Health indicators are quantifiable characteristics of a population which researchers use as supporting evidence for describing the health of a population. Typically, researchers will use a

survey methodology Survey methodology is "the study of survey methods". As a field of applied statistics concentrating on human-research surveys, survey methodology studies the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of survey da ...

to gather information about a population sample, use

statistics Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...

in an attempt to generalize the information collected to the entire population, and then use the statistical analysis to make a statement about the health of the population. Health indicators are often used by governments to guide

health care policy Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(Web archive)/ref> According to the ...

or to make goals for improving population health.

Characteristics

A health indicator which will be used internationally to describe

global health Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problem ...

should have the following characteristics: #It should be defined in such a way that it can be measured uniformly internationally. #It must have statistical validity. #The indicator must be data which can feasibly be collected in a reasonable amount of time. #The analysis of the data must result in a recommendation on which people can make changes to improve health

Health indicator examples

*This is not a comprehensive list of health indicators.

Health status

Life expectancy at birth Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy tra ...

** Number of years a newborn is expected to live based on current mortality trends. *

Infant mortality rate Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

** Number of infant deaths (children under 1 year) per 1,000 live births in a year. * Neonatal mortality rate ** Number of newborn deaths (children under 28 days) per 1,000 births in a year. * Maternal mortality ratio ** Number of women who die due to pregnancy or birth complications per 100,000 births in a year. * Mortality from

cardiovascular diseases Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

incidence *

Diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

incidence * Depression incidence * Disability adjusted life years (DALY) ** A measurement of premature death or lower quality of life due to disability. *

Activities of daily living Activity may refer to: * Action (philosophy), in general * Human activity: human behavior, in sociology behavior may refer to all basic human actions, economics may study human economic activities and along with cybernetics and psychology may s ...

(ADL) ** A measurement of ability to self-sustain based on ability to perform daily activities such as dressing, feeding, and grooming.

Risk factors

* Alcohol consumption * Smoking in adults * Physical exercise habits * Condom use *

Obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

rate *

Asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

rate *

High blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

rate *

Air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

levels * Exclusive breastfeeding rate ** Number of mothers who only feed their infants breast milk for the first 6 months of life per a unit of measurement. * Child stunting rate ** Number of children who have a low height for their age (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement. * Child wasting rate ** Number of children who have a low weight for their height (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement.

Health systems

* Healthcare coverage ** Number of people with some type of health care coverage/insurance per unit of measurement. * Hospital beds per capita * Doctors per capita * Nurses per capita * Hospital readmission rates * Health expenditure as percentage of GDP ** Percentage of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) used toward healthcare. * People with HIV aware of their status * Breast cancer screening rate * Birth registration rate ** Number of people with a government- verified birth certificate per unit of measurement. * Death registration rate ** Number of people with a government- verified death certificate per unit of measurement.

Applications

Health indicators are commonly used to make large-scale or community health-related decisions. By describing the current health of a population, the areas that need improvement become evident, and policy-makers and health professionals can work to fill these gaps. Once interventions are put in place to try to improve the health of a population, health indicators can then be used to evaluate the success of the intervention. Additionally, health indicators can highlight health disparities in a population. Differences in health indicators among genders, races, ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes, and other groups can be used to guide policy and interventions that will bring health equity in the future. Health indicators are used by many institutions, including international organizations such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

and

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO). They are also used by smaller-scale community health organizations, hospitals, and other medical and public health organizations such as the

Center for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC),

National Institute of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH)
The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships
(ACHAP), an
Global Alliance for Africa

References

External links

World Health Statistics 2012 Indicator compendium
created by the

World Health Statistics 2012 Global Health Indicators

Health Indicatorslist of health indicators
created by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

HealthyPeople.gov
created by the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

Community Health Status Indicators
a project of the Centers for Disease Control

a project of

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

HealthIndicators.gov
a database of US health indicators {{Authority control Biostatistics Medical statistics Pharmaceutical statistics Indicators