In an attempt to find out how international health data is collected, I found this article which gives a number of difficulties in collecting data in the
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/med/healthstat/#Challenges%20to%20finding%20data
International Data
Finally, a note about obtaining international data. Locating international health statistics is usually more problematic than locating
- See the International Health Research Guide for additional help locating these elusive statistics.
- To locate data collecting agencies by country consult International health systems : a chartbook perspective. Crerar Reference, floor 1 RA395.A3I5650 199
The following article really was interesting to me. Having lived in Africa and knowing that some of the same difficulties occur here in
http://www.undispatch.com/archives/2007/09/how_pdas_are_sa.php
September 4, 2007
How PDAs Are Saving Lives in
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By Joel Selanikio, MD, co-founder of DataDyne.org (UNF-Vodafone partnership)
In a nation where many households have no phone and no address, collecting health data is a daunting task.
It means getting out into some of the most remote districts, like the Masaiti District, and going from house to house, asking "Did your children get vaccinated? May I see the vaccination card?" This kind of fieldwork can generate hundreds of pages of paperwork: multiple sheets of information for each household multiplied by the hundreds or even thousands of households that are visited.
But through a year-old pilot program,
DataDyne.org, the non-profit organization I co-founded, is helping to forge this promising new path. Through the course of my work as a Wall Street IT consultant, a pediatrician, and a medical officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I developed an interest in applying computer science to the public health domain. The result is EpiSurveyor--a free, easy to use, open source software solution.
Prior to the use of EpiSurveyor, handheld data collection was gathered using commercial software that required expensive consultant programmers every time a new form was needed, or an old form needed to be modified. Now, with support from the United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Group Foundation, and in partnership with the UN World Health Organization and national governments, EpiSurveyor is putting effective health data-gathering tools in the hands of country health officials.
EpiSurveyor operates using a Java-based engine and a Windows-based Designer application that allows fast and easy creation of forms and data systems. It allows anyone with average computer skills--the ability to use a word processor or email, for example--to create and share mobile data collection systems in minutes, and without the need for consultant programmers.
In keeping with its mission to break down the barriers that block access to health data in developing countries, EpiSurveyor is free--anyone with internet access can download the program. EpiSurveyor is also open source, enabling those with higher-level programming skills to manipulate the program to respond to health needs as they arise. Finally, EpiSurveyor is built to run on mobile devices, providing maximum mobility and ease-of-use for health workers who spend most of their time in the field. Pilot project training is conducted using the Palm Zire.
So far, year-old pilot projects in
Posted by Mark Leon Goldberg - September 4, 2007 01:31 PM - Delegates' Lounge
Although I have copied only the abstract of this article here, it might be interesting to read the whole thing. Non-response and bias are things that students need to be aware of when conducting surveys and collecting data. The health data collection process also should be aware of these items.
http://healthaff.highwire.org/cgi/content/full/26/6/1599
Twenty-Five Years Of Health Surveys: Does More Data Mean Better Data?
Abstract |
Major increases in the resources devoted to the collection of health-related data and advances in survey methodology may be offset by more non-response and coverage bias resulting from privacy concerns, technological changes, and an increasingly complex health care environment. Hence, it is unclear whether policymakers today are basing their decisions on data that are of higher or even the same quality as those collected twenty-five years ago. We offer several recommendations for improving data quality, including changes related to Office of Management and Budget review, broad reexamination of the federal health survey portfolio, and greater investment in survey methods research.
1 comment:
Interesting article. The PDA's are a great idea for records and health collection data, what a time saver! I hope that all agencies will be able to use this technology to improve the stats that are used to make vital decisions.
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