 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jennifer S Harper, MSPH and Roger B. Trent, PhD. Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control Branch, California Dept Health Services, 611 North 7th Street, MS 39A, Sacramento, CA 94234-7320, 916-323-3611, jharper@dhs.ca.gov
In recent years California’s injury surveillance program has received a growing number of requests for data while the staff to handle these requests has not increased. To meet this rising demand, we created a dynamic data web site. The EPICenter web site allows rapid and efficient dissemination of California injury data. Our web site creates over 1,000 data tables each month, thus allowing us to serve a larger number of data requesters with vastly less effort.
One of the strengths of this web site is its ease of use for people with varying levels of comfort with data. Users select from pre-defined tables on specific injury topics or use an area where they subset and can cross-tabulate data on selected variables (year, county, cause of injury, etc.). Many users prefer to create custom tables, but 40% of the requests are for pre-defined tables. This shows the value of basic queries that meet users’ needs without unnecessary complexity. Our site uses SAS® software and basic web technology like HTML. Because injury surveillance staff are familiar with SAS, we can maintain and update the site ourselves.
In this presentation we will share these tips and others for dealing with logistical and conceptual challenges in building a web application. We will also present site traffic results and feedback from users.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Internet, Data/Surveillance
Related Web page: www.dhs.ca.gov/EPICenter
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.