Many global health promotion initiatives are concerned with making behavioral changes happen at the population level. Thus, the need for surveillance systems to monitor behavioral risk related to non-communicable diseases is highly valued. Nonetheless, the uniqueness of such systems presents many different interpretations of their nature and features (i.e., on which approach to surveillance they are modelled), and of their specification. This paper demonstrates how data analysis is a principle feature of surveillance systems, and how different approaches to data can impact differently on the "surveillance", on the system itself, and the use of the data. Examples will be drawn from some large behavioral risk factor type surveys, e.g., Lifestyle and Health in Great Britain and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in the USA. What is unique about these two survey systems is that they have collected data on a nearly continuous basis, over an extended period of time. In earlier work we referred to this kind of data collection strategy as Continuously Collected Data (CCD). The important point is that the data collection stream is ongoing, consistently periodic, without any extended periods of interruption. Thus a time-based data stream is produced. The data may thus be characterized as more dynamic than the usual static data produced by the typical cross-sectional survey. We wish to emphasize the richness of the CCD approach, presenting typical substantial questions that arise when a CCD is available, and illustrate by appropriate statistical methodologies how such data may be most useful to public health.
Learning Objectives: After this presentation the participants will be able: 1. To focus the purposes of a surveillance system 2. To understand the problems related to data analysis in a surveillance system 3. To understand the value of a data analysis system embedded in a surveillance system
Keywords: Surveillance, Evaluation
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.