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Comparison of Alberta population counts between the AHCIP registry and the 2006 Census

Description

Two main data sources for population counts of Alberta are the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) Registry and the Census of Canada (Census). The collection and reporting methods used by... More ≫

Description

Two main data sources for population counts of Alberta are the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) Registry and the Census of Canada (Census). The collection and reporting methods used by these two counts differ greatly, and it is important that these methods are fully understood to help in determining which population estimate is appropriate for use in a particular circumstance. Comparison of the data shows that at the provincial level, the total population for the AHCIP Registry and the 2006 Census are very similar. However, variations are much more distinct when looking at variations in difference by age, sex and geographic area. Generally, the smaller the population of a particular category, the greater the difference.

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Health trends in Alberta : a working document

Description

A sound understanding of trends in health is an essential part of setting goals and priorities for health systems and for publicly-funded programs that support health and well being. In turn,... More ≫

Description

A sound understanding of trends in health is an essential part of setting goals and priorities for health systems and for publicly-funded programs that support health and well being. In turn, setting goals and priorities is critical to ensuring accountability and continuous improvement within health systems. The main objectives of this resource is to provide an overview of selected health trends including demographics, health status, health determinants, mortality, and communicable disease incidence from an Alberta perspective within a Canadian context. It also provides an overview of changes and expected trends over time.

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ICD-9 to ICD-10 coding with reference to causes of death grouping in Alberta

Description

Disease coding and grouping, typically based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), is an important initial step in health statistics reporting. The development of a consistent... More ≫

Description

Disease coding and grouping, typically based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), is an important initial step in health statistics reporting. The development of a consistent classification scheme for mortality and morbidity is a challenge. The scheme needs to reflect health priorities of the province while remaining consistent with classifications in other jurisdictions to facilitate comparisons at national and international levels. The recent implementation of International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) has added to this challenge. Building on the work of national and international studies, this study defined 120 cause of death groupings with equivalent ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding to be used for routine health surveillance reporting in Alberta. This grouping and coding scheme is consistent with Statistics Canada mortality reporting. The study also presents comparability ratios from studies in Canada, the...

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Surname methodology in defining ethnic populations : Chinese Canadians

Description

This report consists of two parts. The first part presents the development and validation of a Chinese surname list in defining Chinese Canadians in Alberta. The second part presents the... More ≫

Description

This report consists of two parts. The first part presents the development and validation of a Chinese surname list in defining Chinese Canadians in Alberta. The second part presents the application of the surname list in a preliminary assessment of health status of Chinese Canadians in Alberta.

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Calculating distances in Alberta

Description

A number of health issues involve distance calculations. One example is in the determination of access standards for particular levels of health services. This report provides essential... More ≫

Description

A number of health issues involve distance calculations. One example is in the determination of access standards for particular levels of health services. This report provides essential information on alternative methods that can be used and highlights recommended methods relevant to health settings in Alberta. It concludes with a warning about the use of crow-flies distances for health access calculations. The report is part of a family of reports that illustrates and documents the geographic methods required to properly analyze health data in Alberta.

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Inpatient data quality re-abstraction project : executive report

Description

Data is becoming increasingly important in the healthcare environment. The significance of complete and accurately reported data is growing with its intensified use for research, epidemiological... More ≫

Description

Data is becoming increasingly important in the healthcare environment. The significance of complete and accurately reported data is growing with its intensified use for research, epidemiological studies, outcomes and statistical analyses, evaluation of quality of care, strategic planning, and equitable funding allocations. The Alberta Inpatient Data Quality Re-abstraction Study was completed to evaluate the accuracy and consistency of inpatient data reported by the selected health regions and to identify areas for potential data quality enhancement.

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Using the Alberta Health and Wellness (AHW) lookup file to aggregate data to different geographic boundaries

Description

Analysis of health data usually implies the use of a set of geographic boundaries. However, inconsistent sizes of mapping units create challenges for spatial research. Most studies use... More ≫

Description

Analysis of health data usually implies the use of a set of geographic boundaries. However, inconsistent sizes of mapping units create challenges for spatial research. Most studies use administrative boundaries, such as census divisions, census subdivisions, counties, and health regions. These boundaries may change over time and are may be inconsistent in size or shape. Alternative boundaries are numerous and their potential use is described in this document. This report documents the methodologies used to aggregate health, population, survey and other relevant data to different reporting boundaries. In Alberta, most of the health and population data is collected at the postal code level. Alberta Health and Wellness has created lookup files that allow data analysis to several geographic boundaries. The report is part of a family of reports that illustrates and documents the geographic methods required to properly analyze health data in Alberta.

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A rate mapping template for Alberta regional health authorities

Description

This report documents the mapping template created within Alberta Health and Wellness to properly map health information. The template described allows the user to create consistent maps without... More ≫

Description

This report documents the mapping template created within Alberta Health and Wellness to properly map health information. The template described allows the user to create consistent maps without the need to learn Geographic Information System (GIS) tools or other tools. The report is part of a family of reports that illustrates and documents the geographic methods required to properly analyze health data in Alberta.

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Calculating small area analysis : definition of sub-regional geographic units in Alberta

Description

This report describes a project undertaken as a step towards a better understanding of the geographic differences in health and health determinants in Alberta. It describes the development of... More ≫

Description

This report describes a project undertaken as a step towards a better understanding of the geographic differences in health and health determinants in Alberta. It describes the development of geographical regions smaller than the Health Region but larger than Enumeration Areas suitable for small area analysis in Alberta. The report is part of a family of reports that illustrates and documents the geographic methods required to properly analyze health data in Alberta.

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Calculating demographic and epidemiological quantities in Alberta by geo-political areas

Description

Most health statistics have a geospatial component. In order for health measures developed or used by different organizations to be valid and comparable, the measures should reference the same... More ≫

Description

Most health statistics have a geospatial component. In order for health measures developed or used by different organizations to be valid and comparable, the measures should reference the same geopolitical areas. This report outlines the methodologies employed by Alberta Health and Wellness in calculations of health measures within geopolitical boundaries, and compares these to methods used by Statistics Canada and other agencies. It includes an analysis of the differences in methodologies and the differences in health measures that these different agencies have created, and presents recommendations for changes to the manner in which health measures are calculated in the future. The report is part of a family of reports that illustrates and documents the geographic methods required to properly analyze health data in Alberta.

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