This document provides guidance on finding health statistics from various sources. It discusses tips for searching the web and databases for statistics, as well as evaluating the quality and relevance of available statistics. Key points covered include using appropriate keywords and subject headings in searches, searching multiple databases and websites from organizations that collect health data, and considering factors like the population, date, methodology when assessing statistics. Sources suggested for finding national, state and local health statistics are also provided.

1. NURS 509: Needs Assessment
Assignment
Finding Statistics & Effective
Database Searching
Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, VCU
Libraries

2. 1. Understand the Issues when trying to Find Statistics on
the Web and in Databases
2. Gain Some Tips on How to Find Statistics on the Web, as
well as in the literature databases
3. Be aware of good sites for finding statistics and the
national, state and local levels
4. Become reacquainted with searching with keyword and
controlled vocabulary/subject headings.
Goals and Objectives

3. Key Points to Consider
When searching for statistics ask yourself:
o Are statistics likely to be available on this topic?
o Which organization(s) might collect relevant statistics?
o Where might relevant statistics be published or mentioned?
• websites, reports, yearbooks, bulletins, newspapers, magazines, journals
o What keywords might be used to describe these statistics?
• statistics on the heart can be listed under cardiovascular disease
Be prepared for the possibility that:
o Statistics may not exist for the level of detail or all the
variables wanted
• State of Virginia but not Richmond, VA
o The most recent statistics may be several years old
• census data
o Some statistics are not published/freely available

4.  Many organizations and agencies include health statistics that they
collect or have access to
 Search the Internet for organizations using at least two search
engines [Google/Bing/Yahoo]
 Search for a known organization using quotes, as "American Heart
Association"
 Consider searching by topic, remembering search results are
usually ranked by popularity /are often not ranked by relevance.
 Use synonyms for statistics connected by OR in the search phrase
(as...statistics OR rate OR incidence OR data)
 Use synonyms for the disease or condition in search phrases (as
lung OR pulmonary, heart OR cardiac)
When Searching the Web
for Statistics

5. • Find the CINAHL Heading That is Closest
to the Topic You Are Searching For
• Select one subheading that is related to
statistics (as epidemiology, trends)
(Selecting two or more subheadings will
greatly limit the results)
OR
• Do a second search (using the Suggest
Subject Terms option) with one or more of
these CINAHL subject headings:
Descriptive Statistics, Incidence, or
Data Analysis, Statistical
OR
• Do a second search using one or more of
these keywords: statistics, incidence, or
data
• MeSH subheading : statistics and
numerical data
 can be searched separately as
"statistics and numerical
data"[subheading]
• MeSH subheading: epidemiology
• MeSH heading: incidence
• Potentially Useful Keywords:
statistics, epidemiology, incidence
Searching the Literature
for Statistics

6. Consider the following when evaluating the
usefulness of found statistics or data
• Who collected and published the statistics?
• What are their credentials?
• What data or statistics is being reported?
• What populations are included?
• Is the information current enough?
(Often a time lag between data collection & data reporting because analysis takes time)
• Why was the information collected?
• Who are the intended users?
• What it collected as part of the organization's mission? for
advocacy? for business purposes (as to sell a product?)
• How were the statistics collected? Were any samplings or
surveys done scientifically?

7. • US Census Bureau: collects vital health and other statistics.
• CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) : principal US
health statistics agency that compiles statistical information.
• National Info. Center on Health Services Research & Health
Care Tech. (NICHSR)/ Data, Tools & Statistics: contains selective
links representing a sample of available information. Items are selected for their
quality, authority of authorship, uniqueness, and appropriateness
• NIH Institutes and Offices : starting point for disease specific statistical
information.
• FedStats: Makes statistics available from 100+ agencies/programs available.
Resources for Statistics:
National Resources

8. State Resources
• Virginia Department of Health
 Division of Health Statistics
 Disease Statistics
 Data and Reports
• Virginia Quick Facts: US Census Bureau
• State and County QuickFacts: U.S. Census Bureau:
access to facts about people, business, and geography.
• State Health Facts: Kaiser Family Foundation
• America's Health Rankings: Annual assessment of the
nation`s health on a state-by-state basis.
• StateMaster: statistical database which allows you to
research and compare a multitude of different data on US
states
 Partners in Information Access for the Public
Health Workforce: includes links for individual states
statistics
Resources for Statistics:
State, County, City
City/Country Resources
• Richmond City Health
Department
• County Health Rankings :
Program of the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and the
University of Wisconsin
Population Health Institute

10. Infant Mortality Statistics
National Sources:
• CDC National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS)
• Fast Stats – Infant Health
• CDC Wonder: Linked Birth / Infant
Death Records, 2007-2008 Request
• Infant mortality by cause: US/State
2000-2008 (Source: NVSS)
State and Local Sources:
• VDH: Division of Health Statistics
• Richmond City Health
Department
• State Health Facts
• County Health Rankings

11. Subject Headings / Keywords

12. Keywords vs. Subject
Headings
Advantage Disadvantage
Controlled
Vocabulary
(Subject
Heading)
A list of subject terms may help you find
an appropriate search term for your
topic.
It can provide you with suggested terms
for narrower, broader or suggested
topics.
Using appropriate subject headings for a
topic, will retrieve all items in the
database indexed under the topic.
Recently coined terms, including new topics
and jargon may not yet be included in the
list of subject terms.
When a database does not provide a thesaurus
or list of subject terms, the controlled
vocabulary might not be obvious.
Keyword
Will retrieve items containing new
terms, distinctive words, jargon.
If you do not know the appropriate
subject heading, descriptor or
identifier for your topic, you can
conduct a key word search first and
look at a relevant item for the
appropriate subject term.
You may retrieve items that are not relevant to
your topic (false hits).
In order to retrieve more relevant items, you
need to use a variety of terms. For example,
to retrieve items about movies, a keyword
search must include terms like films, cinema,
and motion pictures.
Grouping:
“using quotes”

13. Not Finding Enough?
Ways to Expand Your Results
Finding Too Many Articles?
Ways to Focus Your Results
(Ways to Get More Articles)
Try To :
• Explode Your Terms
• Keyword Searching
• Look At Related or Citing
Articles
(Ways to Get Fewer Articles)
Try Using:
• Major Concept/Subject
• Subheadings
• Limits
Other Things to Think About…..

14. Get in touch with Me…..
Roy Brown, MLIS
Education and Research Librarian
Tompkins-McCaw Library, VCU Libraries
rebrown2@vcu.edu / Ph. 804-828-1592
IF YOU NEED
HELP……..