PUB-550 Topic 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results
PUB-550 Topic 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results
Objectives:
- Apply hypothesis testing steps to a data set.
- Communicate scientific information for public health practice.
- Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context.
- Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate. PUB-550 Topic 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results
- Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice.
Benchmark – Analyzing and Reporting Data |
Topic 8 DQ 1 |
Reporting public health information requires a clear understanding of the various statistical methods used to draw conclusions. These methods are then communicated within the larger story surrounding the public health issue. Identify a public health report or article and discuss what you would do differently to improve understanding and application if you were the author. Post the permalink to your article or report in the Main Forum.
Topic 8 DQ 1
Chen & Wang (2014)study found the following: Public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts” [1]. The ultimate goal of public health is to improve health at the population level, and this is achieved through the collective mechanisms and actions of public health authorities within the government context [1,2]. Three functions of public health agencies have been defined: assessment of health status and health needs, policy development to serve the public interest, and assurance that necessary services are provided [2,3]. Since data, information and knowledge underpin these three functions, public health is inherently a data-intensive domain [3,4]. High quality data are the prerequisite for better information, better decision-making and better population health [5](p.5170). PUB-550 Topic 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results
Braveman & Gottlieb(2014) study found the following: A number of studies have attempted to assess the impact of social factors on health. A review by McGinnis et al. estimated that medical care was responsible for only 10%–15% of preventable mortality in the U.S.;45 while Mackenbach’s studies suggest that this percentage may be an underestimate, they affirm the overwhelming importance of social factors.25,26 McGinnis and Foege concluded that half of all deaths in the U.S. involve behavioral causes;18 other evidence has shown that health-related behaviors are strongly shaped by social factors, including income, education, and employment.46,47 Jemal et al., studying 2001 U.S. death data, concluded that “potentially avoidable factors associated with lower educational status account for almost half of all deaths among working-age adults in the U.S.(p.19)
Braveman & Gottlieb(2014) study found the following: Despite challenges, controversies, and unanswered questions, the tremendous advances in knowledge that have occurred in the past 25 years leave little room for doubt that social factors are powerful determinants of health. The consistency and reproducibility of strong associations between social (including socioeconomic) factors and a multitude of health outcomes in diverse settings and populations have been well documented, and the biological plausibility of the influence of social factors on health has been established. It is not surprising that exceptional examples of health indicators, settings, and subgroups in which health does not necessarily improve with greater social advantage can be found. There may be thresholds above which a higher degree of a given social factor (e.g., income) no longer yields better health. Exceptions would also be expected as the effects of any given factor are contingent upon the presence of myriad other factors—social, economic, psychological, environmental, genetic, and epigenetic (p.31).
Braveman & Gottlieb(2014) study found the following: Public health workers and clinicians also can develop health-promotion strategies that reach beyond individual clinical and social services to communities, to influence living and working conditions that are generally the strongest determinants of whether people are healthy or become sick in the first place.143 They can participate in or promote research adding to the understanding of the mechanisms by which social factors influence health, and test which strategies appear most effective and efficient (p.31). PUB-550 Topic 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results
Reference
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: it’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 129 Suppl 2(Suppl 2), 19–31. doi:10.1177/00333549141291S206
Chen, H., Hailey, D., Wang, N., & Yu, P. (2014). A review of data quality assessment methods for public health information systems. International journal of environmental research and public health, 11(5), 5170–5207. doi:10.3390/ijerph110505170 PUB-550 Topic 8: Analyzing and Reporting Results
