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*Community Engaged Medicine: Data & Statistics
Data versus Statistics
Data, data sets, and statistics are often used as an interchangeable term in daily conversation. In public health and other disciplines that use qualitative and quantitative analysis, data and statistics have two different meanings.
Data and Data sets are raw information that has yet to be processed for statistical analysis.
Statistics are data that have been analyzed often into rations, percentages, or figures/tables/graphs/visuals to showcase patterns, trends, and/or frequency.
Knowing which type of information you're looking for i.e., prevalence or incidence of a disease versus a strict count of people with that disease will help you determine where to look.
Many times you can get the raw data AND the statistical analysis by doing a search of your health outcome or disease on the CDC or NCHS websites, which are both linked on this guide.
Data Sets
- Data.govData.gov provides descriptions of the Federal datasets (metadata), information about how to access the datasets, and tools that leverage government datasets.
- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the nation’s premier system of health-related telephone surveys that collect state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. Established in 1984 with 15 states, BRFSS now collects data in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories. BRFSS completes more than 400,000 adult interviews each year, making it the largest continuously conducted health survey system in the world.
- Health & the Environment - Socioeconomic Data and Applications CenterThe SEDAC Thematic Portal on Health provides information on recently released global data sets, publications, visualization, and analyses related to environmental health issues.
- Health, Nutrition & Population Data from The World BankData here cover health systems, disease prevention, reproductive health, nutrition, and population dynamics.
- Global Health Observatory Data RepositoryThe GHO data repository provides access to over 50 datasets on priority health topics worldwide.
- Health Services & Resource Administration Data/Map PortalGIS maps that have various layers to a distribution of SDOH factors in the United States such as: health professional shortage data, health education data, migrant health care data, primary care practices locations, and much, much more.
Statistics
South Carolina
- S.C. DHEC Data & StatisticsHealth statistics and surveys, vital statistics, and environmental tools for South Carolina.
United States
- HHS Hospital UtilizationHospital utilization is reported to HHS Protect by all hospitals registered with Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) as of June 1, 2020.
This page displays visualizations on the utilization and capacity status of hospitals in the United States. - US Census DataLink to search and filter data acquired from the United States Census Bureau. You can search on health determinants and sort data by state and census year. If you know a specific table, you can search for it directly in the search bar.
- National Center for Health StatisticsThe Nation's principal health statistics agency, NCHS leads the way with accurate, relevant, and timely data.
- CDC Data & Statistics by TopicData and statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by topic from Aging to Workplace.
- Health, United StatesHealth, United States is an annual report on trends in health statistics, including health status, resources, expenditures, and more.
International
- World Health Organization - Data & StatisticsData and analysis related to mortality, health, sanitation, and more from around the world.
- United Nations Health StatisticsPopulation and demographics related to health from the United Nations.
- NationMasterNationMaster is a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD. You can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease.
Books on Statistics
Biostatistics and Computer-Based Analysis of Health Data Using RCall Number: EbookPublication Date: 2016In this ebook, the authors explore basic and variable commands, sample comparisons, analysis of variance, epidemiological studies, and censored data. With proposed applications and examples of commands following each chapter, this book allows readers to apply advanced statistical concepts to their own data and software.
Medical StatisticsCall Number: EbookPublication Date: 2014Medical Statistics is a practical guide to conducting statistical research and interpreting statistics in the context of how the participants were recruited, how the study was designed, what types of variables were used, what effect size was found, and what the P values mean. It guides researchers through the process of selecting the correct statistics and show how to best report results for presentation and publication.
Books on Data Usage
GIS and Public Health by Call Number: Gen Coll RA566 .C764 2012Basic GIS concepts and tools are explained, including ways to access and manage spatial databases. The book presents state-of-the-art methods for mapping and analyzing data on population, health events, risk factors, and health services, and for incorporating geographical knowledge into planning and policy.
Social Explorer
- Social ExplorerSocial Explorer provides access to current and historical census data and demographic information and lets users create maps and reports to illustrate, analyze, and understand demography and social change. Among other documents Social Explorer includes the entire US Census from 1790 to 2010, annual updates from the American Community Survey, the Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS) from 1980 to 2010 and Carbon Emissions Data for 2002 from the Vulcan Project.