Health Data and Resources

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Somjen Frazer

Epidemiology Services

 A division within the NYC DOHMH  Our Mission: To combine

cutting-edge research

and

data analysis

with policy development and

strengthen epidemiologic capacity

throughout the DOHMH in order to

improve the health of New Yorkers

What we will cover today

 What can we use health data for?

 What health data are available?

 NYC DOHMH  Other data sources  How can we use the available data?

 Finding data  Displaying data  Other resources

What are data for?

 Compile health information

Population(s )

 Focus on

preventable

death causes of illness and  Identify disparities  Improve health within populations  Planning programs  Writing grants

Where can I get health data?

 National  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/  State  http://www.health.state.ny.us/statistics/  New York City  http://www.nyc.gov/health/mycommunityshealth

NYC DOHMH Health Data

 Survey Data  Community Health Survey (CHS)  Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)  NYC Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES)  World Trade Center Health Registry  Vital Statistics  Mortality  Birth

DOHMH Data con’t

 Surveillance Data  SPARCS (hospital discharge data)  HIV  STD  Tuberculosis  Lead Poisoning  Maternal and child health  PRAMS

Community Health Survey

Based on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) – DOHMH program input   Annual since 2002 Telephone: 20-30 minutes   Costs around $500,000 per year Multi-lingual   2002: English, Spanish, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Creole, Yiddish, Greek  2003-2007: English, Spanish, Russian – 23 other languages through language line Data are collected by United Hospital Fund Neighborhood

Health Topics Included in 2007

            

General health Access to care Physical activity Diabetes Asthma Immunizations (flu/pneumonia) Tobacco use & cessation Alcohol consumption (binge drinking) Weight (obesity) Cancer screening Sexual behavior Domestic Violence Mental Health

YRBS: Students in Public High Schools

    Cross-sectional survey Restricted to Public High or Middle School Students Conducted every two years (most recent 2007) Self-administered in the classroom  Two-stage cluster sample  High schools  Classrooms

Information Collected

 Demographics  Unintentional Injury and Violence  Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Use  Mental Health  Sexual Behaviors and Pregnancy  Dietary Behaviors  Physical Activity  Social Measures

NYC HANES

  Who is included?

 2000 adults from ~4000 households in 144 neighborhoods  Population-based, cross-sectional, 3-stage cluster sample Types of data  Exam  Laboratory Analysis  Interview  Last conducted in 2004, plans to repeat in 2009

NYC HANES Topics

   Exam    Blood Pressure Anthropometry Venipuncture & Urine Collection Laboratory Analysis     Blood Lipid Profile Glycohemoglobin Herpes simplex 2 Heavy metals - Fasting plasma glucose - Hepatitis C virus - Serum Cotinine - Pesticides Computer assisted interviewing    Sensitive questions asked with audio headset Other questions by interviewer Many of the same as the Community Health Survey

Strengths and Limitations of Data Sources

  CHS/YRBS 

Self report

 

Social desirability bias Difficulty recalling past behaviors



Cross-sectional



Unable to establish temporality, incidence



Sensitive questions



Sexual behaviors, drug use

HANES 

Smaller sample

Disease Surveillance: Two More Data Sources

 SPARCS  Discharge summaries from hospitals  Provided by the state  Vital Statistics  Birth and death data  Includes causes of death

Ways to access our data

 Online  Reports on topics (Vital Signs and CHI) and populations (Reports)  Query system  Download data  Make data requests Scenario: You want to write a report for a funder on obesity in NYC.

Online

 My Community’s Health Page: http://nyc.gov/html/doh/html/community/co mmunity.shtml

 Links to publications  Online query system  Other data tables  Downloadable data

Publications

Other data tables

       HIV/STD reports Tuberculosis reports Neighborhood numbers  View demographics, mortality, hospitalizations, maternal and child health, adult health status, preventive services by UHF neighborhood Injuries and deaths    Unintentional injuries (deaths & hospitalizations) Self-inflicted injuries (suicides & hospitalizations) Assaults (homicides, hospitalizations & Emergency Department visits) Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System  Maternal experiences and behaviors before during and after pregnancy Childhood Lead Poisoning • Newly identified cases among children by UHF neighborhood and borough (rates and crude numbers) More to Come

Analyzing Data

 Downloading  Click on the name of the survey  Data, codebook and questionnaire  Analyzing  SAS/SAS-callable SUDAAN  Corrects for cluster sampling  Weighting and age-adjusting

Contact Us!

 Designing or implementing a study and need expert epidemiological input  Need data not found online  Email us [email protected]

Data Requests

 Detailed  Include specific subpopulations and years  Ex. Obesity among 18-24 year olds from 2007 CHS  Data requests can take 2-4 weeks to complete

Strengths and Limitations of Methods to Access Data

 Vital Signs and published reports only have specific numbers, but are more in depth and include interpretation of results  Epiquery allows you access from your desk but does not include all variables or trends over time  Data requests are very specific and can be extensive but take longer

Links you saw in this presentation

 My Community’s Health http://www.nyc.gov/health/mycommunityshealth  The Immigrant Health Report http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/ episrv/episrv-immigrant-report.pdf

 Epiquery www.nyc.gov/health/epiquery

Thank you

 Community Epidemiology  Unit director: Carolyn Olson  [email protected]

 My contact information  [email protected]

 212 788 4340  125 Worth St. Rm. 315, New York, NY 10013