SMS Library - Public Health Statistics

PUBLIC HEALTH STATISTICS

Return to:
Guide to Library and Information Resources

STATE/COUNTY
NATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
INDEXES AND DATABASES
WEB SITES ON HEALTH STATISTICS

STATE AND COUNTY RESOURCES

TITLE AUTHOR ACCESS DESCRIPTION

Washington State Vital Statistics WA State Dept. Health Washington State Vital Statistics
http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehsphl/chs/chs-data/main.htm Statistics on birth, death, marriage, divorce.
Epilog Seattle-King County Department of Public Health Epilog
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/epilog Monthly epidemiological and public health bulletin of Seattle-King County.
EpiTrends Washington State Department of Health EPITRENDS
http://www.doh.wa.gov/EHSPHL/epitrends/08-epitrends/2008_trend.htm Monthly epidemiological and public health bulletin of Washington State.
The Health of Washington State WA State Dept. Health HWS
http://www.doh.wa.gov/HWS/default.htm
Statewide assessment of health status, health risks and health systems.

Washington State Rural Health Databook WA State Dept. Health Office of Community and Mental Health University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WA390 P561 W Socio-economic profile of rural WA. Focuses primarily on personal health indicators, health facilities, and personal insurance.
Healthcare State Rankings Morgan Quitno Corporation University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WA900 AA1 H432 1997 Direct comparisons of issues of health care by State.

NATIONAL RESOURCES

TITLE AUTHOR ACCESS DESCRIPTION

National Center for Health Statistics Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics NCHS
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ National and State-by-State public health statistics, including vital statistics, morbidity/incidence, key public health indicators, and reference sources such as the International Classification of Disease.
Quick Health Data Online National Women's Health Information Center of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services National, regional, state and county data are available by gender, race, ethnicity, and age. You can make your own custom tables, graphs, and maps. Search the database for statistics on:

Demographics
Mortality
Access to care
Infections and chronic disease
Reproductive health
Maternal health
Mental health
Violence and abuse
Prevention
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Centers for Disease Control
MMWR
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
Each weekly report provides provisional data on cases of selected notifiable diseases occurring in U.S. during the portion of the year immediately previous to publication. The data is 1 week old at time of publication and is compared to that from the same period of the previous year. Issues also present data on deaths from all causes in 121 cities. Special sections provide larger pictures on issues of national and international interest. MMWR Recommendations and Reports (Agency recommendations on health issues of importance) and Surveillance Summaries (Reports on surveillance of health events considered to be of high priority and progress or recommendations in regard to developing, evaluating, and implementing improved surveillance methods and systems) are also linked to this page.
Statistical Abstract of the United States Bureau of the Census, Treasury Dept., Commerce Dept. SAUS
www.census.gov/stat_abstract/
Avail. full text via Adobe Acrobat. Many tables avail. for viewing without download.
The U.S. government's primary general statistical factbook on the social, political, and economic organization of the U.S. Access to all types of data, including that not found in health statistics resources.

Health, United States Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics HUS
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm
1991 to present avail. full text via Adobe Acrobat. Previous issues listed.
Annual report presenting national trends in public health statistics, submitted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to the President and Congress. Major criteria for inclusion of data is that it be comparable national data available over a period of several years.

Statistical Record of Health and Medicine Gale Research, Inc. University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WA900 S797 1995 Comprehensive coverage of health data thought to be of wide interest. Extensive index, by place name as well as subject. Wide range of sources.

Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety International Labour Organization, Geneva University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WA 13 E56 1998 V1-4 Industrial injury and occupational disease statistics.

Atlas of United States Mortality National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WA 900 AA1 A7 1996

Socio-Economic Factbook for Surgery American College of Surgeons University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WO100 A5125S Slim volume focusing on data useful to doctors. Good for starting off a search on issues such as managed care, professional liability. Contains other useful information, such as the organization structure of DHHS and narrative summaries of important health legislation.

Length of Stay by Operation (volumes for United States and for the Western region) HCIA University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WX16 L5667 1996 Sampling of hospital populations to determine lengths of stay for various procedures and conditions.

INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES

TITLE AUTHOR ACCESS DESCRIPTION

Global Health Statistics Christopher J.L. Murray and Alan D. Lopez, World Health Organization, Harvard School of Public Health, and World Bank University of Washington Health Sciences Library
WA 16 M981g 1996 Global Burden of Disease series. Attempts to provide an objective comparable assessment of health status based on occurrence of disease and injury worldwide

Weekly Epidemiological Record World Health Organization WER
Adobe Acrobat required.
(www.who.ch/wer/wer_home.htm) Goal is rapid and accurate dissemination of epidemiological information on cases and outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations, other communicable diseases of public health importance, including the newly emerging or re-emerging infections, non-communicable diseases and other health problems. The WER is distributed every Friday in a bilingual English/French edition.

INDEXES AND DATABASES
Indexes are secondary resources; they do not present comprehensive data, but to allow the user to search for original data or research using key words or subject headings.
TITLE	AUTHOR	ACCESS	DESCRIPTION
Medline	National Library of Medicine	Medline http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/	A major index to medical periodical literature. Among the statistical resources indexed in Medline are MMWR, World Health Statistics Quarterly, the American Journal of Epidemiology, Demography, and the WHO Epidemiological Record.
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications	Superintendent of Documents	GPO Catalog (http://catalog.gpo.gov/) Searchable by keyword.	The primary bibliography of U.S. government publications. Not inclusive of all documents published by all agencies and departments but one of the most comprehensive sources.
Statistics Sources	Gale Research Co.	University of Washington Health Sciences Library Z7551.S84	Covers all types of statistics and therefore is a good resource for non-medical approaches to medically-significant issues (tobacco and alcohol, for example). Coverage is comprehensive and international. Gives agency/ organization name and contact information, lists published sources, and indicates if unpublished information is available. Industry and economic issues (employment, insurance, equipment, expenditures, etc.) appear in the index under "health" and "medical", personal health issues appear under the individual topics (cancer, operations, etc.), and international statistics appear under country or region.
Index to Health Information	Congressional Information Service (CIS)	University of Washington Health Sciences Library ZWA 900.1 I35	"The Index to Health Information provides access to two types of information: statistics drawn from the American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index, and Index to International Statistics (all three of these resources are available at Government Publications at Suzallo and on Dialog); and policy-oriented information based on coverage provided by the CIS/Index to congressional publications." Searchable by keyword.

WEB PAGES
DESCRIPTION	AUTHOR	LINK
Links to over 100 Federal agencies that spend $500,000 or more per year on producing statistics. This page also includes links to major statistics by topic and geographical location, as well as links to major online statistical publications.	U.S. Government	FEDSTATS (www.fedstats.gov)
Seattle-King County Department of Public Health	Seattle-King County Department of Public Health	WA DOH http://www.metrokc.gov/health
WA State Dept. Health publications page	WA State Dept. Health	WA DOH (www.doh.wa.gov/publicat/publications.htm)
Healthlinks statistics page. Lists international, national, State, and University of Washington health and social online and print statistics resources. Entries are briefly annotated.	Integrated Advanced Information Management System Program (IAMS) and the University of Washington Health Sciences Library	HEALTHLINKS (healthlinks.washington.edu/statistics)
Falk Library health statistics page. A guide to locating such statistics on the WWW or at the Falk library that consists of an annotated bibliography and some general information and tips. The annotations are more detailed than those of the University of Michigan. Gives, for example, indexing information on some of the resources. However, the format is more difficult to follow. Includes a list of key terms and notes the major governmental agencies which issue health statistics.	University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library	FALK (www.hsls.pitt.edu/resources/internet_guides/hsguide.html)
Countway Library datasets and statistical and data resources page. This is the index page for other Countway pages listing government agencies and statistics on the web, statistics glossary terms, searching tips, and lists of resources. The Countway Reference Titles Indexes, Compendia, and Serial Publications page lists many of the publications covered in this guide.	Harvard University Countway Library of Medicine	COUNTWAY http://www.countway.med.harvard.edu/informatics/links.shtml
Martindale's Virtual Public Health Center. This is the public health center page of Martindale's Reference Center. Extraordinary and complex. Links to substantive databases.	James G. Martindale ©.	MARTINDALE'S (http://www.martindalecenter.com/PHealth.html)

TOP

STATE AND COUNTY RESOURCES
TITLE	AUTHOR	ACCESS	DESCRIPTION
Washington State Vital Statistics	WA State Dept. Health	Washington State Vital Statistics http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehsphl/chs/chs-data/main.htm	Statistics on birth, death, marriage, divorce.
Epilog	Seattle-King County Department of Public Health	Epilog http://www.metrokc.gov/health/epilog	Monthly epidemiological and public health bulletin of Seattle-King County.
EpiTrends	Washington State Department of Health	EPITRENDS http://www.doh.wa.gov/EHSPHL/epitrends/08-epitrends/2008_trend.htm	Monthly epidemiological and public health bulletin of Washington State.
The Health of Washington State	WA State Dept. Health	HWS http://www.doh.wa.gov/HWS/default.htm	Statewide assessment of health status, health risks and health systems.
Washington State Rural Health Databook	WA State Dept. Health Office of Community and Mental Health	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WA390 P561 W	Socio-economic profile of rural WA. Focuses primarily on personal health indicators, health facilities, and personal insurance.
Healthcare State Rankings	Morgan Quitno Corporation	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WA900 AA1 H432 1997	Direct comparisons of issues of health care by State.

NATIONAL RESOURCES
TITLE	AUTHOR	ACCESS	DESCRIPTION
National Center for Health Statistics	Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics	NCHS http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/	National and State-by-State public health statistics, including vital statistics, morbidity/incidence, key public health indicators, and reference sources such as the International Classification of Disease.
Quick Health Data Online	National Women's Health Information Center of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services		National, regional, state and county data are available by gender, race, ethnicity, and age. You can make your own custom tables, graphs, and maps. Search the database for statistics on: Demographics Mortality Access to care Infections and chronic disease Reproductive health Maternal health Mental health Violence and abuse Prevention
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)	Centers for Disease Control	MMWR http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/	Each weekly report provides provisional data on cases of selected notifiable diseases occurring in U.S. during the portion of the year immediately previous to publication. The data is 1 week old at time of publication and is compared to that from the same period of the previous year. Issues also present data on deaths from all causes in 121 cities. Special sections provide larger pictures on issues of national and international interest. MMWR Recommendations and Reports (Agency recommendations on health issues of importance) and Surveillance Summaries (Reports on surveillance of health events considered to be of high priority and progress or recommendations in regard to developing, evaluating, and implementing improved surveillance methods and systems) are also linked to this page.
Statistical Abstract of the United States	Bureau of the Census, Treasury Dept., Commerce Dept.	SAUS www.census.gov/stat_abstract/ Avail. full text via Adobe Acrobat. Many tables avail. for viewing without download.	The U.S. government's primary general statistical factbook on the social, political, and economic organization of the U.S. Access to all types of data, including that not found in health statistics resources.
Health, United States	Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics	HUS http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm 1991 to present avail. full text via Adobe Acrobat. Previous issues listed.	Annual report presenting national trends in public health statistics, submitted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to the President and Congress. Major criteria for inclusion of data is that it be comparable national data available over a period of several years.
Statistical Record of Health and Medicine	Gale Research, Inc.	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WA900 S797 1995	Comprehensive coverage of health data thought to be of wide interest. Extensive index, by place name as well as subject. Wide range of sources.
Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety	International Labour Organization, Geneva	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WA 13 E56 1998 V1-4	Industrial injury and occupational disease statistics.
Atlas of United States Mortality	National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WA 900 AA1 A7 1996
Socio-Economic Factbook for Surgery	American College of Surgeons	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WO100 A5125S	Slim volume focusing on data useful to doctors. Good for starting off a search on issues such as managed care, professional liability. Contains other useful information, such as the organization structure of DHHS and narrative summaries of important health legislation.
Length of Stay by Operation (volumes for United States and for the Western region)	HCIA	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WX16 L5667 1996	Sampling of hospital populations to determine lengths of stay for various procedures and conditions.

INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES
TITLE	AUTHOR	ACCESS	DESCRIPTION
Global Health Statistics	Christopher J.L. Murray and Alan D. Lopez, World Health Organization, Harvard School of Public Health, and World Bank	University of Washington Health Sciences Library WA 16 M981g 1996	Global Burden of Disease series. Attempts to provide an objective comparable assessment of health status based on occurrence of disease and injury worldwide
Weekly Epidemiological Record	World Health Organization	WER Adobe Acrobat required. (www.who.ch/wer/wer_home.htm)	Goal is rapid and accurate dissemination of epidemiological information on cases and outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations, other communicable diseases of public health importance, including the newly emerging or re-emerging infections, non-communicable diseases and other health problems. The WER is distributed every Friday in a bilingual English/French edition.

CONTENTS