1. Finding and Using Health Statistics and Data Files Epidemiology 1
Overview
Finding and Using Health Statistics and Data Files Epidemiology 1
Darlene Fichter
Data Library Services, U of S Library
September 26, 2006

2. Overview Health Surveys Finding a data file
Aggregate data
Public Use Microdata Files
Surveys and Products
Finding a data file
Understanding data documentation

3. 
Overview
Part 1: Health Surveys

4. Health Statistics Two main sources of data:
Special surveys by Statistics Canada
Administrative data
Collected by law – causes of death, notifiable diseases
Collected by Dept. of Health

5. Types of Data Files Aggregate data files Counts Cross tabulations
Cases of measles in Saskatoon
Cross tabulations
Number of smokers in Saskatoon
by age and sex

6. Table Risk of depression, by age group and sex, household population aged 12 and over, Canada (Canadian Community Health Survey)
Age group
Sex
Probable Risk of Depression
12-19 years
  Males
3.4
  Females
9.7
20-34 years
6.5
11.1
35-44 years
6.1
11.3
45-64 years
4.8
8.6
65 years and over
2.3
4.0

7. Microdata File
Raw data organized in a file where the records or lines in the file are observations of a specific unit of analysis
Each record or line is one person’s responses
Time use survey – exercising, shopping, working, TV, gardening, eldercare

8. Cases 3 & 4 from the General Social Survey 2 Main FileID
Case 3
Case 4

9. Public Use Microdata File - PUMF
Specially prepared file to minimize disclosure
“Master file” would have personal identifiers

10. Population Health Surveys1
Understand the determinants of health
Collect data on
Economic
Social
Demographic
Occupational and environmental correlations
Can impact public policy development
1 Health Survey information based on Michel B. Seguin’s “Health Statistics Information on the STC website”. December 2003.

11. Population Surveys NPHS – National Population Health Survey Products
Household, institutional, north (territories)
Geography - provincial
Products
Public Use Microdata Files (PUMF)
1994
1996
1998
NPHS is a longitudinal survey. PUMF are not longitudinal, due to the high risk of disclosure.

12. NPHS
The NPHS, which relies on respondents' self-reported health information, surveys the same group of respondents every two years for up to 20 years
Currently cycle 5 data ( ) available in RDC (Research Data Centres)

13. Population Surveys Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Year
Common content
Optional content
126/136 health regions, started September 2000
Year
Respondents
Geography 1
100,000+
Health Region, provinces, territories, Canada 2
30,000
Provinces / Canada

14. Canadian Community Health Survey
Cycle 1.1 – Large sample (2001)
Cycle 1.2 – Mental Health (2002)
Cycle 2.1 – Large Sample (2003)
Cycle 2.2 – Nutrition (2004)
Cycle 3.1 – Large Sample (2005)
Cycle 3.2 – (2006)
The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Cycle 3.1 provides health information for 126 health regions, including estimates of health determinants, health status and health system utilization.

15. Article from Nutrition cycle

16. Health Indicators
Measures of health status, health system and factors that influence health
Based on comparable definitions
Geography
Canada
Provinces
Regionally

17. Health Indicators Health Status Health Determinants
Health conditions, human function, well-being, deaths
Health Determinants
Health behaviours, living & working conditions, personal resources(income), environmental factors
Health System Performance
Effectiveness, accessibility, efficiency, safety …
Community/health system characteristics

18. Health Indicators Many data sources Statistics Canada
Vital statistics
Surveys
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
Provincial ministries
Health Canada
Hospital morbidity and discharge databases, …

20. Health Indicators
Has the notion of “peer groups” where Health regions with similar socio-economic characteristics are grouped
Products (free)
Publication online
Tables on Statistics Canada & CIHI web sites

21. Health Region Boundaries
Show your results spatially
Distribution gender differences in depression compared to Calgary Health Region

22. Comparable Health Indicators
Grew out of the First Minister’s meeting in 2000
14 areas of comparable health status and health system performance
Geography
Provincial

23. Comparable Health Indicators - Topics
Health Status
Live expectancy, infant mortality, low birth rate, self-reported health
Health Outcomes
Change in life expectancy, improved quality of life, reduced burden of disease, illness or injury
Quality of Service
Waiting times (selected services), patient satisfaction, Hospital readmission (selected), access to 24/7 first contact health services, home and community services, public health surveillance and protection, health promotion and disease prevention

24. Products Available from Statistics Canada Web Site & CANSIM Web Site:

25. Other Tables
Causes of Death
Cancer Statistics

26. Health Canada's Notifiable Diseases Online
Infectious Diseases

27. Residential Care Facilities
Some older tables at CIHI, prior to 1999
Custom tabulation
Online tables will be available for recent survey

28. Health Information from CIHI

29. CIHI Topics

30. CIHI Products Publicly available, aggregate-level data
Analytic reports
Links to Saskatchewan report of Comparable Health Statistics with a study on measles
More detailed statistics may make a custom data request

31. CIHI & Graduate Students
CIHI provides health data to qualifying graduate students at no cost through the Graduate Student Data Access Program (GSDAP)

32. General Social Surveys
Cycle 1 to Cycle 19
Monitor changes in the health of Canadians and to examine social support.
Cycles cover and repeat content and special focus areas
Each cycle includes general socio-economic variables

33. Cycle 1 - 10 Cycle Year Core Special Topic 1 1985 Health
Social support 2
1986
Time Use, Social Mobility
Language 3
1988
Personal Risk
Victim services 4
1989
Education and Work
No focus issue 5
1990
Family and Friends 6
1991
Various topics 7
1992
Time Use
Culture, sport and unpaid activities 8
1993
Alcohol and drug use 9
1994
Education, Work and Retirement
Transition into retirement 10
1995
Family
Effects of tobacco smoke

34. Cycle
Cycle
Year
Core
Special Topic 11
1996
Social Support
Tobacco use 12
1998
Time Use
No focus issues 13
1999
Victimization
Spousal violence and senior abuse and Public perception toward alternatives to imprisonment 14
2000
Access To and Use of Information Communication Technology 15
2001
Family History 16
2002
Social Support and Aging 17
2003
Social engagement 18
2004 19
2005
Time use
Since 1994, health as core topic covered in NPHS, social support expanded in 1996.

35. National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)
Longitudinal survey designed to measure child development and well-being as children grow from infancy to childhood
Products
PUMF
Cycle 1
Cycle 2
Cycle 3
Cycle 4

36. National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)
Products
Cycle 1, Synthetic Files for Remote Access to the Master Files

37. Health and Activity Limitation Survey
Post-censual survey
Products
1991 PUMF
1996 PUMF
Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS)

38. International SourceOECD Some U.S. and European data
Comparable statistics on health and health systems across OECD countries
Health status, expenditure, financing
Health care utilization
Health care coverage
Pharmaceutical
Non-medical determinants to health
Some U.S. and European data

39. Human Activity and The Environment 2000
Human activity and its relationship to natural systems' air, water, soil, plants and animals
Aggregate tables

40. Questions ?

41. Part 2: Finding a Statistics and Data
Overview
Part 2: Finding a Statistics and Data

42. Ways to Find Files Library Catalogue Statistics Canada Catalogue
Data Library Web Site
Web Data Extractors, i.e.IDLS
Talk to the Reference staff or Data Library staff

43. 1. The Catalogue Use it when you know the name of the survey
Canadian Community Health Survey is footnoted in the article Mental Health of Canada’s Immigrants.
Searching by a topic
Strategies
Keep it broad – “health” not measles
Use “statistics” or “codebook”
Change the scope to “Data and GIS Files”

44. 2. Statistics Canada Catalogue
Enter your keywords:
 internet use
Look for the words public use microdata file or CANSIM
Look for free access
from our library

45. 3. Data Library Web Site
Browse by subject
 Health

46. library.usask.ca/data
Topic
browse

47. 4. Very Specific Topics - Variables
Best bet
Web extractor for data files
IDLS - from Western Ontario

48. IDLS is listed in this section.
Data Services & GIS
IDLS is listed in this section.

49. 4. Not sure? Ask us. U of S has access to 1,000’s files We can:
Help you search
Check for new releases
Cut through the red tape
Phone:

50. Part 4: Data Documentation
Overview
Part 4: Data Documentation

51. What is Data Documentation?
Material that accompanies the data file
Information on
Methodology & sampling
Questionnaire
Record layout
Weights
Frequencies
Syntax files (spss, sas)
Codebooks

52. Codebook
Any information on the structure, contents, and layout of a data file
Typically, it is used to refer to any or all of the accompanying documentation
It can include information on methodology, sample, record layout, questionnaire and data dictionary.

53. Questionnaire Shows the survey questions in the order they were posed
Presents the response codes
Often the directions for the interviewer and skip patterns are indicated
“Did they ask about x? How did they phrase the question?

54. Excerpt

55. Data Dictionary
The data dictionary describes each variable in the data file
Typical information
Variable description
Question
Universe – who was asked this question, n=
Values for the variable and the # of cases
Length of the variable – 2 characters or 25
Position in the file – starts at column 97
Availability (suppressed)

56. Values and their codes

57. Wrap Up Many health surveys and products Data Library Services
Useful for qualitative and quantitative studies
Data Library Services
We’re here to help you locate data files
Data documentation
Save time – check to see if the variable is included
Check the sample size – will your results be statistically significant?
Find the answer – just need a frequency?

58. Questions ?