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Summary
Health statistics are numbers that summarize information related to health. Researchers and experts from government, private, and non-profit agencies and organizations collect health statistics. They use the statistics to learn about public health and health care. Some of the types of statistics include:
- How many people in the country have a disease or how many people got the disease within a certain period of time
- How many people of a certain group have a disease. The groups could be based on location, race, ethnic group, sex, age, profession, income level, level of education. This can help identify health disparities.
- Whether a treatment is safe and effective
- How many people were born and died. These are known as vital statistics.
- How many people have access to and use health care
- The quality and efficiency of our health care system
- Health care costs, including how much the government, employers, and individuals pay for health care. It could include how poor health can affect the country economically
- The impact of government programs and policies on health
- Risk factors for different diseases. An example would be how air pollution can raise your risk of lung diseases
- Ways to lower risk for diseases, such as exercise and weight loss to lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes
Numbers on a graph or in a chart may seem straightforward, but that's not always the case. It's important to be critical and consider the source. If needed, ask questions to help you understand the statistics and what they are showing.
Related Issues
- FastStats: Deaths and Mortality (National Center for Health Statistics)
- FastStats: Leading Causes of Death (National Center for Health Statistics)
- FastStats: Life Expectancy (National Center for Health Statistics)
- Global Health Observatory (GHO): Mortality and Global Health Estimates (World Health Organization)
- Leading Health Indicators -- Healthy People 2030 (Department of Health and Human Services)
- National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) Birth Data (National Center for Health Statistics)
- State Health Facts (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Top 10 Causes of Death in the World (World Health Organization) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
- MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Children
- America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics)
- America's Young Adults (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics) - PDF
- Death among children and adolescents (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- FastStats: Child Health (National Center for Health Statistics)
- Infant Mortality (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Infant mortality: Death Rates Among Infants by Detailed Race and Hispanic Origin of Mother, Selected Years 1983-2019 (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics)
Teenagers
- FastStats: Adolescent Health (National Center for Health Statistics)
Men
- FastStats: Men's Health (National Center for Health Statistics)
Women
- FastStats: Women's Health (National Center for Health Statistics)
Older Adults
- FastStats: Older Persons' Health (National Center for Health Statistics)
- Older Americans 2020: Key Indicators of Well-Being (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics)