Health Survey as a Powerful Tool for Planning Public Health Intervention

Abstract

Health surveys are observational epidemiological studies of health status of the population in which usually a cross-section through frequency and characteristics of health outcomes and other health related events like exposures are studied and therefore provide prevalence data. Surveys are very applicable in searching for general insight in health states and conditions that last a relatively long time as well as various risk factors for them. Their results could be efficiently used in planning public health interventions, and in fact today they represent one of the most important tools of evidence based public health. The module is presenting basic theoretical background necessary for understanding the usefulness of health surveys in planning public health interventions, as well as it provides a case study.