EDITOR’S CHOICE Advancing the Field of Public Health Surveillance and Survey Methods
S
urveillance data are the most important source of information and support for public health intervention on a local and global scale. In this June issue, I am delighted to announce that AJPH is introducing a new section called Surveillance and Survey Methods. The new AJPH section will publish peer-reviewed articles that describe the latest designs and methodological novelties that established programs have adopted to improve data collection, analysis, and dissemination to meet public health surveillance objectives. Surveillance and survey programs of interest range from those that gather data on major life events and disease onset and progression to those that track health care access, quality, and utilization over time. This section welcomes three types of articles: Design Description, Methods Research, and Perspectives. Design Description articles describe major design and methodological updates that established public health surveillance and survey programs have implemented. These articles should describe the program’s approaches in data collection, processing, reporting, and dissemination. Often times, surveillance programs are redesigned and updated on the basis of testing and evaluation. Methods Research articles describe the testing of new methods that public health surveillance and survey programs have conducted and subsequently adopted to make informed design changes to update the programs. Furthermore, the field of public health surveillance is long-standing and the methodological approaches employed have evolved over time. Perspectives articles may provide critical viewpoints describing the evolution of public health surveillance and survey methods— their strengths and limitations—and offer recommendations on how resources, technologies, collaborations, and policies can be leveraged to improve data collection and analytical approaches. Articles that compare multiple surveillance or survey programs, or that examine programs in different localities or countries, are welcome.
822
Editor’s Choice
In this inaugural issue, Paulose-Ram et al. (p. 916) authored the feature Design Description article that provides an overview of the 2011–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a flagship population survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, with an emphasis on the methodological changes made to oversample Asian Americans. Since the 1970s, NHANES has monitored the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. Beginning in 2011, NHANES began oversampling Asian Americans to obtain sufficient sample sizes to produce reliable estimates for this subpopulation. The feature article, in a clear and standardized format, describes the design and methods used in NHANES to oversample Asian Americans. The corresponding editorial by Chin (p. 827) puts NHANES’s oversampling of Asian Americans into context and critically argues that continuous, high-quality public health data collection is necessary for improving population health, particularly for Asian Americans. In the AJPH Perspectives special section, the importance and future of surveillance is further discussed by Sell for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning community (p. 843), Heymann for global infectious diseases (p. 845), Thorpe for big data and local areas (p. 847), Burkom for evolution of practices (p. 848), Ferketich for state-based surveillance (p. 850), and Perlman et al. for electronic health records (p. 853). The intent of this section is to publish significant, innovative work that will advance methods in data collection, analysis, and dissemination to meet public health surveillance objectives that will better guide actions and ultimately improve population health. Denys T. Lau, PhD National Center for Health Statistics Hyattsville, MD doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303799
50
YEARS AGO
Surveillance for Environmental Pollutants The New York State Health Department has studied various environmental continuous monitoring installations throughout the country with the objective of developing an effective, comprehensive environmental surveillance system based on the best engineering thought and electronic and telecommunication developments. . . . The system will be composed of 50 continuous air monitors, 60 continuous water monitors, and 300 to 400 manual stations. . . . A surveillance system of the magnitude described should be adequate to yield significant information. . . . However, the possibility has not been precluded that it may be necessary to place some type of continuous measuring detector at every important source of pollution. From AJPH, October 1967
25
YEARS AGO
Laboratory Surveillance for Occupational Lead Exposure Public health agencies in several states have described surveillance programs for occupational lead exposure using biological monitoring data. The experience in these states provides useful lessons about program design and operation. . . . The New Jersey experience demonstrates the utility of laboratory-based surveillance systems for occupational lead exposure. . . . Although some high-risk industries . . . are common to many states, state specific, laboratory based surveillance systems identify industries important in one state but not in others. . . . Improvements are needed if these surveillance systems are to provide accurate data for assessing progress toward the Public Health Service objective . . . by the year 2000. From AJPH, February 1992
AJPH
June 2017, Vol 107, No. 6
S
urveillance data are the most important source of information and support for public health intervention on a local and global scale. In this June issue, I am delighted to announce that AJPH is introducing a new section called Surveillance and Survey Methods. The new AJPH section will publish peer-reviewed articles that describe the latest designs and methodological novelties that established programs have adopted to improve data collection, analysis, and dissemination to meet public health surveillance objectives. Surveillance and survey programs of interest range from those that gather data on major life events and disease onset and progression to those that track health care access, quality, and utilization over time. This section welcomes three types of articles: Design Description, Methods Research, and Perspectives. Design Description articles describe major design and methodological updates that established public health surveillance and survey programs have implemented. These articles should describe the program’s approaches in data collection, processing, reporting, and dissemination. Often times, surveillance programs are redesigned and updated on the basis of testing and evaluation. Methods Research articles describe the testing of new methods that public health surveillance and survey programs have conducted and subsequently adopted to make informed design changes to update the programs. Furthermore, the field of public health surveillance is long-standing and the methodological approaches employed have evolved over time. Perspectives articles may provide critical viewpoints describing the evolution of public health surveillance and survey methods— their strengths and limitations—and offer recommendations on how resources, technologies, collaborations, and policies can be leveraged to improve data collection and analytical approaches. Articles that compare multiple surveillance or survey programs, or that examine programs in different localities or countries, are welcome.
822
Editor’s Choice
In this inaugural issue, Paulose-Ram et al. (p. 916) authored the feature Design Description article that provides an overview of the 2011–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a flagship population survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, with an emphasis on the methodological changes made to oversample Asian Americans. Since the 1970s, NHANES has monitored the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. Beginning in 2011, NHANES began oversampling Asian Americans to obtain sufficient sample sizes to produce reliable estimates for this subpopulation. The feature article, in a clear and standardized format, describes the design and methods used in NHANES to oversample Asian Americans. The corresponding editorial by Chin (p. 827) puts NHANES’s oversampling of Asian Americans into context and critically argues that continuous, high-quality public health data collection is necessary for improving population health, particularly for Asian Americans. In the AJPH Perspectives special section, the importance and future of surveillance is further discussed by Sell for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning community (p. 843), Heymann for global infectious diseases (p. 845), Thorpe for big data and local areas (p. 847), Burkom for evolution of practices (p. 848), Ferketich for state-based surveillance (p. 850), and Perlman et al. for electronic health records (p. 853). The intent of this section is to publish significant, innovative work that will advance methods in data collection, analysis, and dissemination to meet public health surveillance objectives that will better guide actions and ultimately improve population health. Denys T. Lau, PhD National Center for Health Statistics Hyattsville, MD doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303799
50
YEARS AGO
Surveillance for Environmental Pollutants The New York State Health Department has studied various environmental continuous monitoring installations throughout the country with the objective of developing an effective, comprehensive environmental surveillance system based on the best engineering thought and electronic and telecommunication developments. . . . The system will be composed of 50 continuous air monitors, 60 continuous water monitors, and 300 to 400 manual stations. . . . A surveillance system of the magnitude described should be adequate to yield significant information. . . . However, the possibility has not been precluded that it may be necessary to place some type of continuous measuring detector at every important source of pollution. From AJPH, October 1967
25
YEARS AGO
Laboratory Surveillance for Occupational Lead Exposure Public health agencies in several states have described surveillance programs for occupational lead exposure using biological monitoring data. The experience in these states provides useful lessons about program design and operation. . . . The New Jersey experience demonstrates the utility of laboratory-based surveillance systems for occupational lead exposure. . . . Although some high-risk industries . . . are common to many states, state specific, laboratory based surveillance systems identify industries important in one state but not in others. . . . Improvements are needed if these surveillance systems are to provide accurate data for assessing progress toward the Public Health Service objective . . . by the year 2000. From AJPH, February 1992
AJPH
June 2017, Vol 107, No. 6
