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Detection of aberrations in the occurrence of notifiable diseases surveillance data
Author(s) -
Stroup Donna F.,
Williamson G. David,
Herndon Joy L.,
Karon John M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/sim.4780080312
Subject(s) - notifiable disease , public health surveillance , public health , disease surveillance , disease control , infectious disease (medical specialty) , environmental health , disease , health surveillance , computer science , medicine , pathology
The detection of unusual patterns in the occurrence of diseases and other health events presents an important challenge to public health surveillance. This paper discusses three analytic methods for identifying aberrations in underlying distributions. The methods are illustrated on selected infectious diseases included in the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control. Results suggest the utility of such an analytic approach. Further work will determine the sensitivity of such methods to variations in the occurrence of disease. These methods are useful for evaluating and monitoring public health surveillance data.