health indicators among genders, races, ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, and other groups can be used to guide policy and interventions that will bring health equity in the future.[3]
Health indicators are used by many institutions, including international organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO).[9][10] They are also used by smaller-scale community health organizations, hospitals, and other medical and public health organizations such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH), The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP), and Global Alliance for Africa.[10][11]
References
- ^ a b Skolnik, Richard L. (2021). Global health 101 (4th ed.). Burlington, MA. ISBN 978-1-284-14539-7. OCLC 1126251416.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d Larson, C.; Mercer, A. (2004). "Global health indicators: An overview". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 171 (10): 1199–1200. doi:10.1503/cmaj.1021409. PMC 524951. PMID 15534313.
- ^ a b c d e "Health Indicators: Conceptual and Operational Considerations". Pan American Health Organization. 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Development., Organisation for Economic Co-operation and (2015). Health at a Glance 2015 : OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing. ISBN 978-92-64-24351-4. OCLC 932052293.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Skolnik, Richard L. (2021). Global health 101 (4th ed.). Burlington, MA. ISBN 978-1-284-14539-7. OCLC 1126251416.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v World Health Organization (2018). "2018 Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators" (PDF). World Health Organization.
- ^ "Activity and Mobility Promotion" (PDF). Johns Hopkins Medicine. 2022.
- ^ a b Culyer, Anthony (1978-12-31). Measuring Health: Lessons for Ontario. University of Toronto Press. doi:10.3138/9781442653412. ISBN 978-1-4426-5341-2.
- ^ World Health Organization (2018). "2018 Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators" (PDF). World Health Organization.
- ^ a b Leading Health Indicators 2030. 2020-03-05. doi:10.17226/25682. ISBN 978-0-309-67187-3. PMID 32200597. S2CID 240828832.
- ^ "Resources on African Health and Diseases". www.africa.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
External links
- World Health Statistics 2012 Indicator compendium created by the World Health Organization
- World Health Statistics 2012 Global Health Indicators
- Health Indicators
- list of health indicators created by the European Commission
- HealthyPeople.gov created by the United States Department of Health and Human Services
- Community Health Status Indicators, a project of the Centers for Disease Control
- Canada, a project of Statistics Canada
- HealthIndicators.gov, a database of US health indicators
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This page was last edited on 5 October 2023, at 23:45