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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

John H. Holmes, PhD¹, Nkuchia M'ikanatha, DrPH, MPH², Catherine Polachek³, and Ebbing Lautenbach, MD, MPH, MSCE¹. (1) Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 726 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-898-4833, jholmes@cceb.med.upenn.edu, (2) Pennsylvania Department of Health, Commonwealth and Foster, Harrisburg, PA 17120, (3) Northeast District, Pennsylvania Department of Health, 665 Carey Avenue, Suite 5, Wilkes-Barre, PA 19706

The extent to which public health officials access and use local infectious diseases (ID) information (e.g., reportable diseases, outbreaks) is unknown. We surveyed a convenience sample of health officials in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania from October through December 2004. The survey elicited information about availability of and access to local ID information. The majority of the 297 respondents were women (71.9%) and the mean time in current position was 7.4 years (SD=8.6). Most (60.1%) were situated in state agencies; 34.8% were in local jurisdictions <1,000,000 people; the remainder were in local jurisdictions with population >1,000,000. Most respondents (82.6%) had access to locally-produced Web-based ID information in their jurisdiction. Respondents in state health centers or local health departments in large jurisdictions (>500,000 people) were more likely not to have access to locally produced Web-based ID information, as opposed to those in state health department regional/district offices or in local jurisdictions <500,000 population (p<0.001). The ability to find needed ID information in jurisdictions with locally-produced Web-based information was not correlated with jurisdiction size. However, frequency of use of local jurisdiction Web-based ID information was significantly positively correlated with the ability to find such information, the use of neighboring or non-neighboring jurisdiction sites, and the use of the CDC Web site for ID information (all p<0.0001). These results suggest that locally-produced ID information is available in most health jurisdictions, although public health officials experience difficulties in finding this information. This suggests that future training should focus on the use of the Web.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand infectious disease information-seeking behavior of public health staff
• Plan for training the public health workforce in infectious disease surveillance
• Identify discrepancies between public health jurisdiction size and use of locally-produced Web-based infectious disease

Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Information Technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered