What are environmental public health indicators?

The key mission of the Environmental Public Health Tracking Program is to improve access to health and environmental data for both the public and researchers.  The first step in achieving this goal is the development of environmental public health indicators (EPHI).  Environmental public health indicators (EPHIs) can be used to assess our health status or risk as it relates to our environment. They may be used to assess baseline status and trends, as well as track program goals and objectives.

There are three types of EPHIs - health, exposure, and hazard indicators. Health indicators focus on non-infectious health conditions such as carbon monoxide poisoning, asthma, cancer, and birth defects.  Exposure indicators look at the presence of an environmental agent (such as lead or arsenic) in an individual.  Hazard indicators examine chemical, physical or biologic agents that may be found in air, water, soil, food, or other environmental media.

What are the NCDM datasets?

These datasets contain the data needed to calculate the nationally consistent measures.  They contain raw data at the state or county level broken out by demographic group. 

What are metadata?

Metadata are often described as "data about data". Descriptive metadata include information that describes the content, quality, and context of a data resource for the purpose of facilitating identification and discovery.  It may reference additional information like quality assurance documents and data dictionaries.  Through descriptive metadata a user can learn the what, why, when, who, where, and how for a data resource.  Descriptive metadata helps a user decide if a resource is appropriate for the intended use.

CLICK HERE to access information on the available Environmental Public Health Indicators.