Occupational and Environmental Health Surveillance

Author(s):  
Letitia Davis ◽  
Kerry Souza

This chapter describes various approaches to occupational and environmental health surveillance. It begins by defining public health surveillance and the basic principles of surveillance, emphazing the critical link between data and action and the importance of using surveillance findings to improve worker and community health. It describes case-based surveillance, population-based surveillance, rate-based surveillance, and hazard surveillance. It describes surveillance systems, including those based on physician reporting and on laboratory reporting. The chapter provides a description of the major occupational health surveillance systems and environmental health surveillance activities in the United States, and includes examples of how data have been translated to action. It concludes in identifying some of the surveillance challenges and opportunities related to 21st century changes in the workplace, the ambient environment, and information technology.

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-79
Author(s):  
Carmela Alcántara ◽  
Shakira F. Suglia ◽  
Irene Perez Ibarra ◽  
A. Louise Falzon ◽  
Elliot McCullough ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falaho Sani ◽  
Mohammed Hasen ◽  
Mohammed Seid ◽  
Nuriya Umer

Abstract Background: Public health surveillance systems should be evaluated periodically to ensure that the problems of public health importance are being monitored efficiently and effectively. Despite the widespread measles outbreak in Ginnir district of Bale zone in 2019, evaluation of measles surveillance system has not been conducted. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of measles surveillance system and its key attributes in Ginnir district, Southeast Ethiopia.Methods: We conducted a concurrent embedded mixed quantitative/qualitative study in August 2019 among 15 health facilities/study units in Ginnir district. Health facilities are selected using lottery method. The qualitative study involved purposively selected 15 key informants. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems through face-to-face interview and record review. The quantitative findings were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and summarized by frequency and proportion. The qualitative findings were narrated and summarized based on thematic areas to supplement the quantitative findings.Results: The structure of surveillance data flow was from the community to the respective upper level. Emergency preparedness and response plan was available only at the district level. Completeness of weekly report was 95%, while timeliness was 87%. No regular analysis and interpretations of surveillance data, and the supportive supervision and feedback system was weak. The participation and willingness of surveillance stakeholders in implementation of the system was good. The surveillance system was found to be useful, easy to implement, representative and can accommodate and adapt to changing conditions. Report documentation and quality of data was poor at lower level health facilities. Stability of the system has been challenged by shortage of budget and logistics, staff turnover and lack of update trainings.Conclusions: The surveillance system was acceptable, useful, simple, flexible and representative. Data quality, timeliness and stability of the system were attributes that require improvement. The overall performance of measles surveillance system in the district was poor. Hence, regular analysis of data, preparation and dissemination of epidemiological bulletin, capacity building and regular supervision and feedback are recommended to enhance performance of the system.


2021 ◽  
pp. e1-e7
Author(s):  
Randall L. Sell ◽  
Elise I. Krims

Public health surveillance can have profound impacts on the health of populations, with COVID-19 surveillance offering an illuminating example. Surveillance surrounding COVID-19 testing, confirmed cases, and deaths has provided essential information to public health professionals about how to minimize morbidity and mortality. In the United States, surveillance has also pointed out how populations, on the basis of geography, age, and race and ethnicity, are being impacted disproportionately, allowing targeted intervention and evaluation. However, COVID-19 surveillance has also highlighted how the public health surveillance system fails some communities, including sexual and gender minorities. This failure has come about because of the haphazard and disorganized way disease reporting data are collected, analyzed, and reported in the United States, and the structural homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia acting within these systems. We provide recommendations for addressing these concerns after examining experiences collecting race data in COVID-19 surveillance and attempts in Pennsylvania and California to incorporate sexual orientation and gender identity variables into their pandemic surveillance efforts. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 10, 2021: e1–e7. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.3062727 )


2017 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Rodriguez-Lainz ◽  
Mariana McDonald ◽  
Maureen Fonseca-Ford ◽  
Ana Penman-Aguilar ◽  
Stephen H. Waterman ◽  
...  

Objective: Despite increasing diversity in the US population, substantial gaps in collecting data on race, ethnicity, primary language, and nativity indicators persist in public health surveillance and monitoring systems. In addition, few systems provide questionnaires in foreign languages for inclusion of non-English speakers. We assessed (1) the extent of data collected on race, ethnicity, primary language, and nativity indicators (ie, place of birth, immigration status, and years in the United States) and (2) the use of data-collection instruments in non-English languages among Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)–supported public health surveillance and monitoring systems in the United States. Methods: We identified CDC-supported surveillance and health monitoring systems in place from 2010 through 2013 by searching CDC websites and other federal websites. For each system, we assessed its website, documentation, and publications for evidence of the variables of interest and use of data-collection instruments in non-English languages. We requested missing information from CDC program officials, as needed. Results: Of 125 data systems, 100 (80%) collected data on race and ethnicity, 2 more collected data on ethnicity but not race, 26 (21%) collected data on racial/ethnic subcategories, 40 (32%) collected data on place of birth, 21 (17%) collected data on years in the United States, 14 (11%) collected data on immigration status, 13 (10%) collected data on primary language, and 29 (23%) used non-English data-collection instruments. Population-based surveys and disease registries more often collected data on detailed variables than did case-based, administrative, and multiple-source systems. Conclusions: More complete and accurate data on race, ethnicity, primary language, and nativity can improve the quality, representativeness, and usefulness of public health surveillance and monitoring systems to plan and evaluate targeted public health interventions to eliminate health disparities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda A. Lizewski ◽  
Howard Burkom ◽  
Joseph Lombardo ◽  
Christopher Cuellar ◽  
Yevgeniy Elbert ◽  
...  

While other surveillance systems may only use death and admissions as severity indicators, these serious events may overshadow the more subtle severity signals based on appointment type, disposition from an outpatient setting, and whether that patient had to return for care if they their condition has not improved.  This abstract discusses how these additional data fields were utilized in a fusion model to improve the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE).


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