Statistical information
15 April 2008
- Finding about statistics
- General health statistics
- Hospital information
- Mortality information
- Morbidity information
- Health services
- International statistics
- Other organisations and libraries
Statistical enquiries are commonplace but it is often difficult to find exact information. There are however a number of useful general sources in the library.
You will need to ask library staff if you need to consult our statistical collection as it is not currently publicly accessible, however, there are also useful resources at Quick Ref 12 NHS and Quick Ref 20.
You should be aware that:
- Not all printed resources are up-to-date
- There is always a delay between collection and publication
- Most are for England and Wales
- There are slight differences in presentation
- Equivalent information cannot always be found for different countries
- It is often difficult to find specific statistical information
- Some information has never been collected
- Current statistical information on specific conditions or problems can also be found in journals or books
Most health statistics are published by the ONS but some useful information remains unpublished and is difficult to find. Statistical introductions are kept at WA 950.
Armitage P et al. Statistical methods in medical research. 4th ed.
Blackwell Science, 2002
BMA location: WA 950
Cambell MJ. Statistics at square two : understanding modern statistical applications in medicine. 2nd ed,
BMJ Books, 2006
BMA location: WA 900
Coggan D. Statistics in clinical practice 2nd ed.
BMJ Books, 2003
BMA location: BMA 982
Everitt B. Medical statistics from A to Z : a guide for clinicians and medical students. 2nd ed.
Cambridge Medical P, 2006
BMA location: WA 900
A useful and up-to-date source of general statistics is available from the UK Government Statistics website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/
- Go to Time Series data;
- Select from the options the data you are interested in
You can find a guide to statistics on the Web at:
http://www.solent.ac.uk/library/subject/page183.stm
Keith Nockels has written a good overview of general sites in the CILIP Health Libraries Group Newsletter, 23(3) September 2006
http://www.cilip.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/12153C27-F55F-4099-9815-1D72358E15C4/0/HLGNewsletterSeptember2006.pdf
General health statistics
The best starting point is 'Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for England' (Department of Health) which includes information for the latest year available and the previous 10-20 years. You should read the footnotes and the appendices carefully in order to interpret some of the statistics correctly. It includes:
- Population statistics, fertility, mortality, morbidity
- Selected statistics on HIV, smoking, alcohol consumption
- Some activity statistics for hospitals, psychiatric services and community health services.
- Scottish Health Statistics
- Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for Wales
- Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for Northern Ireland
The 'Compendium of Health Statistics 2007' (Radcliffe, 2007) [Q Ref 20] is a concise and easy-to-use resource which contains much frequently asked for information:
- Population, mortality and morbidity statistics
- Health care expenditure and NHS costs
- Hospital services, numbers of medical staff by grade or specialty and average cost per in-patient day by specialty
Statistical bulletins often contain the most recent information. Bulletin 1998/35 on 'Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Service Medical and Dental Staff in England 1987-1997. Revised findings' gives information on the numbers of health service staff.
The best resource is for general statistics is 'Social Trends' (ONS) which includes:
- Population statistics: size of households, marriage and divorce statistics (consult also the specific Marriage and Divorce Statistics)
- Employment statistics: income, unemployment, work patterns and education
- Health statistics: life expectancy, blood pressure, standardised incidence rates for selected cancers, smoking, alcohol consumption and drug taking, death rates from key cancers, death rates from suicide.
- Another source is the Annual Abstract of Statistics 1998 (ONS) which also includes industrial information. You should also look at the General Household Survey .
- 'New Social Atlas of Britain' (1980s figures) .
- 'Health Inequalities' (DS15) is a useful source for data which links mortality and morbidity to social class and lifestyle.
- 'Health Survey'
'The Health of Adult Britain 1841-1994' (DS) comes in two volumes. Vol. 1 reviews broad trends in life expectancy, use of health services and morbidity. Vol. 2 reviews specific major categories of disease and changes in health status in the past 10 years.
'Key Population and Vital Statistics' provides information on population, births and deaths by local government and health authority areas
Hospital information
'Hospital Episode Statistics' contains information on the number of different surgical operations or diagnoses. Eg, it can tell you how many appendectomies were done in a particular NHS region. It covers all specialties and includes private patients treated in NHS hospitals.
The following codes (listed in the Annexes) are used: Diagnostic H List (short list) based on groups of diagnosis; 3 digit ICD codes, operation classification based on the OPCS classification of surgical operations, 4th revision, operations short list.
There are three sets of tables:
- Diagnosis, using the short diagnostic list or 3 digit ICD code giving data on ordinary admissions, day cases and bed-days by region of treatment and other parameters;
- Operations by OPCS4R short list and OPCS4R 3 digit code by region of treatment including ordinary admissions and day cases and administrative tables including mean and median (average) duration of stay.
- Table 12 gives the number of private patients in NHS hospitals by region of treatment
There are several general sources of mortality information. 'Mortality Statistics' (DH2) gives information mostly for England and Wales although some tables give data for Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are two volumes - General and by Cause. It includes:
- Infant mortality.
- Years of life lost due to certain diseases
- Mean age of death by cause
- Historical data
'Mortality Statistics: Injury and Poisoning' (DH4) gives data for accidents, including transport accident, suicide and homicide.
The 'Mortality Statistics' (DH5) by area are available partly on microfiche, kept in the back of the printed publication. You can use this source to identify disease specific trends in mortality across countries or to quickly identify countries with highest mortality for a specific disease.
If you find that these resources are too cumbersome then the 'Annual Abstract of Statistics 2000' (Stationery Office, 2000) contains 1998 data.
Morbidity information
This is difficult to find as there can never be an absolute statistic as, for example, not everyone will go to a doctor anyway. Information can only be collected by survey and a national estimate extrapolated from this.
The best resource for the incidence of disease is 'Morbidity Statistics from General Practice: Fourth National Study 1991-1992' (MB5) These statistics are based on a random sample of general practices in England and Wales who collected statistics on patterns of disease, age, sex and socioeconomic status.
The data which are given are per 10 000 person years at risk. In effect, this means per 10 000 people. You should note that the total for some age groups will be more than 10 000: eg, there were 10 221 consultations for infants under four.
Tables 19-21 give the most useful information on morbidity on increasing specificity. Table 19 gives data on the incidence of 18 broad disease categories. Table 21 gives data on each ICD code.
You can use this data to estimate the number of consultations for a particular disease either for the whole population for an age group. Eg, there were 313 consultations for candidiasis in total per 10 000 people (p 170, ICD 112). This is 3.13% per total population in England and Wales. Using the population data, you can estimate that there were 1 627 913 instances of candidiasis in England and Wales in 1996.
The data are presented by age group and sex. These data are for each patient whereas Table 23 gives data for each consultation.
The Total data is aggregated to take account of different age groups. If you needed to establish the incidence of a disease in a particular age group then you would need to use the data for this age group.
Other specialist resources are more specific. Notifiable disease statistics are collected nationally as are some congenital disease statistics: 'Communicable Disease Statistic, England and Wales' (MB2) Congenital Abnormality Statistics (MB3)
For statistics on cancers consult the statistics on cancer registrations (MB1) and also the collection of statistics and other information from the Imperial Cancer Research Campaign kept at Quick Ref 20.
Health services
The 'Compendium of Health Statistics 2005/2006' (Q Ref 20) contains much frequently asked for information on health services.
The 'NHS Performance Tables' offer information on waiting lists etc:
http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/
This shows:
- Outpatient appointments; and admissions into hospital.
- How many patients went home on the same day as their operation
- How long outpatients had to wait for a first appointment after referral by their GP
- How long non-emergency patients had to wait for admission
- Performance against NHS complaints procedures
- Coverage of cervical screening, breast screening and childhood immunisation programmes, and care of the elderly.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk
Statistics on 'Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services Medical and Dental Staff in England: 1989-1999' are given in the Department of Health Bulletin 2000/9 . There is also a copy in the Library General Office information file at FF 54.
'Statistics for General Medical Practitioners in England: 1992-2002'.
'NHS Hospital and Community Health Services Non-Medical Staff in England: 1991-2001'.
International statistics
'Global Health Statistics' are kept at Quick Ref 20. The figures are presented by WHO region.
The 'WHO Statistical Annual' (filed at the end of the periodicals sequence) gives cause of death information by country.
There are several useful books giving descriptions of health services with statistics:
OECD health systems. Vol. 1: Facts and trends 1960-199.
OECD, 1993
BMA location: W84
The European Observatory on Health Care Systems includes country profiles with detailed statistical information:
http://www.euro.who.int/observatory
There is a great deal of specific information in journals. Medline contains useful international statistical information. You should search using the term Health services with the country term (or an exploded regional or continent term).
There are some useful links at the Central Statistics Office Ireland:
http://www.cso.ie/links/default.htm
Other organisations and libraries
Public Enquiry Service
Library
Office for National Statistics
1 Drummond Gate
LONDON
SW1V 2QQ
tel: 0845 601 3034
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/
Central Statistics Office
Government Offices
Great George Street
LONDON
SW1P 3AQ
tel: 020 7270 6363/6364
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS
tel: 0207 210 4850
email: dhmail@doh.gsi.gov.uk
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Statistics/fs/en
School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR)
Regent Court
30 Regent Street
SHEFFIELD
S1 4DA
tel: 0114 222 5420/5214
fax: 0114 272 4095
email: A.Booth@sheffield.ac.uk
http://www.shef.ac.uk/~scharr/