How Do You Understand Health-related Statistics?

You can glean a lot of information that will help you understand the statistics in front of you if you take the time to read the fine print:

1. Read the titles of tables, figures, and column headings and note such things as:
   • - who collected the data
   • - the date the data was collected
   • - whether it's sample data or population data
   • - whether it's a rate or a count.
2. Read the footnotes and any other explanatory material at the bottom of tables and figures.
3. If there is a detailed description of how the data was collected and analyzed, read it!

Health statistics are gathered for a variety of reasons. When you evaluate statistics, it's helpful to know who gathered the data, why they gathered it, and what methods were used in collecting it.

If you're on a website look for the 'About Us' or mission statement section to find out about the reliability and credentials of the site.

Be skeptical of web pages with advertisements

Things to remember about health realted statistics

There are many resources to help you locate health statistics. However, data collection and analysis is uncoordinated, fragmented, decentralized, slow, and expensive, which means:

• You may find more information on your topic at the state or national level than at the local or county level
• Developing countries may not have up-to-date statistics or may not have collected statstics on a variety of topics
• It may be difficult to find data on some demographic groups or topics
• The data you seek may not have been collected.
• The data you seek may have been collected but not analyzed or presented in the format you'd like.
• the data that exists is probably older than you would prefer.
• You may not find statistics for the year you are searching for
• Numbers may not match if you get statistics from different sources
• You will probably have to dig a little to get what you need. If you don't find what you need, ASK FOR HELP!