Training modules and materials
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Beyond its strategic approaches and sectoral objectives, the ultimate aim of the Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network is to participate in the sustainable social and economic development of Pacific societies. In our opinion, networking must strengthen the potential of local development by improving integration of required resources at the regional level, thereby laying a better foundation for sustainable development.
In doing so, networking also responds to a request often made by Pacific island countries and territories : i.e. the creation of a regional group of public health experts, which would allow health professionals in Pacific island countries and territories to assist each other without necessarily having to call upon regional and international agencies, such as the SPC or WHO.
These same concepts underlie the training courses and have guided the selection of the methods and support materials used.
3 training modules
2 modules on "Basic" and "Advanced" training in public health surveillance and use of Epi Info 6 software
Handbook
Basic training in public health surveillance and use of Epi Info 6, PHS&CDC 1998
This document is the handbook distributed to the students during the first series of regional workshops provided by the PHS&CDC section.
Handbook
Advanced training in the practice of public health surveillance and the use of Epi Info 6 software, PHS&CDC 1999
This document is the handbook distributed to the students during the second series of regional workshops provided by the PHS&CDC section.
3rd training module in Analytical Epidemiology
This third module is an example of computer-assisted learning.>> more information
‘Cholera Exercise’
Training Module
in Analytical
Epidemiology
‘Downloadable from this website’,
OR copies available on request for PPHSN members
Epi INFO software
The Epi INFO software is a word processing, database and statistics software for epidemiology. The programme was produced by the Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Global Programme on AIDS, World Health Organization, and are provided for use by the public health community.
This Epi INFO software is available on the Internet:
 | at the Ecole Nationale de Santé publique in France (http://www.ensp.fr/services/logiciels/epiinfo_604d_fr.htm) |
| at the CDC site in USA (http://www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/Epi6/ei6.htm). |
Moreover, a discussion list is available to help Epi INFO users to solve problems encountered. To join this list, send the message 'subscribe epi-info' without no body message, no object or signature to the following address: listserv@listserv.cdc.gov.
Epi INFO allows to handle epidemiological data in questionnaire format and also to organise study designs and results into texts that may form part of written reports. A questionnaire can be set up and processed in a few minutes, but Epi INFO can also form the basis for powerful disease surveillance system database with many files and record types. It includes the features most used by epidemiologists in statistical programmes such as SAS or SPSS and database programmes like dBASE combined in a single system that may be freely copied and given to colleagues.
Three levels of facilities
There three levels of facilities in Epi INFO for processing questionnaire or other structured data. Using Epi INFO on the simplest level, a questionnaire or investigating form can be computerized in a few minutes by:
| running the main menu; |
| typing the questionnaire form or form with EPED, the word processor or another word-processing programme; |
| entering data in questionnaire using ENTER programmes; |
| analysing the data using the ANALYSIS programme to produce lists, frequencies, cross tabulations, means, graphs and accompagnying statistics. |
As your knowledge of the software grows, you will use additional features to shape data entry and analysis to your needs. You will probably want to:
| insert error checking, skip patterns, and automatic coding in the questionnaire using the CHECK programme; |
| select records, create new variables, recode data, manipulate dates and carry out conditional operations with IF statements during ANALYSIS; |
| incorporate these operations into programme files so that they can be performed repeatedly or by other persons unfamiliar with programming; |
| import and export files from other systems like SAS, SPSS, dBASE and Lotus; |
The third level of features is important if you are setting up a permanent database system, a large study, or want to customize Epi INFO's operations to suit special needs. For such purpose you can:
| programme the data entry to include mathematical operations, logical checks, color changes, pop-up boxes, and custom routines written other languages; |
| specify the format of reports from ANALYSIS to produce customized tables; |
| enter data into more than one file during the same session, moving automatically among several questionnaires within ENTER; |
| link several different types of files together in ANALYSIS so that questions can be answered that require data from more than one file; |
| compare duplicate files entered by different operators to detect data entry errors. |
HIDS application
The Health Indicators and Disease Surveillance (HIDS) Epi6 training application has been designed as a database system, incorporating data which can be captured on a patient and individual or monthly and aggregated basis.
Patient Records consisting of the following files, Patient questionnaire, Maternal questionnaire, Immunization questionnaire and Disease questionnaire, all with an associated check file, have been developed to build a database of patient records which are uniquely identified by EpiInfo for each new patient entered. The Maternal, Immunization and Disease records are joined as separate tables by the unique identifier, using the Relate commands.
The different features of the check files have been used and re-used in different locations of the program to provide the trainees with exposure in the use of the programming techniques.
Patient data has been incorporated to allow the trainees to experience how the commands react to each other and how individual data can be collected to produce results for reporting on Communicable Disease Surveillance (through the Disease file) Maternal/pregnancy indicators (through the Maternal file) and Immunization rates (through the Immunization file). All data collected is used for the final reporting schemes in order for the trainees to develop an understanding in how the data collected can be used to produce reports or statistics needed for their community. The patient records have been designed to collect data from clinics, regrouping the clinics by district.
The monthly data reporting questionnaire is designed for the collection of aggregated data from individual clinics on a monthly basis. The questionnaire covers disease surveillance, immunization, maternal care, births and deaths for each reporting clinic. The introduction to aggregated data is featured in the reporting segment and the goal focuses on models of reporting forms used presently by the communities. As examples, and similarly to the individual Patient Records, the data that is represented incorporates suspected diseases that can be assessed in a health clinic and trigger a public health (re)action; it does not include confirmation of diseases through further lab tests ; immunization data allow the calculation of the immunization coverage for the routinely-used vaccines; maternal care data target the antenatal and postnatal coverage, and an attempt has been made to capture data for the age of the birth mother to provide health indicators on teenage pregnancies. Birth data includes the number of live and still births and mortality data include all and pregnancy-related deaths.
From the data produced in both the patient and monthly reports, a series of health indicators can be examined. These indicators are summarized through the reporting functions of EpiInfo which have been incorporated in the HIDS program, and are a direct result of the chosen data collection methodology. They are viewed as accurately attainable data and can show the trainees the possibilities that exist in capturing the data and being able to analyze and apply it to the final reporting system, producing disease surveillance and health indicator reports for further examination.