Study: Estimating summary measures of health

A study, which has been published in the journal Population Health Metrics, describes new software that will help researchers manage large amounts of data and calculations needed to assess the impact of various diseases and risk factors on the Canadian population.

Deciding where to place priorities for improving the health of Canadians is a complicated process. But having information about how diseases compare with one another and how different risk factors such as smoking or diet can affect different diseases can help.

Statistics Canada, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada and other Canadian researchers, is contributing to national and international measurement of the burden of disease by developing tools that help provide this information.

This study describes the easy-to-use software that brings together a wide range of data needed to estimate health-adjusted life years lost to cancer and attribute them to various risk factors. The software can be adapted for other diseases, specific regions of Canada, or other countries.

The article Estimating Summary Measures of Health: A Structured Workbook Approach and software are available for free online, in English only: (http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/3/1/5).

This study is part of the Population Health Impact of Disease in Canada research program, a collaboration of Statistics Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and researchers from McGill University, the University of Ottawa, the University of Manitoba, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Agence de développement de réseaux locaux de services de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie.

For more information about the concepts, methods or software, or to obtain a copy, contact William Flanagan (1-613-951-6930; bill.flanagan@statcan.gc.ca), Health Analysis and Measurement Group.