Pharmacy in Public Health: Describing Populations Course, date, etc. info

Learning Outcomes Identify examples of demographic data and health status data Identify sources of demographic and health status data Interpret the data presented in a population pyramid Interpret demographic and health status data Identify risk factors for vulnerability to poor health status

Data on Individual Patients Demographic data: – Sex – Age – Weight, BMI Health related data: – Chronic disease states (e.g. hypertension, diabetes) – Medications

Sources of Data on Individual Patients Patient chart or medication record Patient interview Results from lab tests or clinical procedures Other sources?

Data on Populations Demographic data – Age, sex, socioeconomic status – Educational level – Race or ethnicity Health status data – Average age at death – Mortality related to specific causes (e.g. heart disease) – Low birth weight babies

Sources of Population Data Government sources – Census bureau – State Health Departments – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – National Center for Health Statistics Organizations – Clinics, hospitals, or pharmacies

U.S. Population What is the estimated population of the United States today? Census web site:

Population Level Economic Data

Population Level Mortality Data

Vulnerable Populations Those groups with a higher than average risk of having poor health – More likely to have diabetes or heart disease – More likely to have disabilities What are the risk factors? That is, under what circumstances does risk for poor health increase?

Vulnerable Populations (Figure used with permission of The University of Montana IPHARM program.)

Summary Using data for patient treatment was shown to be an analogous process to using data to describe populations How to interpret data in a table was demonstrated using demographic and health status data Several sources of data were identified Vulnerability or risk for poor health was discussed

Example Demographic Data

Example Population Pyramid