Understanding Health Indicators
What is an Indicator?
An indicator is a factor that can be measured over time to help understand a situation. An indicator can provide a one-time measurement, or it can show a trend. In that way, indicators can help support decision-making and action toward a goal. In the health field, indicators can help us to measure either our own individual health or the health status of a community. They can help us make decisions and set goals for improved health.
Example: You take your child’s temperature when she is sick. The number on the thermometer is an indicator of how sick she is. If she has a slight fever, you watch to make sure the fever does not get worse. You worry and call a doctor if her temperature goes up. If her temperature goes down, you send her to school the next day. The indicator—your child’s temperature—tells you whether she is getting well or becoming sicker. It helps you decide what to do next.
What are Health Indicators?
Health indicators describe the health of a population (a group of persons with something in common). Health indicators show how a population’s health changes over time. They can also be used to compare populations to see which ones are healthier. Communities, states, and countries can use health indicators to decide what to do about their health problems. Three examples of health indicators are:
- Disease incidence rates:
The number of new cases of a disease in a population, divided by the population - Life Expectancy:
The number of years a person can be expected to live, based on mortality statistics - Death rates:
The number of deaths each year, divided by the population
Example: A city health department watches certain health indicators to see how its citizens’ health is changing over time. Indicators also help them to answer the question, “How healthy is my city, compared to other cities?” The city learns that it has more new cases of HIV/AIDS among the city’s citizens than any other city in the nation. The local newspaper prints stories about these high rates of HIV/AIDS, and city leaders read the stories. The leaders decide to spend more money on programs to teach residents how to avoid becoming infected with the HIV virus. The health indicator—new cases of HIV/AIDS among the city’s citizens —has alerted city leaders to a problem. It helped them make decisions about how to spend city funds.
