"Health statistics are numbers that summarize information related to health."¹

Health statistics are used to understand risk factors for communities, track and monitor health events such as diseases, see the impact of policy changes, and assess the quality and safety of health care. Health statistics are a form of evidence or facts that can support a conclusion. Both evidence-informed policy-making and evidence-based medicine (EBM) are essential to informing how best to provide health care and promote population health.

Evidence-Informed Policy-Making

"an approach to policy decisions that is intended to ensure that decision making is well-informed by the best available research evidence"²

Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)

"the conscientious, explicit, judicious and reasonable use of modern, best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients"³

Not all evidence equally supports a conclusion. Evidence varies in quality and applicability to a given situation. For that reason, it is essential that health researchers and policy makers understand how to assess evidence in a systematic way, including how to access transparent, high quality health statistics and information.

Health statistics typically measure four types of information. The types are commonly referred to as the four Cs: correlates, conditions, care and costs. The first section of this course examines each type of information.

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1. "Health Statistics." MedlinePlus, 17 Apr. 2020, https://medlineplus.gov/healthstatistics.html.

2. Oxman, A.D., Laivs, J.N., Lewin, S., and A. Fretheim. SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health Policymaking (STP)1: What is evidence-informed policymaking? Health Research Policy and Systems, 7(S1). 2009.

3. Masic, I., Miokovic, M. and B. Muhamadagic. Evidence Based Medicine- New Approaches and Challenges. Acta Informatica Medica, 16(4). 2008.